Leadership Team
Prof Carol Wagstaff (Co-Director)
Carol received her DPhil from the University of York in 1999 and is also an alumnus of Royal Holloway, University of London. She was appointed as Assistant Professor at University of Reading in January 2007 and promoted to Professor in 2017. Carol became Head of School: Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy in 2018. She is presently Professor of Crop Quality for Health in the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Reading and was appointed as the University of Reading Research Dean for Agriculture, Food and Health in August 2021. Carol is on the Agriculture Food and Veterinary Science Unit of Assessment panel for REF2021 and is on the editorial boards of Annual Plant Reviews Online and the Journal of Molecular Horticulture. She co-Directs the BBSRC Horticultural Quality and Food Loss Network and the AgriFood Training Partnership.
Carol leads a research group that focuses on improving the quality of food, including the nutritional value, appearance, flavour and shelf life, as well as helping consumers make healthy and sustainable dietary choices. Her group’s expertise is in linking high-throughput and high-resolution metabolomics data with genetic, molecular and organoleptic profiling in both crops and humans in order to discover regulatory mechanisms associated with flavour and nutritional traits. The goal of her group’s research is to enable better quality fresh produce to be offered to consumers through quantifying and manipulating the impact that the growing environment, postharvest handling and supply chain management has on crop quality parameters.
Prof Leon Terry (Co-Director)
Prof Leon A. Terry is Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Cranfield University. He is responsible for developing the future strategic direction of research provision and innovation across the University.
Prof Terry established the Plant Science Laboratory at Cranfield in 2002 which has become one of the largest and best equipped postharvest research groups in the world. His personal scholarship has been driven by a need to preserve and maintain the quality and safety of food by better understanding the physiological, pathological, biochemical and molecular changes which occur after harvest in order to reduce food losses and waste, and thereby help ensure greater food security across the world.
Dr Sofia Kourmpetli (Industry Liaison Manager)
Sofia holds a BSc(Hons) in Agriculture from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and has worked as an agronomist in the public and private sector before pursuing a career in research. She completed an MSc in Plant Genetic Manipulation at the University of Nottingham and a PhD in Plant Sciences at the same university and Rothamsted Research, UK. She has a background in molecular genetics and developmental biology and her postdoctoral research work was focused on understanding the genetic regulatory networks that control fruit and grain development and quality. Sofia joined the Plant Science Laboratory at Cranfield in 2016 as a Lecturer in Plant Sciences and since then she has been working on and leading research council and industry-funded projects in three main areas: 1) the reduction of food losses and waste, 2) seed quality and germination 3) urban agriculture. She has a proven record of working in multidisciplinary teams to deliver solutions that contribute to food system resilience and sustainability.
Jane Bradbeer (Network Manager)
Jane graduated with a BSc (Hons) Horticulture (First Class Honours) from the University of Reading in 1990. She worked in the crop protection industry at Syngenta (and legacy companies ICI, Zeneca, AstraZeneca) in anti-fungal research and product development and latterly in a techno-regulatory product registration role for many years. In May 2020, she became the HortQFLNet Network Manager based at the University of Reading and from May 2020 – February 2021 also worked in the EIT Food Professional Education team developing training programmes and tools to support the agri-food industry. In March 2021, Jane was appointed Project Manager for the ‘Co-production of healthy, sustainable food systems for disadvantaged communities’ project led by Prof. Carol Wagstaff, part of the UKRI SPF ‘Transforming the UK food system for healthy people and a healthy environment’ five- year project.
Network Management Board
Prof Cathie Martin, John Innes Centre (Chair)
Dr Richard Colgan, University of Greenwich NRI
Dr Jim Monaghan, Harper Adams University
Dr Julie Graham, James Hutton Institute
Prof Katherine Denby, University of York
Dr John Clarkson, University of Warwick
Prof Simon Pearson, University of Lincoln
Dr Peter Walley, University of Liverpool
Will McManus, WRAP
David Barney, Geofresh
James Phillips or Mary Jenkinson-Finch BBSRC representative*
Prof Leon Terry, Cranfield University (Co-director)
Prof Carol Wagstaff, University of Reading (Co-director)
Miss Jane Bradbeer (Network Manager)
Network Advisory Board
Chris Moncrieff, Royal Horticultural Society (Chair)
Dr Gemma Chope, PepsiCo
Dr Sarah Blanford, Sainsburys
Prof Caroline Orfila, University of Leeds
Prof Xiangming Xu, NIAB-EMR
TBC, FSA
Dr Rebecca Smith
Victor Aguilera, DEFRA
James Phillips or Mary Jenkinson-Finch, BBSRC representative*
Dr Sofia Kourmpetli, Cranfield University (Network Liaison Manager)
Prof Leon Terry, Cranfield University (Co-director)*
Prof Carol Wagstaff, University of Reading (Co-director)*
*attending in an observer capacity to facilitate communication between boards
Prof Cathie Martin, John Innes Centre Chair, Management Board
She is particularly interested in biofortification and using plant metabolic engineering to enhance foods nutritionally. Much of Cathie’s work has been undertaken in tomatoes, enriching their nutrient content with, for example, resveratrol and anthocyanin. Cathie collaborates to test these enhanced foods in intervention studies and also undertakes studies into how these modified fruits have improved shelf-life and reduced susceptibility to grey mould, Botrytis cinerea.
Cathie and her group have recently been co-ordinating research into the relationship between diet and health, and how crops can be fortified to improve diets and address the global challenge of escalating chronic disease. This work has involved linking leading clinical and epidemiological researchers with plant breeders and metabolic engineers to develop scientific understanding of how diet can help to maintain health, lead to healthy ageing and reduce the risk of chronic disease. This has included research into plants which contain natural chemical compounds, some of which are seen as ‘natural medicines.’ Cathie is particularly interested in phenolic compounds present in fruit and vegetables which are considered to be the main ‘active ingredients’ of many ‘super foods’ and ‘super drinks’.
Cathie’s fundamental research has also focused on cellular specialisation and she was the first to identify genes regulating cell shaping in plants. She is currently investigating how specially shaped cells adapt plants to their environment. Cathie is also interested in cellular specialisation in flowers (colour and cell shape) and how these traits are used by different plants for pollinator attraction. She has also been involved in developing genetic screens to identify crops which lack toxins that cause nutritional diseases such as konzo and neurolathyrism. Purple tomatoesBlood orangesNatural productsLanding lights for bees
Richard Colgan, University of Greenwich NRI
Richard has worked for The Natural Resources Institute as a Post-harvest Physiologist for the 10 years and with colleagues helped set up with Produce Quality Centre a collaboration between NRI and NIAB-EMR. He has a strong interest in maintaining the quality of harvested fresh produce and reducing losses in the supply chain and wastage in the home. Richard studied for an MSc in Crop Protection at the Institute of Arable Crops- Long Ashton/ University of Bristol, before joining East-Malling Research (HRI-East Malling) in 1994 as a storage physiologist and pathologist working with the UK fruit industry to reduce losses of stored apples and pears. He studied the control of ethylene biosynthesis and ripening in apple for his PhD based at HRI-East Malling/University of Cranfield. Since moving to NRI Richard’s research interests have widen to include understanding the mechanisms associated with dormancy break and sprout growth suppression in potato, reducing wastage in stored brassica’s and developing real-time sensors for the detection of disease volatiles in fruit. Richard and colleagues have been at the forefront of introducing Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere Storage into the UK that has helped to extend the marketing window of UK grown apples reducing the need for imported fruit. More recently he is working with the soft-fruit sector and refrigeration sectors to design cooling equipment that facilitates the cooling of fruit immediately after harvest to provide greater flexibility in cool-chain management.
Dr Jim Monaghan, Harper Adams University
Jim Monaghan has worked in crop science for 25 years. Following a Biology degree at UCNW Bangor, Jim researched aspects of crop production at Harper Adams University College and John Innes Centre (PhD), Newcastle University, HRI-Efford and HRI-Wellesbourne. Jim then had a look at the real world for three years at Marks and Spencer as Salads Technologist, where he had responsibility for food safety, pesticide residue minimisation, and compliance with codes of practice for all salad products and salad ingredients in minimally processed foods, before heading back to Harper Adams to develop teaching and research in the area of fresh produce production in 2005.
Jim leads the Fresh Produce Research Centre at HAU which is focussed on fresh produce production, particularly leafy vegetables and covers three areas: 1) agronomic manipulation of post-harvest quality and nutritional content in crops; 2) identifying genetic traits that may lead to more sustainable crop production; and 3) developing and implementing food safety systems in fresh produce. Jim previously chaired the Technical Advisory Committee for Red Tractor Produce from 2010-17 and is a member of the BBRO Technical Committee.
Dr Julie Graham, The James Hutton Institute
Julie Graham leads the Soft Fruit and Perennial Crops Research at James Hutton Institute. Currently the group work to support the soft fruit sector by ensuring industry relevant research and breeding programmes are carried out that meet stakeholder requirements.
The Soft Fruit industry faces many challenges towards increased productivity, low input, carbon neutral regime in the light of changing climate. The UK berry industry is worth £2.2bn, with scope for growth based on significant health benefits of fruit. However, berries and other stone fruits are resource heavy crops reliant on energy, water, plastics and multiple pesticide and fertiliser inputs. External pressures such as loss of actives, lack of suitable substrates, consumer pressure and labour issues are prompting a necessary transformation in crop production. Innovation in both traditional growing and totally controlled growing is required.
The soft fruit work Julie leads translates molecular research into breeding solutions e.g. root- rot resistance markers which have led to the first root rot resistant raspberry variety ‘Glen Mor’ accompanied by research to understand the mechanisms of resistance. We have been at the forefront of adopting plant architectural traits into IPM strategies including breeding programmes. More recently the group has been developing imaging technology for high throughput QTL mapping to assist in the understanding of sustainability traits and diagnostics for on farm applications.
Prof Katherine Denby, University of York
Katherine Denby is Professor in the Biology Department at the University of York and a member of the department’s Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (cnap.org.uk). Katherine is also Academic Director of the N8 AgriFood Programme (n8agrifood.ac.uk), a multidisciplinary programme (across 8 research-intensive UK universities) tackling sustainable food production, resilient supply chains, diet, consumer behaviour and nutrition to address global food security challenges. She is an Editor of The Plant Journal and the journal Plants, People, Planet.
Katherine has a degree in Microbiology from the University of Bristol and a PhD in Plant Science from the University of Oxford. She did post-doctoral research with Dr Rob Last at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Science at Cornell University, USA before moving to South Africa. Katherine headed up a research group at the University of Cape Town investigating the regulation of plant defence before moving back to the UK in 2006 to Warwick HRI, later School of Life Sciences, and Warwick Systems Biology Centre at Warwick University where she began to use interdisciplinary approaches and apply these to developing crops with enhanced disease resistance.
Katherine’s research group focuses on plant disease resistance, novel bio-control strategies and using systems biology approaches for faster crop improvement – integrating genomics, transcriptomics and network analysis together with quantitative genetics, focusing on leafy vegetables. Her work is funded by BBSRC, Innovate UK (with industry partners) and GCRF with key collaborations with the African Orphan Crop Consortium, World Vegetable Centre and the South African Agricultural Research Council.
Dr John Clarkson, University of Warwick
John Clarkson is a plant pathologist and research leader in the Warwick Crop Centre in the School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick specialising mainly in pathogens of vegetable crops. The Crop Centre has a remit of translating research into solutions for the industry and hence he is involved in a range of different projects from basic/strategic to applied, funded by government, research councils and industry. Areas of interest and expertise include plant pathogen biology, epidemiology, diversity and diagnostics with particular focus on soilborne diseases such as Sclerotinia and Fusarium as well as disease management approaches such as biological control and disease forecasting. John has over 20 years of pathology experience and strong links with the industry and other researchers through collaborative projects.
Prof Simon Pearson, University of Lincoln
Simon Pearson is Professor of Agri-Food Technology and Director of the Lincoln Institute of Agri Food Technology (LIAT)
Simon’s research interests include:
A diverse range of agri technology applications including robotic systems, automation, energy control and management, food safety systems, novel crop development.
The environmental physiology of fresh produce and ornamental crops, including impacts on crop quality and development; The post harvest physiology of vegetables, fruits and cut flowers, including the use of modified atmosphere packaging; The effects of light manipulation on crop growth and development, including the development and application of greenhouse spectral filters and LED lighting systems; The development of on farm decision support systems from remote sensing information; The development of pre and post farm gate supply and demand forecasting systems.
Dr Peter Walley, University of Liverpool
Peter Walley Bsc. (Hons) MSc.PhD FHEA
Lecturer in Genetics, PI Crop Genetic Improvement Research Group
Institute of Systems, Molecular & Integrative Biology
University of Liverpool
Peter joined Liverpool from Warwick in 2016 as a Tenure Track Fellow; he is now a Lecturer in Genetics and leads the Crop Genetic Improvement Group and sits on the management board for the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Food Systems.
The Crop Genetic Improvement Group at Liverpool uses trait genetics and conventional breeding strategies to incorporate novel genetic variation into pre-breeding material suitable for uptake by industry. Their research encompasses the response of plants and plant ecosystems to changing environment, and how we can use this information in the genetic improvement of crops to address the needs of sustainable intensification, whilst informing conservation efforts within native communities. Research within the group is underpinned by the Centre for Genomics Research, and the GeneMill Synthetic Biology Centre. Together, our teams use the latest ‘omics’ technologies to explore the genetic control of key traits relating to crop productivity, such as abiotic stress tolerance, post-harvest performance, pest and disease resilience, product quality and nutrition.
Peter is an expert in crop genomics and breeding with a particular focus in the genomics of vegetable Brassica crop wild relatives. He is a member of several working groups of the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR): Documentation and Information Working Group (crop specialist, trait genetics), Brassica working Group (crop specialist, trait genetics), and Leafy Vegetables working Group Member (crop specialist). Peter is the Coordinator of the working group on plant genetic resources, breeding, and seed production in the European Vegetable Research Institutes Network (EURVRIN); and is a European Commission Research and Innovation registered expert (Plant breeding, agricultural biotechnology) for Horizon 2020 (Expert: EX2014D180247).
Peter is currently leading the brassica research for the H2020 project BRESOV.
David Barney, GeoFresh
David Barney is an independent fresh produce specialist, based in Lincolnshire. He provides clients with advice on the production, sourcing and processing of fruit and vegetables and currently has projects in Australia, USA, Italy and the UK.
After studying Agriculture at Wye College, London University, and prior to working independently, he held procurement and technical roles with with a large UK-based farming organisation and a major chilled food manufacturer.
Throughout his career, David has been involved with research. He has been (at different times) a member of the Horticultural Development Council, Chairman of the British Leafy Salads Association’s R&D Group, Board Member of the (US-based) United Fresh Produce Association and Member of the HortLINK Project Management Committee – and has worked with others as the Co-ordinators of BBSRC’s Horticulture and Potato Initiative. David is passionate about the practical application of research and the need to link research aims with real world problems. He hopes to be able to help the HortQFLNet engage appropriately with industry.
Dr Will McManus, WRAP
Will leads WRAP’s work with the fresh produce supply chain to reduce food surplus and waste and improve resource efficiency as part of the flagship voluntary agreement with industry, the Courtauld Commitment 2025. He is also responsible for WRAP’s work on measuring and tackling food waste in primary production.
Will works with the businesses sourcing and supplying the fresh fruit and veg that we buy in the shops, their growers and the retailers. Key to WRAP’s work is taking a whole chain approach to reduce waste across the system as a whole and a large part of Will’s role is stakeholder engagement to identify and prioritise solutions to deliver this.
Will led WRAP’s work on the 2019 estimate of the 3.6Mt, £1.2bn food surplus and waste in primary production in the UK. His work currently includes rolling out practical approaches to on-farm measurement of surplus and waste, collaborating on the Potato YEN (Yield Enhancement Network) and technical research on food safety risks and home storage guidance.
Network Advisory Board
Chris Moncrieff, RHS: Chair, Advisory Board
Chris undertook his HND in Commercial Horticulture at Writtle College and subsequently joined the tomato grower Van Heyningen Brothers where he remained through a number incarnations of the company, finally taking on the role of Production Director for Vitacress Herbs. After 35 years with the business, Chris moved to the Royal Horticultural society, a charity most famous for its annual flower shows such as Chelsea Flower Show as well as its education and community work. Chris’s current work focusses on charitable projects involving the Society’s plant trials, bursaries for horticultural travel, partner gardens and plant societies, as well as membership of the Ornamental Round Table Group which helps to promote horticulture to various Government Departments. Additionally Chris sits on the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education Route Panel for Agriculture, Environment and Animal Care and an Executive member of the West Sussex Growers Association.
Dr Gemma Chope, PepsiCo
I joined PepsiCo R&D in 2015 and am currently Principal Scientist for the Agro Raw Material Discovery Group, where we work to maximise quality and minimise waste throughout the supply chain to support availability and sustainability of the raw materials used to make our products.
I am a postharvest crop physiologist by training with a PhD from Cranfield University (UK), with a background in cereals and grains and a history of academic research and more than nine years of experience in applied R&D for the food and drink industry.
In my free time I am a keen trail runner and enjoy travel, including weekends in our campervan.
Dr Sarah Blanford, Sainsburys
Sarah has worked at Sainsbury’s for over ten years across a number of Horticulture categories, including leading the Vegetables, Salads and Prepared Technical team for three years. Currently she is Crop, Organic and Agriculture Data Manager which involves developing and leading a team of Agronomists and sourcing experts looking after all Crop related areas throughout our supply chains while ensuring that we maximise the insights that can be drawn from Agriculture data. Sarah is also Sherpa to the Food and Drink Sector Council Innovation Working Group. Prior to Sainsbury’s, Sarah worked within the supply base looking after a number of retail accounts from a technical point of view. She has had the opportunity to travel extensively through her career and build on her passion for food and farming.
Prof Caroline Orfila, University of Leeds
Caroline is Professor of Plant Biochemistry and Nutrition and Associate Director of the Global Food and Environment Institute at the University of Leeds.
Her research group aims to understand the role of food carbohydrates (sugars, starch, fibre) on health and disease. The focus is on understanding pre- and post-harvest processing effects on nutritional quality and safety of a range of plant crops, including legume and cereal seeds, tubers, fruits and vegetables. She is particularly interested in using low cost agricultural and food processing methods to reduce waste and enhance the nutritional quality diets.
Her main research interests are: Plant cell walls and impact on texture and nutritional quality, Fibre and health, Starch digestion and health, Plant foods (cereals, legumes, fruits, tubers), Post-harvest losses, Diet and quality of life, Waste valorisation
Information about her current research projects can be found on her website page
Prof Xiangming Xu, NIAB-EMR
Professor Xiangming Xu is Head of Science at NIAB EMR.
His research interests are in Plant Disease Epidemiology, Population Genetics, Microbial Ecology, Disease Management.
Current research activities centre on microbial ecology (rhizosphere microbiome and endophytes), spatio-temporal dynamics of plant diseases, and developing strategies for sustainable disease management (effective deployment of host resistance, use of beneficial microbes etc.).
Recent staff research projects that he has been involved with include the management of strawberry diseases, biology and management of apple replant disease, the use of AMF to improve plant health and decoding the rhizobiota interactome for improve crop resilience.
FSA representative –
Rebecca Smith
Updated biography coming soon…….
Victor Aguilera, DEFRA
With over a decade’s experience working in the NGO and Government sectors, conducting policy analysis and research on areas including climate change adaptation and food systems sustainability, I have a passion for sustainability and a keen interest in systems thinking and how this can be applied to support the transition towards more sustainable food systems.
I currently lead the sustainable consumption and supply chain sustainability themes at Defra’s Food Science Team, where I am responsible for translating scientific evidence to inform policy development, designing evidence plans, and evaluating policy initiatives.
I am also part responsible for the development of the research strategy to support food policy and I hope to be able to support the HortQFLNet both by providing an insight to government’s food policy and ensure any outcomes of the HortQFLNet are fed back to support policy making.
Our Terms of Reference
You can download the document detailing the terms of reference for each board from the link below.
Our Position Statement
You can download the document here