Colin Tosh joins us as Senior Agroforestry Researcher from the Centre for Behaviour and Evolution at Newcastle University where he was a lecturer in Ecology, Evolution and Computational Biology. Colin grew up in in a farming community in Eastern Scotland prior to the intensive use of agrochemicals and hankers to see a return of these productive and nature-rich agroecosystems. Current projects he will be working on include the Agroforestry ELM Test and Agromix.
Pip Robb joins us as interim Project Manager for the Knowledge Exchange platform, Agricology, which aims to inspire farmers to transition to more sustainable farming practices by providing knowledge and evidence from industry experts and respected peers. Pip said “I am thrilled to have the chance to be involved in helping farmers meet the ongoing ecological and economic challenges they face.”
Rowan Dumper-Pollard joins us as Organic Business and Markets Researcher. Rowan will be assisting the ORC Business and Markets Research Team on Agromix. The project is European wide and investigates the key barriers to and innovation opportunities for sustainable value chain networks in mixed farming and agroforestry systems. Rowan grew up on on a small mixed farm in mid-Devon and has always been interested in the production of quality, organic food. His work recently (whilst completing an MRes in Sustainable Futures at the University of Bristol) has mainly been focused on research methodology for sustainability issues with a final dissertation on the positive impact that digital technology can have for small scale food producers during the logistical and exchange phases of the supply chain. This has led to a side project researching ‘digital food hubs’ with two academics from Imperial College London – this has been delayed due to Covid.
