The importance of food safety
June 7, 2021
Today is World Food Safety Day! The foods we eat need to be safe for us to consume, not only for human health but wider planetary health, economic prosperity and sustainable development. There are systemic interconnections between the health of people, animals, plants, the environment, and the economy. We all have a role to play …
UK Plant Health Week: A conversation with a plant pathologist
April 21, 2020
2020 is the International Year of Plant Health and April 20-27 is UK Plant Health Week. We spoke to Dr Rumiana Ray, a Crop Pathologist, about the importance of plant health, and what you can do to support keeping plants healthy. You are a specialist in crop pathology, what does that mean? Plant pathologists …
Using eating together to think: reflections on doing research at public mealtimes
January 30, 2020
This post is written by Marsha Smith. Is there something special that happens when we eat together in groups? This post looks at an emergent form of group eating initiatives and explores some ways of doing research with, and about, the customers and producers of these eating events. Community-based forms of group eating practices are …
A Creative Approach to Engaging with Male Eating Disorders: Animating the Patient-Doctor Encounter in Clinical Settings
January 23, 2020
This post is written by Dr Richard Vytniorgu, Impact Research Fellow, School of Cultures, Languages, and Area Studies. To animate something means to give shape to that which is hidden, inert, silenced. To be animated is to demonstrate movement rather than rigidity, a liveliness in place of absence. Together with the animation studio Woven Ink, …
Genomic characterisation of the University of Nottingham dairy herd
December 18, 2019
This post is written by Dr Sarah Blott, Associate Professor in Animal Breeding and Genetics, in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. Milk and dairy products are a significant source of nutrition in the human diet; the first evidence of dairy consumption dates back over 6,000 years, and today dairy farming is a global …
Using narratives to understanding eating disorders: an interview with Associate Professor Heike Bartel
September 20, 2019
Associate Professor Heike Bartel is a scholar in German Literature, based in the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Nottingham. Dr Bartel’s work explores the narratives of food, health and illness. She is a member of the Future Food Beacon Leadership team. In this interview, Dr Bartel talks to Lexi Earl …
The Inaugural University Food Challenge!
May 2, 2019
Wednesday 27 February 2019 was a truly special day for the Institute of Food Science and Technology Student Group. The inaugural IFST University Food Challenge event was held at Coventry University. Teams from five different institutions: University College Birmingham, University of Nottingham, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Coventry University and Oxford Brookes University competed against each other to …
Why should academics participate in public engagement?
April 24, 2019
March was a busy month for Future Food Beacon researchers Dr Sina Fischer and Dr Michael Wilson as they participated in Science in the Park and Family Discovery Day. Here, they recall their experiences, and explain why they participate in these types of public engagement activities. Sina: In March Michael Wilson and I teamed up …
The Nottingham Festival of Science and Curiosity
March 1, 2019
Last week the Future Food Beacon participated in the Nottingham Festival of Science and Curiosity. The Festival (FOSAC for short) is a yearly celebration of all things science, in and around the city. The main festival day is the Saturday, and there are also activities taking place in schools the week before, and in libraries …
Meet the Beacon: Dr Sina Fischer
February 21, 2019
Sina Fischer is a Nottingham Research Fellow in Functional Genomics, and a member of the Future Food Beacon. Sina researches Whole Genome Duplication in Arabidopsis thaliana. Her research seeks to understand the genetics behind traits that appear when the whole genome is duplicated. Sina intends to expand her research into rice and barley while an NRF. …
