Speakers

Climate Resilient Crop Varieties

December 02

14:30 - 16:00

Sigrid has been working internationally with a keen interest in developing crops (rice and wheat) that are more resilient to major stresses, such as heat and water stress (drought, submergence), and that make better use of nutrients, such as phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N). In her research, she combines forward and reverse genetic approaches to explore diversity within wheat and rice to identify traits and genes that can ultimately be used for crop improvement in breeding programmes. Sigrid has been leading multidisciplinary research programmes, some in partnership with the private sector, encompassing a wide range of expertise in the area of plant genomics/genetics, molecular biology, and metabolomics, as well as in plant development and root responses to stress and nutrients. For the past four years, her main focus has been on studying nitrogen use efficiency in wheat, and she was the director of "Wheat in a Hot and Dry Climate", an Industrial Transformation Research Hub in Australia

Peter works on grass pea or khesari (Lathyrus sativus), an ancient food crop with remarkable tolerance to drought and flooding. These characteristics make the crop highly valuable for enhancing food security in areas prone to such weather extremes, which are expected to become ever more frequent and severe over the course of this century. Lathyrus sativus is currently cultivated primarily in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The primary limitation of grass pea is that it produces a toxin – beta-L-ODAP – that can cause paralysis if consumed excessively during an extended period of undernourishment. The focus of Peter’s work is to understand how the plant produces this toxin and to develop safe varieties of grass pea. To this end, Peter has identified genes involved in the synthesis of the toxin in the plant and he is now working to breed safe varieties using both conventional and gene editing approaches. From January 2021, Peter is joining the new Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development to bring together the crop science expertise of JIC and the other Norwich Bioscience Institutes with expertise in international development and climate science at the University of East Anglia. The NISD aims to create a world-class transdisciplinary hub for sustainable agriculture in the face of the climate crisis.

Soil & Water Management

December 02

Jane has over 30 years’ experience in research, consultancy, and teaching in soil and water engineering, specialising in soil degradation processes and sustainable land management. Her work has focused on a better understanding of soil functions and their role in the delivery of ecosystems goods and services, including water regulation, agricultural production, and carbon storage. Recent projects include: Development of a Soil Management Information System (AHDB); Better understanding of the soil protection landscape (Defra); Developing a conceptual framework for a soil impact metric for agricultural and commodity supply chains (Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge; CISL); Review of the England and Wales soils evidence base (Welsh Government); Provision of research to develop the evidence base on soil erosion (Committee on Climate Change, Adaptation Sub Committee); and The total costs of soil degradation in England & Wales (Defra).

Dr Stephan Haefele 
Systems Agronomist
Rothamsted Research stephan.haefele@rothamsted.ac.uk

Stephan is a soil scientist and agronomist with a long experience in international agricultural research focused on rice, wheat and soil quality in Africa and Asia. He conducted research for his PhD and Post Doc at the West Africa Rice Development Association (now Africa Rice) and worked then for ten years at the International Rice Research Institute. From there, he went to the University of Adelaide where his main focus was plant phenotyping in wheat systems, and in 2017 he started a position at Rothamsted Research. Here, he leads the dry spectral laboratory which investigates the use of near and mid infrared spectroscopy to enable faster and cheaper soil analysis, possibly even in the field. This is an essential component of precision farming allowing spatial analysis of soil fertility as well as soil health. His group recently published a study describing a soil health index which can be used across the UK independent of soil type. Other research activities include nutrient use efficiency in arable systems and agronomic biofortification for micronutrients. The basic idea behind the latter activities is that nutrient uptake of any crop, including biofortified varieties, depends on the local soil conditions. Therefore, the combination of biofortified varieties and agronomic management is essential to get the best produce for the reduction of micronutrient deficiencies in humans and animals. He authored or co-authored 106 peer-reviewed publications, has currently 5414 citations and an h-index of 35. He is contributing to several ongoing projects funded by the BBSRC (ASSIST, S2N, Double Burden), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (AfSIS, iSDA, GeoNutrition), and industry (OCP).

Dr Paula Misiewicz
Harper Adams University pmisiewicz@harper-adams.ac.uk

Paula is a Senior Lecturer in Soil and Water Management at Harper Adams University. She has a PhD in soil compaction from Cranfield University in Bedfordshire. Her main interests are agricultural traffic, tillage, field engineering, soil mechanics, and water management. Paula leads a long-term Traffic and Tillage experiment, which evaluates the effects of Controlled Traffic Farming, Low Ground Pressure, and Standard Tyre Pressure systems with varying tillage systems (deep/shallow/zero) on soils, crops, and farming economics.

Sensors and Remote Sensing

December 03

14:30 - 15:15

Paul is Senior Research Scientist at Rothamsted Research (joined 2014). Previously, he worked at the National Centre for Geocomputation, Maynooth University, Ireland. He is an Environmental Data Scientist with expertise in Spatial Statistics and Environmental Monitoring and has published over 70 peer-reviewed journal papers. At Rothamsted, Paul is the project leader of the North Wyke Farm Platform. The platform is a globally unique, systems-scale research facility to study the complete flow of nutrients from soil to food, with the clear and distinct aim of making farming a more sustainable endeavour. Now in its 10th year of operation, the heavily sensor-based platform has collected over 54 million records on all inputs, outputs (productivity, emissions, losses, etc.), and management events. Currently, four different farming systems are being contrasted and compared for their sustainability.

Tom is responsible for managing the CHAP Fine Phenotyping Laboratory which is based at Rothamsted Research. He earned his Ph.D. in the Sainsbury Laboratory under the guidance of Prof. Jonathan Jones. His postdoctoral career focused on using a diverse array of approaches to investigate disease resistance in crop plants and on assessing the potential for engineering novel resistance traits. Building on this experience he now works with partner organisations to use advanced imaging equipment to quantify and remotely detect pests, disease and other crop traits of interest.

Horticulture

December 03

14:30 - 15:15

Dylan is a co-founder of Liberty Produce and a serial entrepreneur, with a passion for developing technologies and products that have excellent commercial value. Dylan began his career as an academic in physics and engineering. The driver’s for Liberty Produce are farming products that allow high-quality produce, without agri-chemicals at a price that all can afford. Dylan was a founder of Iceni Labs, a leading UK early-stage technology commercialisation company and has held positions in business and technology development and commercialisation at Cambridge University and Imperial College London. He works closely with the NHS, the MoD and other agencies and companies, developing novel technologies and products.

Dr. Richard Haslam (RH; Google Scholar h-index 40; citations 5009; ORCID: 0000-0001-6226-5643) is a principal research scientist in plant biochemistry and Deputy Head of Plant Sciences at Rothamsted Research. RH has over twenty years’ experience in plant science research, publishing over 90 papers in peer-reviewed journals. RH is Co-I on the BBSRC Tailoring Plant Metabolism ISP (BBS/E/C/000I0420) and his lab is at the forefront of the emerging field of lipidomics, utilising MS-based techniques to study lipids in biological systems. RH has established the Plant Lipidomic facility at RRes, which is a unique resource in the UK for (un)targeted profiling of lipid species. The facility participates in a range of (inter)national projects and houses state-of-the-art chromatography and mass spectrometry (MS) equipment, enabling high-throughput profiling of multiple lipid classes. RH’s research focuses on the adaptive response of cellular metabolic networks in plants and other model systems. RH seeks to understand the mechanisms that underpin plant plasticity in response to environmental change (drought & heat). This fundamental research underpins approaches to lipid metabolic engineering in oilseeds and microalgae for improved nutrition and human health (BBSRC BB/V003631/1). Recent funding includes EU H2020 (SFS-30-2018-2019-2020) and the UNTWIST Camelina project, addressing plant plasticity and adaptation to environmental change and BBSRC capital grant income (BBSRC BB/S019588/1).

15:30 - 16:30

I was brought up on a family farm in the North of England and after leaving school I worked for a year on an arable farm close to where I now live. I attended Newcastle University and gained a B.Sc. (Hons) 2.1 Degree in Agriculture, specialising in agronomy, particularly potatoes. My first job was with ADAS, which at that time was the national extension and advice service provided by the Ministry of Agriculture (now DEFRA). I spent 5 years advising crop growers in Eastern England covering a wide range of soil types and crops, particularly root crops. I then moved back to the north and held several sales and technical positions in crop protection companies with a special interest in the development of generic and off patent products. Before joining CHAP I was UK territory head for UPL Ltd. My role at CHAP is to help connect innovators and research institutions with people who can help to develop ideas and achieve commercial adoption and implementation. We are funded by Innovate UK and work in all sectors of crop production including greenhouse crops and vertical farms, so I often am frequently in contact with a wide range of technologies and people.

Andrej Porovic
PES Technologies

Jonathan is Mechatronics & UAV Researcher at Harper Adams University with an intense focus on unmanned aerial drone systems (UAVs) with payloads up to 25kg and ground-based automated agricultural farm machinery. Jonathan is a technology enthusiast, a systems integration evangelist, and a self-proclaimed geek. As a qualified engineer with a BEng in Robotics and Automated Systems, he has over 15 years of experience in designing and developing specialised mechatronic systems. Jonathan worked in the offshore industry for many years, operating, maintaining, and supervising the Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) team in harsh underwater environments, living out at sea on ships and oil rigs, and surviving two hurricanes. At Harper Adams University, Jonathan is a subject matter expert in the application of spray drone technology using large UAVs for agriculture and farming. Playing a key role in research projects includes, Transtacker, the design of a mechatronic system to grab bales with an arm to lift, place, and stack bales in a field, and development of a AI based laser weeding system. Jonathan is the co-creator of ‘The Hands Free Hectare’ which is the boldest attempted fusing automation, agronomy and agriculture together operating drones and drone technology to grow a crop using just machines and no humans. The project has evolved to Hands Free Farm, with the aim plant, tend and harvest a range of crops over 35 Hectares of farmland using autonomous machines.

Geo-informatics

December 03

15:30 - 16:30

Ron is a Professor of Data Sciences at Cranfield and Head of the Centre for Environmental and Agricultural Informatics. He specialises in the application of spatio-temporal models to understand the nature and behaviour of natural systems and processes. He is interested in the application of (spatial) modelling tools to understand the structure and function of environmental systems and processes. Environmental systems are complex, and this expresses itself as complex but determinable spatiotemporal patterns. The application of these approaches has led to significant advances in our understanding of the spatial dynamics of ecosystem services, in particular in Urban areas. Another key area in which these techniques have proven invaluable is in the area of resilience as applied to soil functions, allowing significant insights into the nature and functioning of resilience. Both these areas have significant societal significance, in helping inform how to infer resilience in the natural and man-made systems on which we depend, but also in how to design and plan the built environment to retain the benefits from the natural capital inherent in our greenspaces.

Mark is Head of Agriculture at the Satellite Applications Catapult, an innovation and technology company transforming the way the world uses satellite technology and data. He is the former Head of Earth Observation (EO) and is experienced in the commercial and research exploitation of EO technologies across numerous market sectors. Prior to joining the Catapult, Mark was Operations Manager at URSULA Agriculture, a pioneering start-up focused on developing new agricultural solutions using remotely sensed data from drones and satellites for use across the agricultural sector. Since joining the Catapult, Mark has been responsible for developing and delivering agricultural projects around the globe that bring together local end users with UK companies and academia to tackle supply chain and production challenges. Mark is also a Fellow and Chartered Geographer of the Royal Geographical Society.

Farm Mechanisation

December 03

17:45 - 18:45

Kit is a Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Engineering at Harper Adams University based in Shropshire. His role includes developing undergraduate & postgraduate teaching and learning programmes including student recruitment, international business development as well as leading innovative applied research projects to realise Farming 4.0. Kit’s research focusses on “future farming systems” with the most notable project to date being Hands Free Hectare and the revolutionary project, Hands Free Farm. As co-creator and co-Investigator he managed the strategic aims of the collaborative project which set out to achieve a world’s first; using automated machines to grow the first arable crop remotely, without operators in the driving seats or agronomists on the ground. In the very first year the project manage to achieve the planting and harvesting the barley crop using autonomous machines and associated activities throughout the cropping process. The Hands Free Hectare has now evolved to a 35-hectare Farm for which Kit is Principal investigator. Kit sits on the Executive Committee of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers IAgrE and was awarded a “Rising Star” of UK Agriculture by the Farmers Weekly in 2017.

Andrew is a crop physiologist, specialising in wheat, particularly wheat nitrogen use efficiency. In the course of his work, he has developed an interest in high throughput phenotyping of field experiments, and particularly in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for collecting data from field experiments. As part of his work, Andrew manages several field experiments each year, currently totalling about 10 000 individual plots. Andrew has co-hosted several international visitors, and each year manages some students and casual workers who assist full-time staff with the field measurements. In the past, he worked on perennial biomass crops, particularly Miscanthus and switchgrass.

Professor Simon Pearson is the Director of the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology, University of Lincoln. Simon has become a leader in inter-disciplinary research in the field of agri-technology by bringing together academic and industrial experts who are striving to improve technological, environmental, and human capital aspects of the food industry. This research embraces a diverse range of agri-technology applications including robotic systems, automation, and design for manufacture of integrated e-hubs for agricultural vehicles. Simon is seeking to develop agri-robotics to drive productivity across the agri-food sector, including crop harvesting, phenotyping and crop care. Simon is part of Digital Sandwich, a project developing a national, open demonstrator of a digital supply chain. The demonstrator will transform our understanding of the supply chain allowing manufactures and other stakeholders to reap the benefits of increased knowledge. As Principal Investigator of the UKRI-ESPRC funded project, The Internet of Food Things. Simon brings together a network of experts to investigate how artificial intelligence, data analytics, and emerging technologies can enhance the digitalisation of the UK food supply chain. The network is working to reduce food waste, increase nutritional value, increase productivity, and reduce environmental impact across the supply chain. Simon is actively involved in Newton Bhabha initiative that is seeking to address supply chain issues faced by growers and stakeholders in the Indian food supply industry. He has almost two decades of experience in management and Research and Development roles within the industry, which includes some of the UK’s biggest retailers and producers.

Ben Scott-Robinson is an accomplished digital entrepreneur focused on geospatial and mobility technologies. Ben co-founded the Small Robot Company in 2017 which endeavours to replace tractors with accurate, smart, lightweight robots. With 20 years’ experience in digital innovation, including the digital transformation of Ordnance Survey, Ben is also an experienced technology entrepreneur having founded two agencies, two consultancies, an app start-up and a phone for the blind.

Nanotechnologies

December 04

14:15 - 15:30

Matt Mowlem is a Principal Investigator at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton, and an honorary Professor at the University of Southampton. His research has focused on the development of micro and nanotechnologies in sensor systems to enable measurement of water chemistry and biology. He has co-authored >100 journal publication and holds 6 active patents in the field of in situ water sensors. To make some of these developments available worldwide Matt founded the startup ClearWater Sensors ltd. who offer sensors for water chemistry including nutrients (Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate, Ammonia, Silicate) as well as trace metals / micronutrients (Iron) with applications including monitoring of optimal fertilizer delivery and effects on water catchments in smart agriculture. Matt is continually developing new sensor technologies and responding to applications where this technology can make a positive impact.

Lu Shin Wong undertook his PhD studies in organic and analytical chemistry at the University of Southampton under Prof. Mark Bradley from 2001-2005. Subsequently, he joined the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology as a postdoctoral research associate with Prof. Jason Micklefield on the application of chemical biology and surface chemistry to biomolecular-array technologies. In 2008, Lu Shin was awarded a prestigious EPSRC Life Science Interface research fellowship, which enabled him to work with Prof. Chad A. Mirkin at the International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University (USA). In 2011, he returned to the UK and was appointed to the academic staff at the University of Manchester's Department of Chemistry. His current scientific interests lie at the biotechnology-nanotechnology interface, and draws from a broad base of expertise in chemistry, molecular biology and materials science. Also has an interest in the effects of silicon in biology. Silicon is taken up by many plants and in particular, rice.
Since 2017, Lu Shin has been collaborating on a British Council-funded project with colleagues in Malaysia, on the development of oil palm disease diagnostics based on nanoparticle aggregation. This research has been carried out jointly with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM, public university) and the Malaysian Agricultural Research & Development Institute (MARDI, governmental agency).

Integrated Farming Systems

December 04

14:15 - 15:30

Jon is a plant ecologist working in the field of sustainable weed management and the design of cropping systems and landscapes to reconcile crop production with biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. He has a particular interest in the application of functional ecology to understanding the assembly of weed communities under contrasting management scenarios. Jon is also a sponsor on the Broadbalk and Park Grass Long-Term Experiments at Rothamsted Research. He is also leading the design of a new long-term experiment with contrasting crop rotations and cultivation treatments. Jon's primary areas of expertise are in the autecology and community dynamics of arable weed communities, requiring competency in botany, multivariate statistics, agronomy, process-based modelling, and field experimentation. Jon recently published an analysis of the time course of plant community dynamics on the 165-year-old Park Grass Experiment, published in Nature, in which he demonstrated that changes in atmospheric deposition of nitrogen since the 1940s was reflected in community composition, specifically the proportion of legumes in the sward. Jon has also pioneered the approach of combining species level population dynamics models with databases of plant traits to predict functional shifts in weed floras in a response to a change in management or environment.

Market Resilience and Value Chains

December 04

15:30 - 16:15

Dr Elizabeth Warham FRSB leads the Department for International Trade Agri-Tech team promoting investment and trade of innovative agricultural businesses, products and services to improve agriculture through the cutting edge of innovation. Help is provided to institutions, large businesses and SMEs to entice foreign investment and encourage sales of UK products abroad. Previously, in the Government Office for Science, she supported the Government Chief Scientific Adviser as head of the food, water, and environmental issues team; and led the GO-Science Review of how the Department of Health manages and uses science to inform policy development. In the Department of Trade and Industry Technology Programme she was responsible for programme delivery and as energy and environment research manager worked closely with technological sectors and their user industries. For the UK Department for International Development she managed research programmes developing appropriate technologies for different agricultural production systems in low- and middle-income countries (Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean). At the International Centre for Wheat and Maize Improvement in Mexico, she contributed to the maize breeding, wheat pathology, and seed health programmes.

Bhavani Shankar is a Professor of Food Systems and Health at The University of Sheffield, UK. A native of Chennai, he was educated at University of Madras, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He is an applied economist working on areas at the intersection of agriculture, food, health and sustainability. HIs recent work has been funded by the Wellcome Trust, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Leverhulme Trust, GCRF, UKAid and the European Commission, among others.