Honorary Fellowships are awarded on an annual basis in recognition of individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the university and in support of a variety of causes linked to the work of the university.
James Rebanks
James Rebanks (awarded an Honorary Doctorate) (July 2026)
James left school at the age of 15 to work on his family’s farm in the northern fells of Cumbria with two GCSE’s in woodworking and religious studies. He took A levels at evening classes at Carlisle College before studying at Magdalen College, Oxford where he achieved a Double First in history.
Following his degree, he returned to work on the family farm, and alongside that created a consultancy that advised the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, and many national governments, on sustainable tourism and tourism-related economic development. He developed the UNESCO Sustainable Tourism Toolkit and advised on the successful bid for the Lake District to receive World Heritage Status.
His farm, Racy Ghyll is now known around the world for regenerative grazing and nature-friendly management. His soil health has been hailed by experts as some of the best in Europe. The farm is now a classroom that hosts students from across the world to learn about regenerative grazing and habitat restoration.
James has written for most of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines – including the New York Times, Time, Atlantic Monthly, and Sunday Times. An accomplished author, his first book The Shepherd’s Life explored the relationship of his family to farming and the Cumbrian landscape.
His second bestselling book, English Pastoral: An Inheritance, explored how the modern world has impacted negatively on rural landscapes and ways of life.
More recently he spent a season in the Vega Archipelago off northern Norway, learning about the traditional practice of caring for wild eider ducks gathering their down. The resulting bestselling book describing this time, The Place of Tides, was shortlisted for the Stanford Travel Book of the Year in 2025 and was described by George Saunders as ‘a modern classic’.
James has featured on countless BBC radio programmes including Desert Island Discs and has guest-edited the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
James has played a significant role in shifting public awareness and perceptions of the challenging realities of agricultural life within the Lake District and beyond. His is an authoritative voice on the rural economy and the lives of farming families. It is immensely important that we should honour a proud Cumbrian who has made such a global impact.