Biofuels: ethical issues

Positions held correct at April 2011

Professor Joyce Tait CBE FRSE FSRA (Chair)

Scientific Adviser to the Innogen Centre (ESRC Centre for Social and Economic Research on Innovation in Genomics), Edinburgh University

Joyce Tait has an interdisciplinary background in natural and social sciences covering life science innovation strategies, governance and regulation, and stakeholder attitudes and influences. Recent appointments include: member, Board of Directors, Scottish Stem Cell Network Ltd; member, Governing Council of the Roslin Institute; member, Scottish Science Advisory Council; member, Scientific and Technical Council of the International Risk Governance Council, Geneva.

Dr Mike Adcock

Director, Master of Laws (LLM) Programme, Durham University

Mike Adcock is an intellectual property lawyer with a background in science. His research focuses on the use of intellectual property for the protection of plants. He is currently acting as consultant on the review and evaluation of the Community Plant Variety Right regulation. Other recent appointments include: co-author, study on intellectual property rights and genetics for the Department of Health; co-author, report on the use of patents by governments commissioned by Health Canada.

Dr Guy C Barker

Director, Genomics Resource Centre, Life Sciences, University of Warwick

Guy Barker’s research focuses on genomics and genetics of plants, with special interests in biofuels, biorefining, novel crops, nutrition and sustainable production. Recent appointments include: member, academic advisory panel of the Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network; contributor, Industrial Biotechnology, Innovation and Growth Team report; contributor, Sciencewise project on public perceptions to industrial biotechnology.

Professor Simon Caney

Professor in Political Theory, Department of Politics and International Relations and Magdalen College, University of Oxford

Simon Caney works in contemporary political philosophy. He focuses on the application of political philosophy to global politics and has written on global distributive justice, climate change, human rights, sovereignty, global governance, self-determination, and humanitarian intervention. He has recently been awarded as ESRC Climate Change Leadership Fellowship to work on ‘Equity and Climate Change’.

Professor Joanna Chataway

Director of Innovation and Technology Policy, RAND Europe and Co-Director of ESRC INNOGEN Centre, Open University

Joanna Chataway has an interdisciplinary background in innovation and technology policy studies and international development. Her research and consultancy experience includes work on science and technology capacity building, North-South Public Private Partnerships, innovation and development. She has conducted research for a broad range of national and international agencies, funding bodies and government departments.

Professor Robin Gill

Professor of Applied Theology, University of Kent and Council member

Robin Gill was the first holder, in turn, of the William Leech Professorial Research Fellowship in Applied Theology at Newcastle University and of the Michael Ramsey Chair of Modern Theology at Kent. Appointments include: member, British Medical Association Medicial Ethics Committee; member, Medicial Research Council Stem Cell Bank Steering Committee; former chair, Archbishop of Canterbury’s Medical Ethics Advisory Group; honorary canon of Canterbury Cathedral.

Professor Jon Hutton

Director, United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)

Jon Hutton is Director of the UNEP-WCMC, the UN’s specialist biodiversity assessment centre based in Cambridge. He has a background in biodiversity science, rural development and international policy and more than 20 years experience working in wildlife conservation in Africa. He is a Senior member of Hughes Hall, Cambridge, and Honorary Professor of Sustainable Resource Management at the University of Kent.

Professor Ottoline Leyser CBE FRS

Council member and Professor of Plant Development and Associate Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge

Ottoline Leyser is a plant developmental geneticist working on the hormonal control of shoot branching, and its role in the environmental control of development. Appointments include: member, Strategy Advisory Board of the BBSRC and chair of Bioscience Skills and Careers Strategy panel; co-editor in chief, Current Opinion in Plant Biology; deputy chair, Athena Forum; Gatesby Plant Science Advisor.

Dr Nigel Mortimer

Managing Director, North Energy Associates Ltd, Sheffield

Nigel Mortimer has a background in physics and energy technologies and energy and environmental research. He is a practitioner of life cycle assessment which he applies to greenhouse gas emission calculations of a variety of products, including biofuels. Prior to his current post, he held the Chair in Sustainable Energy Development at Sheffield Hallam University, where he was also the Head of the Resources Research Unit.

Professor Christine Raines

Professor in Plant Biology, University of Essex

Christine Raines is a plant molecular biologist. She has a background in photosynthesis with a focus on improving plant yield. She has led or co-led several BBSRC and EU projects on plant metabolism and carbon fixation. She is currently Chair of the Society of Experimental Biology, Plant Section and Associate Editor for the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Mr Ian Smale

Head of Strategy and Policy, BP

Ian Smale has a degree in Geology from Exeter University and attended the Harvard Business School Programme for Management Development in 1996. Prior to his current post, he held a variety of business executive and corporate finance leadership positions at BP, in the UK, Tunisia, Brazil, Singapore, the Netherlands and South Africa. He is currently a non-executive director of the National Nuclear Laboratory.

Professor Jim Watson

Director, Sussex Energy Group, University of Sussex and Research Fellow, The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

Jim Watson’s research focuses on energy, climate change and innovation policies. Appointments include: chair, British Institute for Energy Economics; co-leader, ESRC/EPSRC research cluster: Enegery Security in a Multipolar World; member, IPPR New Era Economics panel; lead expert, Foresight project on Sustainable Energy Management and the Built Environment; specialist adviser, House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.