NRI - Key Persons
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- Management Accountant ( Attached to Finance Department )
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- Project Portfolio Finance Officer ( EEIG )
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- Lecturer in Applied Ecology / Environmental Sciences
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- Business Development Project Manager
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- Administrative and Health & Safety Manager
Biography
Professor Christopher Atkinson joined the University of Greenwich from East Malling Research in late 2012. Previously he worked for Unilever Research Ltd, Welwyn, and for the Agriculture Food Research Council at Rothamsted Research Station, in Harpenden (1971-76) as assistant (ASO) to the analyst. After obtaining advanced City & Guilds qualifications in analytical chemistry at Hatfield Polytechnic (now the University of Hertfordshire), he read for a degree in applied biology at London University (1976-79), followed by a PhD at UNCW Bangor (1982) with Professor J.F. Farrar in the department of J.L. Harper FRS. Professor Atkinson has held postdoctoral research positions in the Department of Forestry, University of Wales (1982-84) with M.P. Denne; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia, USA (1984-87) with W.E. Winner; was a visiting scholar at Stanford University, California, USA (1984-87) working with H.A. Mooney; worked in the Department of Biological Sciences, Lancaster University, UK (1987-90) and, with a NERC Research Fellowship (1990-91), worked with T.A. Mansfield FRS and W.J. Davies CBE. He moved to Horticulture Research International (HRI), East Malling as a Senior Scientific Officer in Crop Physiology (1992), working with H.G. Jones. Professor Atkinson was promoted to Principle Research Scientist in the Perennial Quality and Biotechnology, East Malling (1997) and became an Executive Member of EMR's Science Management Team (2004-12) and Head of Science (2006-11) and then Deputy Chief Executive and Senior Programme Leader, resource use and sustainable production (2011-12) working with P.J. Gregory (CEO).
Professor Atkinson also held positions as:
Executive Director of East Malling Limited (2009-10)
Executive Director of Plant Vaccines Limited (2009-11)
Executive Director of Malling Limited (2010-12).
Currently, he is Emeritus Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich. to present).
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- Principal Economist, Teaching & Learning Leader
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- Postharvest Technical Assistant
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- Crop Postharvest Scientist
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- Visiting Fellow in Livelihoods & Institutional Strengthening
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- Senior Fellow
- Senior Fellow of Bioinformatics
Biography
Dr Andrew Armitage joined NRI as a Senior Fellow in 2020. His work centres on the basis of pathogenicity in plant disease, the diversity of pathogens in the environment and breeding crops with durable resistance. Andrew is a member of NRI's Agriculture, Health and Environment Department, working across the Molecular Virology and Entomology, Plant Health and Postharvest Science research themes.
Before moving to NRI, Andrew was a project leader within the Genetics, Genomics and Breeding department at NIAB EMR. Based there for six years, Andrew performed research on pathosystems covering soft-fruit, top-fruit, vegetables and ornamentals alongside supporting work on mycoprotein production. He developed pipelines for a range of genomic analyses and provided support and training within the institute and for external collaborators.
Andrew holds a BSc in Ecology (Cardiff University), a MRes in Biology (Cardiff University) and a PhD investigating taxonomy, pathology and control of Alternaria alternata a non-native fungal quarantine pathogen of apple and pear (University of Warwick in partnership with FERA).
Andrew's expertise includes genome assembly, annotation, comparative genomics, RNAseq, variant calling, amplicon sequencing, rAmpSeq and analysis of CrisprCas9 variants. He also performs bespoke analyses for organisms of interest such as pathogen effector identification, characterisation of host-adapted regions, systematics, resistance gene discovery and development of diagnostic assays.
Biography
Dr Aniema Atorudibo has a PhD in Economics from the University of Kent and joined the Food and Markets Department of the Natural Resources Institute in April 2022 as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow. Between 2017 and 2021, Aniema worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the School of Economics, University of Kent while also studying for her PhD. She has been involved in the development and delivery of various undergraduate modules including Development Economics, Principles of Economics, Quantitative Methods, Managerial Economics, and Business Research Methods.
Aniema's research interest lies in the microeconomics of development with specific focus on the economics of gender and culture, intra-household resource allocation, as well as poverty, inequality, and sustainable rural development. Her latest research addresses the influence of cultural norms within kinship systems on women's labour market and fertility choices in the Middle East and African countries (MENA). Currently, Aniema's research is focused on the development of innovative tools for assessing and evaluating the impact of agricultural development projects in low-income countries.
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- Professor of Applied Economics
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- Senior Research Fellow - Food Technologist & Nutrition Specialist
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- Senior Research Fellow in the Economics of Agri - Food Systems
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- Research Fellow in Public Health Nutrition
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- Senior Lecturer in Food Systems and Public Health Nutrition
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- Associate Professor in Chemical Ecology
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- Principal Scientist, Reader in Plant Physiology
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- Associate Professor of Agri - Food Systems Innovation
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- Visiting Fellow in Ecological Entomology
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- Fellow in Gender and Diversity in Food Systems
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- Associate Professor in Medical Entomology
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- Research Fellow in Behavioural Entomology
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- Principal Agricultural Marketing and Finance Economist
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- Senior Lecturer in Plant Virology and Diagnostics
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- Visiting Fellow in Environment & Development
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- Fellow in Agri - Environmental Modelling
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- Fellow in Biostatistics for Food and Agriculture
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- Senior Lecturer in Gender and Diversity in Food Systems
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- Research Fellow, Forest Ecology
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- Principal Research Fellow - Natural Resource Management and Innovations
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- Lecturer in Applied Ecology / Environmental Sciences
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- Senior Fellow in Climate and Rural Institutions
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- Senior Research Fellow - Food Systems and Nutrition
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- Senior Lecturer / Researcher Human Geography / Food Systems
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- Associate Professor in Gender, Inequalities and Food Systems
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- Member of the Foods
- Senior Research Fellow - Postharvest Specialist
Biography
Dr Louise Abayomi is a member of the Foods and Markets group within the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich and is a Senior Research Fellow in Postharvest Technology and Marketing Systems. She is certified with HACCP Level 4 for Food Safety for Manufacturing, BRC Version 8 Lead Auditor. Louise is certified Professional Trainer, and a member of the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI); the International society for tropical root crops (ISTRC); the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS); and Association of Applied Biologists (AAB).
With 20 years of experience in postharvest systems, of which 10 years were within the private sector, Dr Abayomi has postharvest handling experience across both perishable and durable crops; the management, application, and implementation of appropriate technology within value chains; NPD involving fortification and flour composites, including development of product specifications. As well as long-term research and development, Louise also undertakes short-term assignments for the private sector, including various strategic organisations such as the United Nations International Development Programme (UNIDO), UK Department for International Development (DfID, now FCDO), and the World Food Programme (WFP) in various areas across the food system continuum.
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- Senior Lecturer in Crop Ecology
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- Senior Fellow of Behavioural Sciences ( Food and Nutrition Security )
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- Fellow in Insect Behavioural Ecology
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- Crop Postharvest Technologist
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- Lecturer in Food Innovation
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- Head of Department - Food & Markets
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- Associate Professor of Bioinformatics
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- Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Development Economics
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- Associate Professor in Economics
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- Senior Fellow in Food Innovation, Innovation Growth Manager, Growing Kent & Medway Cluster
Biography
Dr. Parag Acharya joined NRI in 2020 brining 14 years of industrial R&D experience in food and biotechnology sectors with a successful track record of science and technology led product innovation. Since joining NRI as part of Food and Nutrition Sustainability Initiative (FaNSI), he has contributed (as PI/Co-I) to six research grants during 2021-2022 which worth total £1.5m of external funding (see below) to enable new insights on the alternative protein and resilient food supply chain. Besides, leading Food Processing and Innovation research group within the FMD, Parag is also the innovation growth manager for Growing Kent and Medway (GKM) cluster (http://www.growingkentandmedway.com) funded by £17.8million UKRI Strength in Places grant.
Jointly with the UKRI, GKM team has recently (Q1 2020) delivered a multi-stakeholder workshop to assess the UK landscape for alternative protein where Parag acted as the facilitator to identify the UK relevant priorities and knowledge gaps. He is also leading the development of Medway Food Innovation Centre (MFIC) which will not only create a vibrant ecosystem in the region but also deliver next generation technologies for the alternative protein based food.
Before joining NRI, Parag had been working for Unilever Food R&D (2011-2020) and delivered patented products and sustainable process technologies for brands like Knorr, Hellmann's etc. (lead inventor of 4 patents: WO 2020099180, WO 2017140439 A1, WO 2017001154 A1 and WO 2013189709 A1). He had a proven track record of successfully leading strategic open innovation partnerships and championed several academia-industry collaborations funded by EU FP-7 ITN, TKI-Agri Food, BBSRC-CTPs etc.
Parag's pioneering work as Unilever science lead demonstrated the impact of the food processing on the flavour composition of plant-based food products via understanding process-microstructure-function inter-relationship. His research at the Unilever also provided scientific insights on the causative chemistry of culinary flavour generation by unravelling how aroma generation can be controlled by the optimal processing of vegetables including utilization of the agri-food by-products.
Parag is highly skilled in building multi-disciplinary collaborations and leading co-creative food innovation. He also worked with the innovation quality management team in Unilever and has extensive network within the food companies.
Parag has initiated contacts with some of the renowned agri-food accelerators across the globe (e.g. StartLife in Wageningen, GROW in Singapore, and Swiss Food Valley etc.) to leverage their experiences in setting up the plant based food accelerator programme in the Medway campus which will support food enterprises of this region to grow faster.
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- Associate Professor of Food - Based Strategies for Nutrition
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- Lecturer in Food Safety / Food Innovation
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- ACWP Biotechnology Scientist
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- Reader in Postharvest Physiology
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- Member of NRI 's Agriculture
- Visiting Fellow
Dr Sarah Arnold joined the University of Greenwich in 2010, after completing her PhD in sensory ecology in the Chittka Lab at Queen Mary, University of London. Her background at Queen Mary and prior to that at the University of Cambridge, was in pollinator behaviour (Dyer et al. 2006, Nature) and the evolution of flower colours (Arnold et al. 2010, PLoS ONE). Dr Arnold investigated trends in the colour composition of flowering plant communities, and the responses of bees to flower colours under variable light conditions, finding that bees show preferences for familiar illuminant types when foraging (Arnold et al. 2012, J Exp Biol).
Since joining the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), Dr Arnold has continued to develop her interest in pollinators, studying the effects of the composition of pollen and nectar (Arnold et al. 2014, J Chem Ecol) on pollinators, their use of odour cues (Arnold et al. in prep) and how environment influences pollinator populations (Arnold et al. 2018, Agr Ecosys Environ). Additionally, she works on the ecology and behaviour of stored product pests, investigating the factors determining how they orient towards food material (Arnold et al. 2012, PLoS ONE; 2015, Bull Ent Res; 2016, Peer J) and the potential of pesticidal plants and other control methods in pre- and post-harvest pest management. Dr Arnold is particularly interested in how the behaviour of storage pests can be affected by their own life history (e.g. age, morph) and interactions between different cue types (colour, odour).
Dr Arnold is a member of NRI's Agriculture, Health & Environment Department, working primarily with the pest behaviour, chemical ecology and ecosystems services research groups. She been lead or co-author on publications about flower colour evolution, insect ecology, and pollinator and storage pest behaviour in international peer-reviewed journals, and is one of the developers and managers of the Floral Reflectance Database.
Dr Arnold is interested in insect behaviour and ecology, in particular the interactions between economically important insects (pests, pollinators, etc.) and their environment and food.
How do habitats and ecosystems influence abundance and species richness of insects of agricultural importance?
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- Research Fellow in Biopesticides
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- Visiting Fellow in Agricultural Entomology and Plant Pathology
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- Visiting Fellow in Capacity Strengthening and Partnerships
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- Senior Lecturer in Food Innovation
Biography
Dr Tonna Ashim Anyasi is a Senior Lecturer in Food Innovation at the Department of Food and Markets, Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Greenwich. Dr Anyasi holds a PhD in Agriculture (Food Science and Technology) and an MSc in Food Technology, with research focus on sustainable food and agro-processing, postharvest technology, carbohydrate polymers, phenolics as well as bioactivity, bioavailability and biodigestibility of food matrix in fruits, vegetables, cereal, root and tuber crops.
Before joining the Food and Markets Department, NRI, University of Greenwich, Dr Anyasi was a Senior Researcher at the Agro-Processing and Postharvest Technologies Division, Agricultural Research Council - Tropical and Subtropical Crops, Nelspruit, South Africa. Prior, Dr Anyasi was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of Venda, South Africa where he conducted research on several food processing techniques and their effect on the antioxidant properties and phenolics of tropical fruits, cereal, legumes, root and tuber crops.
Dr Anyasi has mentored and supervised to completion several PhD and MSc students; is a National Research Foundation of South Africa Y-Rated Researcher; a member of the Early Career Scientist Section of the International Union of Food Science and Technology and International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST/IAFoST-ECSS); a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT); and a professional member of the South African Association for Food Science and Technology (SAAFoST).
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- Senior Fellow in Biostatistics for Food and Agriculture
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- Senior Lecturer in Climate Change, State Fragility and Conflict, and UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellow
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- Research & Knowledge Exchange Manager
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- Laboratory Manager & Administrative Support
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- Professor
- Visiting Professor of Agricultural Innovation Systems
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- UK Food Systems CDT Project Administrator
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- Communications Coordinator
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- Professor of Land and Development Practice
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- Senior Lecturer in Food Safety
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- Systems Development Manager
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- Postharvest Research Assistant and Facility Manager
Kola Adebayo is currently the Team Leader, International and Rural Development at the Livelihoods Support and Development Centre, Nigeria. He became a Professor at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria in 2013. His collaboration with NRI spans over two and a half decades. He is commonwealth scholar and holds a split-site doctorate of the University of Agriculture Abeokuta and the University of Reading.
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- Programme Leader MSc Food Innovation and Food Safety and Quality Management E - Learning. Principal Scientist, NRI Quality Assurance Manager
Richard Hopkins joined NRI in the spring of 2014, moving from the Ecology Department of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Biography
Professor Robert Cheke joined the Centre for Overseas Pest Research, one of the Natural Resources Institute's predecessor scientific units, as a senior scientific officer in September 1976 and was promoted to principal scientific officer (G7/PS2) in 1990. He was appointed Professor of Tropical Zoology in 1997. Previous posts included:
Professor Cheke's research interests concern understanding the functioning of ecological systems. Most of his research concerns tropical environments in Africa, involving the biology and control of vector-borne diseases and agricultural pests, often including mathematical modelling. As an ornithologist and entomologist, Professor Cheke specialises in vectors of onchocerciasis ('river blindness'), on migrant agricultural pests such as locusts, armyworm moths and red-billed quelea birds, and on mathematical models of integrated pest management. His research has involved fieldwork in numerous countries in western, eastern and southern Africa. In addition, he has recently been working on mosquito and blackfly ecology in the UK.
His major achievements include:
Contributions to the success of the World Health Organization's Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP) in West Africa (1979-90), which treated vector breeding sites with insecticides from 1974 to 2002. This programme helped protect some 40 million people in 11 countries (see WHO, 2002. Success in Africa: The Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa 1974-2002. WHO, Geneva), and also prevented some 600,000 cases of blindness.
Work with the WHO African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), which led to the successful elimination of onchocerciasis vectors from the island of Bioko, Equatorial Guinea, in 2005, thereby protecting about 70,000 people from contracting the disease in perpetuity (Cheke et al. 2009; Traoré, S. et al. 2009). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba-OKhQQ9k8
Research with Ghanaian collaborators on effects of climate change on Onchocerciasis sponsored by IDRC led to production of the film 'Living with the Fly'
Professor Cheke has investigated potential effects of anthropogenic climate change on the animals that he studies and, having looked at how changes in rainfall patterns could affect desert locusts (Tratalos et al. 2010) and brown locusts (Todd et al. 2002), he has also conducted research on climate change effects on onchocerciasis vectors in collaboration with Professor M.G. Basáñez of Imperial College London (Cheke et al. 2015). Together with collaborators in China, he has been concerned with modelling how to control dengue virus vectors by introducing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes (Zhang et al 2016, Wang et al. 2016, 2019), locust phase changes (Cheke et al. 2013, 2021, Yuan et al. 2015, Xiang et al. 2016) and general aspects of integrated pest management modelling (Liang et al. 2013, 2018).
Professor Cheke has published 300 articles on biological topics, two books (Cheke, R.A. and Walsh, J.F. (1996) The Birds of Togo. British Ornithologists' Union Check-list no. 14. British Ornithologists' Union, Tring; and Cheke, R.A. and Mann, C.F. (2001) Sunbirds. A Guide to the Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Spiderhunters and Sugarbirds of the World. Christopher Helm, A&C Black, London). He has edited three sets of conference proceedings, one of which was for a Royal Society discussion meeting in 1989.
Professor Cheke devised the NRI MSc programme in natural resources (now re-named as two separate degree courses) and managed it as programme leader in its initial years. He has supervised more than 20 PhD students.
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- IT Development and Design Specialist
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- Research Facilities Manager
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- Doctoral Training Manager
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- Teaching Programmes Administrator
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- Coordinator of the Innovation Partnership
Biography
Professor Valerie Nelson has a first degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge, an MSc in Rural Resources and Environmental Policy from Wye College, University of London, and a PhD from the University of Greenwich in Global Supply Chain Sustainability Initiatives: Impacts, Governance, Systemic Constraints and Regenerative Alternatives'.
She has worked in international development since 1992, initially in Belize on forest planning and management, conducting field research in Mayan and migrant communities, followed by research at an agricultural research institute of the University of the State of Mexico in indigenous communities in the central highlands of Mexico. Following a 6-month stint in Bavaria supporting partnership development between European, Latin America and Asia protected areas, she joined Oxfam GB's policy department, evaluating their South-South Environment Learning Programme. Valerie joined NRI in 1996 and has since conducted social and transdisciplinary research on agriculture, land, rural development, and environment in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the UK.
Valerie has led significant research projects and conducted action research in the following areas: Participatory rural development; Sustainable livelihoods and the social dimensions of agriculture, natural resources management and landscapes; Gender, intersectionality and climate change adaptation; Smallholder agricultural adaptation and climate change resilience; Governance and politics of sustainability in global value chains; Fair trade and sustainability standards; Critical reflections on sustainable supply chain initiatives and responsible business; Land rights and governance; Social learning and multi-stakeholder processes; Regenerative and alternative economies and biodiversity; Transformative Change; Human-Nature relations. Early work included pioneering of the use of participatory video in natural resources management in Malawi (1996-1998) and developing and facilitating subsequent social learning and co-production methodologies.
She has led the NRI Sustainable Production, Trade and Consumption Programme since 2013. She currently co-leads the NRI Political Ecology, Culture and Arts Research Group which has the following research themes: relationality, the more than human, socionatures and biodiversity; politics and meanings of food and farming; ecojustice, power and land; transformative change, social movements and sustainability futures; post-growth economies and commoning; environmental intersectionalities and ethics of care.
Valerie is an expert for the Inter-Governmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) acting as a contributing author for the 2022 Values Assessment, the 2022 Scoping Study on Business and Biodiversity, and is currently a lead author for the Transformative Change Assessment. She is also currently a lead author for the UNEP Global Environmental Outlook GEO-7 report. She sits on the Scottish Government's advisory panel for their environment strategy. Valerie was a member of the UK and Ireland's Development Studies Association Council for 6 years.
She is also an evaluation and learning specialist, leading multiple complex evaluations and research studies, including multi-country studies: Fairtrade impact; Sustainability standards and poverty impact; Corporate codes of practice and poverty impact; Trade and global value chains via social and economic upgrading; Responsible, accountable, and transparent enterprise; Forest landscapes and finance; Climate resilience and sustainable agriculture; Human rights and environmental due diligence. She has recently co-facilitated a Learning Cycle for the LandCollaborative, involving 12 national land governance stakeholder platforms in Africa and Asia and evaluated a sustainable rubber initiative involving multi-stakeholder platforms in Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar. High level consultancies have been undertaken for, amongst others, UNDP, EC, Irish Aid, DFID (now FCDO), Dutch Government, ISEAL, ILO, BEIS, Defra, Welthungerhilfe, Fair Trade Advocacy Office, Fairtrade International, Rainforest Alliance, Oxfam, CGIAR etc.
Valerie is currently teaching on the Masters on Transformative Change for Sustainable Development, leading a module on Regenerative economies, politics and societies. She is supervising several PhD students on subjects including urban ecologies and food, the future of small-scale farming and relational perspectives on food territories.