Achieving food and environmental security – new approaches to close the gap

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.

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.

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.