The University of Hertfordshire – UH

(male) Professor of Food Policy and Security and Director of the Centre for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Management (CAFEM) in the School of Life and Medical Sciences. He is the University Food Research Theme Champion, and Principal Investigator for UH. CAFEM is a joint research and teaching collaboration between UH and the Royal Veterinary College and the Rothamsted Research Institute. He is an expert in public policy and governance of the agri-food sector and the food supply. He has served as a member of: the expert advisory panel to the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit project on food and food policy (2007-8); the British Standards Institute committee AW/90 Quality Systems for the Food Industry; Council member of Sustain – the UK alliance of food related NGOs (c.100 NGO members, including Fairtrade members) He has acted as an advisor and consultant to: UNEP, European Commission DG SANCO, European Parliament, the Scottish Government, and a number of other Governmental and non-governmental bodies. He has been a Work Package leader on a number of 7th EU framework projects. Professor Barling has long experience of working as part of broader food policy networks in the UK and Europe, with Policy Officials, Food Sector Trade Associations (e.g. BRC, FDF) Food Supply Chain Industries, and NGOs.

(female) Dr Sharpe has worked as a food policy and food systems researcher for both academic institutions and civil society organisations, having begun her career as a journalist. Her main research interests concern sustainability and accountability in contemporary food supply chains, with a special focus on the social aspects of sustainability. These interests have led her to research and write on the traceability of ethical concerns along food supply chains; on structural inequity and power imbalances in food supply chains; and on the diversity of actors involved in, or seeking to influence, food supply chains. She has worked at the think tank the New Economics Foundation; at Sustain, the alliance of food-related NGOs; at the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London (where she is a Research Fellow); and at the University of Hertfordshire, where she is a Research Fellow on the Valumics team looking at how policy and governance can support the project’s dynamic food system models. She is also a trustee of the grassroots anti-food-poverty organisation Food Matters.

(female) Dr Mylona works as a Research Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire on the Valumics Project, looking into the impacts of food safety and authenticity regulations and sustainability policies on the food value chains. She brings into this Project a combination of scientific and regulatory knowledge in relation to the food chain. She has a scientific background in chemistry and food science and technology and a PhD in food safety (mycotoxin contamination in the food and feed chains and control). She has previously worked in the food industry and as a consultant on the implementation of food legislation for ensuring food safety along the food chain. She has also recently worked for the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (DG JRC) on a foresight exercise on the future resilience of the food safety and nutrition regulatory and policy framework, aimed at providing scientific advice to the policy makers (DG SANTE).

(female) Dr Gresham is a Research Fellow on the Valumics project at the Centre for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Management at the University of Hertfordshire. Following a masters in Food Policy from City University London, she was awarded her PhD on the environmental governance of Brazilian soybean production from the University of Essex in 2018.  Jennifer’s main research interests include the sustainability potential of livestock agriculture and meat consumption, and the role of non-state actors in shaping the policymaking and governance frameworks of contemporary agri-food supply chains. Before returning to academia in 2012, Jennifer held an editorial role in the digital publishing programme at Cambridge University Press.