The clever roots of bambara groundnut: an interview with Kumbirai Ivyne Mateva
August 16, 2021
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 …
Plant vaccines for poultry disease – An interview with Ika Nurzijah
February 4, 2021
Ika Nurzijah is a second-year PhD student on the UoN-Rothamsted Graduate Centre for International Agriculture scheme. Her project is titled ‘Plant-based vaccines for prevention of poultry viral diseases: Newcastle disease’. She is supervised by Dr Steve Dunham (UoN), Dr Kostya Kanyuka (RRes), and Dr Janet Daly (UoN). Why did you decide to do a PhD? …
Indigenous Farming in Mexico and Belize – An interview with Karla Hernandez-Aguilar
October 15, 2020
Karla G. Hernandez-Aguilar is a PhD student on the Palaeobenchmarking Resilient Agricultural Systems (PalaeoRAS) project Why did you decide to do a PhD? What were you doing before? Before joining the University of Nottingham, I worked in Southern Belize for two and a half years as the Protected Areas Program Director at an NGO called Ya’axche Conservation Trust. I established working relationships with many indigenous …
Resistance to disease in tropical crops – an interview with Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan
September 17, 2020
Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan (‘Uma’) is the Director of the Cocoa Research Centre, University of the West Indies. The Future Food Beacon is proud to welcome him as an Honorary Professor for the 2020/21 academic year. We spoke with Uma about his research career, current projects, and collaborations with Future Food. Tell me about your work. What is your research about? …
Transforming chicken feed for the future: an interview with Hannah Dallas
July 8, 2020
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
July 1, 2020
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 …
Making better proteins: an interview with Kamil Szepe
Kamil Szepe is a first-year PhD student, part of the Future Proteins Platform. Their project is titled: Improving the nutritional quality of future protein and they are supervised by Dr Simon Avery, Prof Paul Dyer, Dr Rebecca Ford, and Dr Cormac O’Shea. Kamil’s PhD investigates the effects that nutritional composition of growth media and induction …
Using Bambara groundnut for animal feed: an interview with Tee Ann Jo
June 30, 2020
Ann Jo Tee completed her bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology in 2018 and she is currently a first year MPhil/PhD student, part of the Future Proteins Platform. She is very interested in studying microbiology and has a strong passion to explore more about the potential applications of microorganisms in biotechnology industry. Her current research area mainly …
