This pages gives details of the staff responsible for the management and day-to-day operations of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures. There is also information about the University of Sheffield academic staff who are supervising our Scholars’ PhD projects.
Scholarship Programme Manager
Deborah Beck’s role builds on her experience in academia, education and policy development. After working as a sociology researcher and in teaching, she spent 12 years in the UK Civil Service as a Senior Research Officer at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. As Scholarship Programme Manager, she provides the Grantham Scholars with day-to-day support by organising and managing their training programme, and she is a driving force behind many of the Grantham Centre’s events and activities.
Business Engagement Lead
Richard Bruce has an in-depth first-hand knowledge of the supply-chain issues facing the global agri-food and FMCG sectors from working with business in the UK and China, and in academia. He spent six years at Harper Adams University, establishing the DTI Enterprise Unit before founding his own consultancy, working on strategic issues facing major suppliers and retailers, and interfacing with government and industry bodies. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Chief Research Advisor
Professor Peter Horton is a plant biologist who has spent over 30 years at the University of Sheffield where he is now Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. His research into photosynthesis led to him being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2010 and he now focusses on devising interdisciplinary approaches to delivering global food security. In the Grantham Centre, Peter’s role is helping develop the centre’s research programme, and links with his role in the SheFF programme.
Communications Officer
Claire’s communication work covers everything from content management of all our social media and websites, to outreach, marketing and innovation. Her top priority is communicating the incredible research undertaken at the Grantham Centre, research that aims to create a sustainable future.
Holding an MA in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester, Claire is interested in how sustainability issues impact on people in their lived environments, and how these lived environments in their turn impact on the global environment.
Associate Director
Colin Osborne is Professor of Plant Biology in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield. His research experience spans two decades and he currently heads up a lab group focusing on evolutionary and environmental physiology. In the Grantham Centre, Colin oversees Grantham Scholars’ training and development, equipping them to become sustainability experts and policy advocates. As a science communicator, he led the RoboPlant project to develop the world’s first robotic plant.
Director
Professor Tony Ryan OBE leads the University of Sheffield’s programme in sustainability research, across pure and applied sciences, engineering and social sciences. His focus is on the global food, water and energy nexus challenge, feeding a growing world population, reducing the impacts of agriculture and food production that account for 25-30% of greenhouse gas emissions, and harnessing the power of the sun for food production and renewable energy. He has worked with learned societies from The Royal Society to Chatham House.
Policy Engagement Lead
Mark joined the Grantham Centre following a wide range of scientific policy and leadership positions in the UK Civil Service and Diplomatic Service. As Head of the UK Science & Innovation Network at the British High Commission in New Delhi, India, he led the establishment of the Newton-Bhabha programme to support UK-India collaboration on grand societal challenges. Mark now splits his time between the Grantham Centre and Research & Innovation Services where he is programme adviser for the Global Challenges Research Fund campaign.
Centre Administrator
Eva joined the Grantham Centre in late 2016. Her role is to provide day-to-day administrative support and assistance with co-ordinating internal and external events, and communications within the University of Sheffield. She is the first point of contact for many Grantham Centre enquiries.
Eva’s background is in graphic design, which she studied in the Czech Republic before moving to the UK, where she spent several years working in the creative sector as a production manager and designer.
Scholarship Programme Manager
Deborah Beck’s role builds on her experience in academia, education and policy development. After working as a sociology researcher and in teaching, she spent 12 years in the UK Civil Service as a Senior Research Officer at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. As Scholarship Programme Manager, she provides the Grantham Scholars with day-to-day support by organising and managing their training programme, and she is a driving force behind many of the Grantham Centre’s events and activities.
Business Engagement Lead
Richard Bruce has an in-depth first-hand knowledge of the supply-chain issues facing the global agri-food and FMCG sectors from working with business in the UK and China, and in academia. He spent six years at Harper Adams University, establishing the DTI Enterprise Unit before founding his own consultancy, working on strategic issues facing major suppliers and retailers, and interfacing with government and industry bodies. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Co-Director of P3
Duncan Cameron is Professor of Plant and Soil Biology in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield and co-Director of the P3 centre of excellence for translational plant science. His work has included industry collaborations to help develop sustainable agricultural practices and find ways to feed growing populations. He has received the World Economic Forum’s Young Scientist Award for his work in translating fundamental advances in plant science into practical agricultural solutions.
Chief Research Advisor
Professor Peter Horton is a plant biologist who has spent over 30 years at the University of Sheffield where he is now Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. His research into photosynthesis led to him being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2010 and he now focusses on devising interdisciplinary approaches to delivering global food security. In the Grantham Centre, Peter’s role is helping develop the centre’s research programme, and links with his role in the SheFF programme.
Chair of SheFF
Peter Jackson is Professor of Human Geography in the Department of Geography at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on commodity culture and the geography of consumption with a particular interest in food. He chairs the interdisciplinary research cluster SheFF (University of Sheffield Sustainable Food Futures), which aims to deliver resilient and sustainable agri-food systems to provide sufficient safe, affordable and nutritious food to all, and leads on the group’s consumer practice theme.
Grantham Scholar
Joe Llanos is the student representative to the Grantham Centre Management Group. His role is to represent the views of Grantham Scholars and ensure that their perspectives are built into the centre’s decision-making process. Joe is currently in the second year of his PhD project, which is focused on creating viable alternative soil-management strategies with earthworms at the core. His supervisors are Dr Penelope Watt, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences and Professor Jonathan Leake, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences.
Deputy Director of Development, Alumni Relations and Events
Michelle Moore joined the University of Sheffield in 2016 as Deputy Director of Development, Alumni Relations and Events. She has over a decade of experience in higher education. Michelle and her team are responsible for raising philanthropic funds for the University’s strategic priorities, and Michelle’s role on the Management Group is to ensure smooth coordination with between the Grantham Centre and the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment.
Communications Officer
Claire’s communication work covers everything from content management of all our social media and websites, to outreach, marketing and innovation. Her top priority is communicating the incredible research undertaken at the Grantham Centre, research that aims to create a sustainable future.
Holding an MA in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester, Claire is interested in how sustainability issues impact on people in their lived environments, and how these lived environments in their turn impact on the global environment.
Associate Director
Colin Osborne is Professor of Plant Biology in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield. His research experience spans two decades and he currently heads up a lab group focusing on evolutionary and environmental physiology. In the Grantham Centre, Colin oversees Grantham Scholars’ training and development, equipping them to become sustainability experts and policy advocates. As a science communicator, he led the RoboPlant project to develop the world’s first robotic plant.
Director
Professor Tony Ryan OBE leads the University of Sheffield’s programme in sustainability research, across pure and applied sciences, engineering and social sciences. His focus is on the global food, water and energy nexus challenge, feeding a growing world population, reducing the impacts of agriculture and food production that account for 25-30% of greenhouse gas emissions, and harnessing the power of the sun for food production and renewable energy. He has worked with learned societies from The Royal Society to Chatham House.
Policy Engagement Lead
Mark joined the Grantham Centre following a wide range of scientific policy and leadership positions in the UK Civil Service and Diplomatic Service. As Head of the UK Science & Innovation Network at the British High Commission in New Delhi, India, he led the establishment of the Newton-Bhabha programme to support UK-India collaboration on grand societal challenges. Mark now splits his time between the Grantham Centre and Research & Innovation Services where he is programme adviser for the Global Challenges Research Fund campaign.
Centre Administrator
Eva joined the Grantham Centre in late 2016. Her role is to provide day-to-day administrative support and assistance with co-ordinating internal and external events, and communications within the University of Sheffield. She is the first point of contact for many Grantham Centre enquiries.
Eva’s background is in graphic design, which she studied in the Czech Republic before moving to the UK, where she spent several years working in the creative sector as a production manager and designer.
Chair
Andrew Miller was the MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston from 1992 until 2015. His began his career as a technician in geology at the Portsmouth Polytechnic, then moved into industrial relations and was an official for the Association of Scientific Technical and Managerial Staffs (subsequently MSF). Andrew Miller chaired the Science and Technology Select Committee between 2010 and 2015, and was Chair of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, and a Member of the Liaison Committee.
Secretary
Richard Bruce is the Grantham Centre’s Business Engagement Lead. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, with an extensive network that allow him to drive and develop our work with a range of external collaborators.
Richard is the first point of contact for enquiries relating to the Grantham Engagement Board.
Unilever
Henry King is Science and Technology Leader – Sustainability in Unilever’s Safety and Environment Assurance Centre. His role covers leading the development of new capabilities and science for the sustainability assessments of Unilever’s products and brands such as Persil, Dove, PG Tips and Ben & Jerry’s. He engages with environmental footprinting, climate change and palm oil and other topics. He holds a visiting professorship at the University of Surrey and is a PhD co-supervisor in the UK and abroad.
American Water
Mark LeChevallier is the Director of Innovation & Environmental Stewardship for American Water, a water utility in 35 states and Canada serving over 15 million people. He received his BSc and MSc in Microbiology from Oregon State University, and his PhD in Microbiology from Montana State University. He currently leads American Water’s research and innovation program, and has authored more than 100 research papers and has received awards from the American Water Works Association.
Agrii
David Neale has spent 40 years as a practical farming advisor and spokesman in the agriculture industry. His main focus has been on seed breeding and the production of all agricultural seeds in the UK, working with plant breeders in the UK and Europe, and translating knowledge into practical farm advice. With practical farming experience and having held senior management roles in private and public limited companies, David is a regular spokesperson in the farming press and at industry conferences.
Food Standards Agency
Professor Guy Poppy is Chief Scientific Adviser to the Food Standards Agency and a Professor of Ecology in the Centre for Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton. He has a BSc in biology from Imperial College London and PhD in chemical ecology from the University of Oxford, before joining IACR Rothamsted as a scientific officer. At the University of Southampton he has been Head of the Biodiversity and Ecology Division, Head of Biological Sciences and Director of Multidisciplinary Research.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Professor Monique Simmonds is Deputy Director of Science for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She has a PhD from the University of London and worked in industry before joining Kew, where she co-ordinates research into uses of plants/fungi, their potential as cosmetics, pharmaceutical and agrochemical leads, and as sources of sustainably harvested medicines. She has over 350 scientific publications and was awarded an OBE for services to science, the environment, technological innovation and community.
Nestlé
Chris Tyas is Senior Vice President and Global Head of Supply Chain for Nestle SA, the world’s largest food and drink manufacturer, and is a Visiting Professor at Sheffield University Management School. In a 37 year career in the food industry, Chris has developed a deep conviction that good science, working with a responsible industry focussed on the long term, effectively communicated to consumers and other stakeholders, will be vital for the world to meet the challenges of the next 30 years.
Tata Sustainability Group
Shankar Venkateswaran heads the Tata Sustainability Group, which provides guidance, thought leadership and support to the sustainability and corporate responsibility activities of the $100bn Tata group and individual companies. Shankar has over 30 years of experience in the corporate and development worlds. He started his career in mainstream business consulting and then moved on to work extensively on social development, corporate responsibility and sustainability in several global organisations.
The Grantham Scholars' PhD projects are supervised by academics from every Faculty in the University of Sheffield, as well as external collaborators.
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Recycling ammonia from landfill leachate: Out with the old and in with the new
Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
Computational simulation of plant-soil-water processes for design of agricultural production
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Plant-soil interactions: The impact of plant water use on root architecture and soil structure
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
Department of Computer Science
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Engineering the removal of metals from human waste to make it processable as a fertiliser
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Sustainable agricultural soil management by recycling algal biomass to land
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
Assessing the potential of no-till farming across European soils
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
Automating agriculture: using UASs to monitor for environmental and management benefits
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Recycling ammonia from landfill leachate: Out with the old and in with the new
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Computational simulation of plant-soil-water processes for design of agricultural production
Enhanced rock weathering supply chain life cycle sustainability
School of Mathematics and Statistics
Reconstructing the past and predicting the future: What can ice-cores tell us about climate?
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Entropy calculation to help understand societal change
What consequences does the decentralisation of energy production have for local energy demand?
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Recyclable polymer foams as synthetic soils for cultivation of high value horticultural crops
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Plant-soil interactions: the impact of plant water use on root architecture and soil structure
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Automating agriculture: using UASs to monitor for environmental and management benefits
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
New avenues to improve crops with C4 photosynthesis: How did nature build efficient C4 enzymes?
Department of Physics and Astronomy
High mobility materials for sustainable organic optoelectronic devices
Department of Chemistry
Engineering the removal of metals from human waste to make it processable as a fertiliser
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Measuring tropical forest degradation and its consequences using satellite data
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Climate-ready rice: Protecting rice yields under global warming
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Delivering food security through small-scale farmers – lessons from Brazil
The green economy and protected areas – constraint or opportunity?
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Assessing the impact of climate change on crop yields in Europe
Automating agriculture: using UASs to monitor for environmental and management benefits
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Climate-ready rice: Protecting rice yields under global warming
Department of Chemistry
Recycling ammonia from landfill leachate: Out with the old and in with the new
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Department of Chemistry
High mobility materials for sustainable organic optoelectronic devices
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Department of Psychology
Public-private partnerships in carbon sequestration projects in the Global South
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Earthworm diversity and dynamics: The neglected component of soil sustainability
Sustainable agricultural soil management by recycling algal biomass to land
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Recyclable polymer foams as synthetic soils for cultivation of high value horticultural crops
Department of Psychology
Automating agriculture: using UASs to monitor for environmental and management benefits
School of Mathematics and Statistics
Measuring tropical forest degradation and its consequences using satellite data
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Climate-ready rice: Protecting rice yields under global warming
Department of Chemistry
New avenues to improve crops with C4 photosynthesis: How did nature build efficient C4 enzymes?
Department of Chemistry
Recyclable polymer foams as synthetic soils for cultivation of high value horticultural crops
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Earthworm diversity and dynamics: The neglected component of soil sustainability
School of Mathematics and Statistics
Reconstructing the past and predicting the future: What can ice-cores tell us about climate?
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Understanding the fate and response of soil carbon to climate change in the Arctic
Department of Geography
The impact of rural-to-urban migration on the sustainability of urban diets in sub-Saharan Africa
Department of Geography
Measuring tropical forest degradation and its consequences using satellite data
The green economy and protected areas – constraint or opportunity?
Department of Geography
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Department of Politics
Department of Politics
How does the mining sector impact on Peruvian communities through its influence on migration?
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
How does the mining sector impact on Peruvian communities through its influence on migration?
University of Lincoln
Assessing the impact of climate change on crop yields in Europe
Department of Journalism Studies
School of Health and Related Research
Reducing environmental impacts through sustainable food choice
The impact of rural-to-urban migration on the sustainability of urban diets in sub-Saharan Africa
Department of Geography
Integrating quantitative and qualitative data for improved food supply chain analysis
Department of Geography
Assessing the impact of climate change on crop yields in Europe
Reconstructing the past and predicting the future: What can ice-cores tell us about climate?
Department of Sociological Studies
Management School
Enhanced rock weathering supply chain life cycle sustainability
Department of Geography
Assessing the potential of no-till farming across European soils
Department of Politics
Department of Geography
Department of Economics
Department of Geography
Assessing the potential of no-till farming across European soils
Plant-soil interactions: The impact of plant water use on root architecture and soil structure
Reducing environmental impacts through sustainable food choice
The Sheffield Institute for International Development
The green economy and protected areas – constraint or opportunity?
School of Architecture
Sheffield Methods Institute
Department of Geography
Delivering food security through small-scale farmers – lessons from Brazil
Public-private partnerships in carbon sequestration projects in the Global South
The geography of emissions and forward-looking responsibility
Information School
Integrating quantitative and qualitative data for improved food supply chain analysis
Department of Geography
What consequences does the decentralisation of energy production have for local energy demand?
University of Leeds
Computational simulation of plant-soil-water processes for design of agricultural production
Understanding the fate and response of soil carbon to climate change in the Arctic
Sheffield Hallam University
Reducing environmental impacts through sustainable food choice
University of York
Public-private partnerships in carbon sequestration projects in the Global South
University of Melbourne
Geography of emissions and forward-looking responsibility
British Geological Survey
University of Leeds
Corporate Information and Computing Services, The University of Sheffield
University of Leeds
