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/ Events

Can science help us get back to the countryside?

05 - 06 December 2012 09:00 - 17:00

Satellite meeting organised by Professor Guy Poppy, Professor Paul Jepson, Professor John Pickett CBE FRS and Dr Michael Birkett

Attending this event

This is a residential conference, which allows for increased discussion and networking. It is free to attend, however participants need to cover their accommodation and catering costs if required.

Attendance is by invitation only.  When requesting an invitation, please provide the title of the meeting you are interested in attending, your name, affiliation and a summary of your interest in the subject.

Biographies of the organisers and key contributors are available below and you can also download the draft programme (PDF) . Recorded audio of the presentations will be available on this page after the event.

Participants are also encouraged to attend the related Discussion meeting Achieving food and environmental security – new approaches to close the gap which immediately precedes this event.

Enquiries: Contact the events team.

Organisers

  • Professor Guy Poppy, University of Southampton, UK

    Guy Poppy gained his DPhil from Oxford University and conducts research in many areas relating to environmental and ecological sciences. He was the director of Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton and managed the move of this large school into a new £45 million Life Sciences Building in 2010. He is currently the University of Southampton’s Director of multidisciplinary research which involves directing 12 university strategic research groups addressing grand challenges as well as the university’s overall multidisciplinary strategy.  His personal research portfolio is broad but involves leading a large multidisciplinary team researching ecosystem services with a particular focus on securing food supplies without affecting the quality of the environment. This includes projects in Africa, South Asia and South America where conservation versus agriculture is a major issue (see http://espa-assets.org/ ). He has regularly participated in the public understanding of science and is passionate about educating people and especially the next generation about science and the environment.

  • Professor Paul Jepson, Oregon State University, USA

    Paul Jepson is Director of the Integrated Plant Protection Center at Oregon State University and a Professor of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology. He leads research and extension programs in sustainable agriculture in the Western USA and internationally. He completed a B.Sc. in Zoology at Imperial College, London and a Ph.D. at Cambridge University before developing an international M.Sc. in IPM and an ecotoxicology research program at Southampton University, UK. He has been at Oregon State University since 1995. Paul has extensive international experience, working with the UN FAO and other partners in S. America, Africa and Asia. His current research examines the relative roles of farmer education and regulation in the production and environmental sustainability of agricultural systems.

  • Professor John Pickett CBE FRS, Cardiff University, UK

    Professor John A Pickett is originally an organic chemist (BSc 1967, PhD 1971, DSc 1993) who has gained worldwide recognition, with many honours and awards to his name, for his investigations into volatile natural products that affect the behaviour and development of animals and other organisms (semiochemicals).  He is a world authority on semiochemicals in insect behaviour and plays a leading rôle in the move away from the traditional use of wide-spectrum pesticides to more precise control through compounds targeted against specific pests at critical stages in their life cycles.  Recent practical successes include a programme for controlling stem borer pests and striga weeds in Africa, where thousands of subsistence farmers have already adopted systems for exploiting the natural product chemicals of certain companion crops.  In 1976, John moved to Rothamsted Research to lead a team working on new methods of pest control.  He headed the Department of Biological Chemistry there from 1984-2010, and now holds the first Michael Elliott Distinguished Research Fellowship at Rothamsted.  As well as fulfilling this prestigious new role, he continues to lead research into the field of chemical ecology.

  • Dr Michael Birkett, Rothamsted Research, UK

    "Dr Michael A Birkett, originally a chemist (BSc Biochemistry & Biological Chemistry 1990, PhD Organic Chemistry 1994), has gained international recognition for his investigations into the identity and function of semiochemicals (natural products) that affect the behaviour and development of animals and other organisms. Since he joined Rothamsted in 1994, he has played a leading role in the identification of novel molecular structures and the deployment of semiochemicals for plant, human and livestock protection. Together with Professor Pickett, he has pioneered the use of small lipophilic molecules (SLMs) as elicitors of defence in crop plants and the sustainable production of semiochemicals using green chemistry approaches. He is now Principal Investigator in Chemical Ecology, where he leads chemical ecology research, and is Deputy Head of the Department of Biological Chemistry and Crop Protection. In 2010, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)."