Our Future Food Director’s first thoughts

This post is written by Andrew Salter. It has been a very strange start to the autumn term for me.  For over 30 years, this time of year has been associated with preparing for teaching in the forthcoming semester.  Instead, while I watch my colleagues going through this process, I am trying to get to …

Open letter from Prof David E Salt, Director of the Future Food Beacon of Excellence

Following on from the recent announcement by Zoe Wilson PVC Science (5th April, 2022) that I will be stepping down as the Director of the Future Food Beacon on the 31st July 2022, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support and hard work. Your willingness to contribute to …

Improving animal feeds for the future: An interview with Noriane Cochetel

Noriane Cochetel is a PhD candidate with the Future Proteins Platform. Her supervisors are Ying Zhang, Tim Parr, John Brameld and Andrew Salter. Prior to beginning a PhD Noriane was completing her six-months placement in a research institute, Nofima, in Ås, Norway, as part of the programme from her MSc in Nutrition and Food Science. …

Understanding the keys of adaptation in plants: An interview with Dr Raziyeh Abdilzadeh

Raziyeh Abdilzadeh is a postdoctoral fellow working with Prof Levi Yant on Preadapt: revealing the basis of whole genome duplication-mediated adaption, a Leverhulme funded project. Razi joins the Future Food Beacon from the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad where she completed her PhD in 2020. Tell us about your role I am a postdoc research fellow …

Unlocking the science behind traditional farmer practices: An interview with Muneta Grace Kangara

Muneta Grace Kangara is a Research Fellow on the Translating GeoNutrition: Supporting policies to reduce mineral micronutrient deficiencies in Zimbabwe project. She was recently awarded a Rank Prize Visionary Award for Early Career Researchers in Nutrition (2021). We spoke to Muneta about her work, how she became a researcher, and why she is passionate about …

The clever roots of bambara groundnut: an interview with Kumbirai Ivyne Mateva

We interviewed Kumbirai Ivyne Mateva, a final year PhD student in the School of Biosciences and the Future Food Beacon based at the University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNMC), about his research. Kumbirai’s current research focuses on improving productivity, quality and value of food crops, especially underutilised  species. His PhD is titled: ‘Root trait variation and its …

Transforming chicken feed for the future: an interview with Hannah Dallas

Hannah Dallas is a PhD candidate with the Future Proteins Platform. Her project is titled The application of methanotroph bacteria Methylococcus capsulatus as chicken feed. Hannah is supervised by: Dr Ying Zhang, Prof Michael Lee, and Tithira Wimalasenaf. Prior to joining UoN, Hannah completed a Masters in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of …

Understanding genetic variation in winged bean: an interview with Niki Tsoutsoura

Niki is a PhD candidate with the Future Proteins Platform. Niki holds an MSc. in Crop Improvement from the University of Nottingham. During her MSc studies, she became familiar with underutilised crops like winged bean. Underutilised crops are relatively underexploited as they have low economic importance or agricultural significance in developed economies, therefore they receive …

Reducing protein malnourishment: an interview with Joe Godrich

Joe Godrich is a PhD candidate with the Future Proteins Platform. Joe’s project is titled: Natural protein ingredients – the impacts of reduced refinement. Joe is supervised by Dr Jo Gould, Prof Tim Foster, and Dr Peter Rose. The project investigates the structure-function relationship of protein produced without high refinement. Prior to joining the Future …

Making sense of food waste: an interview with Hina Kamal

Hina Kamal is a PhD candidate with the Future Proteins project. Hina’s project is titled Food recycling: Utilising food waste for valuable proteins. Her supervisors are Prof Asgar Ali, Dr Le Cheng Fohm, and Dr Tim Parr. Hina’s research is focused on food waste recycling, in the context of understanding protein extraction methods, protein yield …