NEXUS-Science at the Royal Society

NEXUS-Science members Professor Guy Poppy and Professor Tiina Roose took part in a University of Southampton lecture on Food Security at the Royal Society yesterday.

The lecture was part of the University's series of lectures addressing grand challenge research areas. Professor Guy Poppy was one of the keynote speakers. Guy is Chief Scientific Adviser to the Food Standards Agency (UK Govt) and is a Professor of Ecology in Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in journals including Nature and PNAS many of which have become citation classics which have influenced environmental policies across the world. He was the University of Southampton’s Director of Interdisciplinary Research from 2011-2014 overseeing 11 University Strategic Research Groups (USRGs) addressing grand challenges. His current CSA (Chief Scientific Adviser) secondment to the UK Government’s Food Standards Agency makes him part of the Government’s circle of CSAs led by Sir Mark Walport. His personal research, the ESPA-ASSETS project, involves leading a large interdisciplinary 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 of direct relevance to delivering global food security and to working towards several of the Millennium Development Goals. He is the UK scientific representative for European COST actions and advises on food security initiatives globally. He is a great science communicator and is passionate about sharing knowledge with the next generation and helping to develop the environmental scientists of the future.

Guy’s fellow keynote speakers were Professor Sir Charles Godfray, Hope Professor of Entomology and Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food, at Oxford; and Professor Christine Williams, External Director of Food Agriculture and Health at the University of Reading and Chair of the BBSRC Agriculture and Food Security Advisory Panel.

The keynote talks were followed by a panel presentation. The panel members were, NEXUS-Science steering group member, Professor Tiina Roose, Professor of Biological and Environmental Modelling & Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Southampton; Professor Nyovani Madise, Professor of Demography & Social Statistics and Co-Director, Centre for Global Health, Population, Poverty and Policy at the University of Southampton and Professor Barrie Margetts, Emeritus Professor within Medicine at the University of Southampton. The event as a whole stimulated  thought provoking questions and raised interest in the food security research challenge which was reflected on Twitter, some of which was captured by the hashtag: #UoSLectures.