• Home
• Research and Innovation
• Our networks
• Exeter Food
• Research themes
• Food, Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability

Food, Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability

Environmental Social Scientist Rachel Turner studies how fishers make decisions about their resource use behaviour, with implications for environmental sustainability. Her work in the UK, Caribbean and South Pacific has looked at how fishing communities have responded to climate and other environmental change, including understanding their perceptions of climate risk, resource use behaviour in relation to changing weather, and vulnerability and adaptation to climate change and disasters.

Rod Wilson—who is Professor of Integrated Animal Physiology, is interested in sustainability and circularity in aquatic environments, and has worked on improving sustainable production of salmon, lumpfish (as cleanerfish for salmon production), tropical shrimp, crayfish, trout, and both European and Spiny Caribbean lobster (the former for stock enhancement of wild lobster populations, and the latter for stock enhancement and conservation). Molecular Ecologist Jamie Stevens has been involved in a project to sequence the genome of the European lobster and develop a panel of relatively inexpensive genetic markers to verify/ identify/ trace it in the food-chain to distinguish it from crayfish, Dublin Bay prawns, Norwegian lobster and American lobster; he has also worked on genetic diversity in Atlantic salmon—specifically the impact of fish farm-escapees on the genetic diversity and sustainability of wild salmon populations, which are at threat from increasing introgression from stocked/farmed fish—and is collaborating with Rod Wilson to explore the potential of different wild genetic stocks of salmon for changing aquaculture practices. Ruth Thurstan—who is Senior Lecturer in Marine Social-Ecological Systems—is interested in the past and future use of low-trophic level marine species (e.g., marine algae, shellfish, forage fish) and how historical patterns of exploitation have impacted marine populations and human cultures through time, and she studies the distribution and extent of native oyster (Ostrea edulis) habitat across European seas along with cultural attachments to this species across regions and time periods.

Karina Williams—who divides time between the University of Exeter Global Systems Institute and the Met Office in Devon—works on modelling crop yields, particularly in response to a changing climate. Philosopher and Historian of Science Sabina Leonelli conducts research on plant research, data-intensive agriculture, and shifting agronomic policies due to climate change.

Bioscientist Daniel Bebber has studied the effect of climate change and extreme weather events on crop yields globally, with particular interest in the study of climatic and socioeconomic influences on banana production in Latin America using high resolution satellite imagery. Geographer Tom Powell works with a network of more than 100,000 smallholder farmers in East Africa who are using regenerative practices and agroforestry to increase resilience against climate change and diversify incomes, including by accessing international voluntary carbon offset markets; he also uses remote sensing to support sustainable management of grassland resources in African rangelands where people and wildlife coexist. Thomas Currie—who is Associate Professor in Cultural Evolution—works with pastoralist communities in Eastern Kenya to understand how they can manage their natural resources in order to live sustainably in a way that is good for them and also the broader ecosystem and wildlife. Toby Pennington—Professor of Tropical Plant Diversity and Biogeography—has been working on developing agroforestry and silvopastoral systems in Amazonian Brazil that use native, nitrogen fixing tree species simultaneously to reduce rates of deforestation and offer improved food security and incomes to vulnerable communities. Alice Moseley—who lectures in Politics—and Steve Guilbert have established an online discussion panel to present research evidence to Ruby County farmers about net zero farming, facilitating the co-production of knowledge and actions for net zero farming.

Jesse Abrams’ research on positive tipping points in the food system focuses on identifying entry points to catalyse positive change in the food system in relation to climate change, disease, and food production (from production to consumer). Tim Taylor—who lecturers in Environmental and Public Health Economics—uses choice experiments on dietary change to assess possible futures in a range of domains including sustainable consumption. Public Health Nutritionist Kerry Ann Brown is exploring how sustainability can be incorporated into dietary guidelines, and the wider nutrition risk analysis process, to effect policy change and make food systems healthier, fairer, and more environmentally sustainable in research settings including India, Europe, and the UK; she is currently contributing to integrating sustainability into the dietary guidelines for the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2022. Louise Rutterford researches university catering (Bristol), exploring menu changes to improve environmental and nutritional performance. Paul Young, who is Associate Professor of Victorian Literature and Culture, has built upon the foundation of his research on meat in Victorian adventure fiction to explore 21st century issues of human health, animal welfare and environmental concerns associated with meat production and consumption, convening a Wellcome Trust-funded symposium bringing historians and literary scholars into dialogue with social scientists and scientists tasked with finding solutions to contemporary meat-related problems, including researchers pioneering laboratory-grown meat and developing markets for insects.