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PROFESSOR SIR JOHN BEDDINGTON FRS (CHAIRMAN)

John Beddington started his studies initially at the LSE where he took a BSc and MSc. He then moved to Edinburgh to do a PhD in what was then the rather new discipline of Mathematical Ecology. His academic career was initially at York University and subsequently at Imperial College. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001 and appointed CMG in 2004. He was from 2008 until 2013 the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) reporting directly to the Prime Minister. As GCSA, he was responsible for increasing the scientific capacity across Whitehall by encouraging all major departments of state to recruit a Chief Scientific Adviser.

During his time as GCSA he set up the Scientific Advisory Group in Emergencies (SAGE) that reported to the COBRA committee. He ran the Foresight Team that reported on such varied issues as Food Security, Climate Change Threats and High Speed Financial Trading and was responsible for reviews on inter alia Nuclear Energy, High Speed Computing in Climate Science and the Scientific Contribution to National Security. He was awarded a Knighthood in 2010 and in June 2014 received The Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese Government. He is the Senior Adviser to the Oxford Martin School and Professor of Natural Resource Management at Oxford University. Amongst other activities he is a Non-Executive Director of the Met Office (currently Acting Chair) and chairs the Systemic Risk Institute at the LSE. He is President of London Zoo and a Trustee of the Natural History Museum.

 


 

DR OLIVER DOUBLEDAY (DEPUTY CHAIR)

After working for a DPhil in the MRC Cell Mutation Unit at Sussex University, Dr. Doubleday worked at the Université libre de Bruxelles studying DNA repair and DNA polymerase fidelity. He then returned to work on the family farm in Kent, growing cereals, apples, pears, cherries and keeping sheep. With his Brazilian wife he is involved in the management of a rubber plantation and a sugar cane farm in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has also had experience of farming in the USA and New Zealand.

A former Chairman of National Farmers Union’s Parliamentary Land Use and Environment Committee he was a member of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan Steering Group, the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment and the EU’s Consultative Forum on the Environment and Sustainable Development. He has served as a director of the Brogdale Horticultural Trust (custodians of the National Fruit Collection), Silsoe Research Institute and Grainfarmers plc, and as vice chairman of the Apple & Pear Research Council and chairman of East Malling Research.

 


 

DR STUART JARVIS

Dr Stuart Jarvis is a Managing Director at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm. At BlackRock, he leads the analytics team within Client Solutions in EMEA and is responsible for the development of analytical tools to support asset-liability modelling within BlackRock Solutions. He oversees the modelling work that supports pensions, insurance and other retail and institutional clients who seek assistance from BlackRock in their design of an investment strategy to meet their needs.

Dr Jarvis joined the firm in 2004, initially with Barclays Global Investors (BGI). At BGI, Dr. Jarvis was instrumental in the creation of the Liability Driven Investment business. He worked with a broad range of pension fund clients to help them better understand their liabilities and to implement strategies that reduced the risk embedded within these liabilities. He then led the research effort behind solutions and strategies created to meet a wide variety of investment problems, increasingly focusing on the development of strategic asset allocation and dynamic asset allocation strategies tailored to specific client requirements.

Prior to joining the firm, Dr Jarvis was a pensions consultant at Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow (now Aon Hewitt). Dr Jarvis is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and from 2013-2014 was Chair of the Finance and Investment board at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. He has written several papers in peer-reviewed actuarial journals on the subject of stochastic modelling and asset allocation and has spoken at numerous conferences and colloquia around the world on these topics.

Dr Jarvis earned an M.Math degree in mathematics from Cambridge University in 1991, DPhil degree in mathematics from Oxford University in 1994 and was a junior research fellow at Merton College, Oxford for three years.

 


 

PROFESSOR MICHAEL WINTER

Michael is a rural policy specialist and a rural social scientist with particular interests in applying inter-disciplinary approaches to policy-relevant research and in direct engagement in the policy process.

Alongside his directorship of the CRPR he is also Director of the Food Security & Land Research Alliance (encompassing the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, Rothamsted Research and Duchy College).

His current research focuses on the governance of sustainable agro-food systems and food security; the historical and contemporary sociology of west country agriculture; & farmer environmental attitudes and decision-making, particularly in the context of diffuse pollution and water quality. He leads Project 2 of Defra’s Sustainable Intensification Research Platform.

He is a Visiting Programme Director in Food Security at Wilton Park (Foreign Office), a member of the governing board of Rothamsted Research, and chairs the Stakeholder Group for the Avon Demonstration Test Catchment. He is a former member of Defra’s Panel of Agricultural & Environmental Economists, the National Ecosystem Assessment Expert Panel, DEFRA’s Science Advisory Council and was a Commissioner for the Commission for Rural Communities from its inception in 2006 until its abolition in 2013. In 2000, he was a member of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales chaired by Lord Burns.

 


 

PROFESSOR ANDREW BALMFORD

Andrew Balmford is Professor of Conservation Science in the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, where his research focuses on how to reconcile biodiversity conservation with meeting human food needs and other land-demanding activities; the costs and benefits of retaining intact ecosystems; and identifying what works in conservation.

He collaborates closely with conservation practitioners and with colleagues in other disciplines, including economics and psychology. In his book Wild Hope he argues that cautious, evidence-based optimism is vital in tackling environmental challenges. Andrew helped establish the Student Conference on Conservation Science, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, and Earth Optimism.

 


 

PROFESSOR BRIDGET EMMETT

Professor Bridget Emmett, UKCEH Science Area Head for Soils and Land Use and Head of Site UKCEH Bangor. Particular interest in soils and ecosystem science. Many projects involve a role as PI in coordinating a large number of partners to improve integration across different disciplines and sectors from catchment/landscape to national scale to support policy development and outcome reporting.

Current areas of interest and activity include; soil health; impact of land management on natural capital and the implications for ecosystem services; land-sea interactions; impacts of air pollution and climate change on soils and ecosystem function; new data and modelling tools for supporting policy development and improving evidence for natural capital accounts and a wide mix of environmental, economic and social outcomes. Techniques include national-scale surveys and monitoring; long-term, field-scale manipulation experiments, data visualisation tools and development of integrated modelling platforms; and robust evidence provision using an integrated assessment approach. Research income has come from a wide range of funders including NERC, BBSRC, EPSRC, DEFRA, Welsh and Scottish Governments. International work includes over 9 EU projects as UK lead and currently includes membership of the EU mission Board for Soil Health and Food; work in China funded through the Newton programme and work in Nigeria, S.Africa and Nepal.

 


 

MR JOHN HEYWOOD

A biologist by training, John has spent most of his career in agriculture as a Managing Director, overseeing crop technology development and product launches for a number of highly successful crop biostimulant companies.

John has always been excited by translating new developments in the world of plant biochemistry and nutrition into commercial products. His professional achievements include building several businesses and creating leading solutions from research to the field e.g. developing the first global phosphite seed treatments, introducing Nutri-Phite Technology from the University of California to the EU, Take off technology from Los Almos and most recently the first global commercialisation of the biological endophytes as Tiros from the University of Washington as solutions across broad acre crops in Europe and further afield. Since joining the industry more that 30 years ago, John has been driven by the same motivation: to take world-class crop research from scientists across the world and apply it to produce innovative, practical, affordable and sustainable solutions for modern agriculture.

 


 

MR JAN HOLTHUIS

Jan Holthuis, partner and lawyer at BUREN, is Dutch qualified lawyer registered at the Amsterdam Bar, a solicitor in England and Wales. Jan founded HIL International Lawyers & Advisers in 1995. HIL became the first Dutch law firm licensed in China by the Chinese Ministry of Justice in 2004. In 2016 Jan merged the HIL practice with Buren. Jan specializes in corporate and commercial law, in particular China related cross-border M&A and corporate restructuring, international technology transfers, China related product liability insurance claims and international arbitration.

Jan is a registered arbitrator at the China International Economic Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (SHAIC). He has set up the Agriculture Law Section of the International Bar Association in 2015, was the Chair for many years and is presently a member of the Advisory Board. Jan has been involved in many politically sensitive China related international transactions and litigations acting for Western and Chinese clients.

 


 

PROFESSOR LOUISE MANNING

Louise Manning is Professor of Sustainable Agri-food Systems at the Lincoln Institute of Agri-food Technology (LIAT), Riseholme, University of Lincoln. She has worked for over 35 years in the agri-food supply chain in a range of academic and industry roles. Her research centres on food security and food integrity including food safety, food quality, food crime, policy and governance, social and corporate responsibility, resilience, risk assessment and mitigation strategies at business, supply chain and policy levels. In her academic roles, Louise has led strategic delivery of knowledge exchange and business support programmes.