Meet the team

Please meet the team that designed this course.

They include staff from Queen’s University of Belfast, the University of Turin, Italy and University of Reading.

Lead Educators

Prof Christopher Elliott

Chris is currently Professor of Food Safety and founder of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast. He has served as Pro Vice Chancellor for the University and was responsible for the Medical and Life Sciences Faculty. He has published more than 350 peer reviewed articles, many of them relating to the detection and control of agriculture, food and environmental related contaminants. Chris has received numerous prizes and awards for his work. In 2017 he was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry Theophilus Redwood Prize and was also awarded the title of ‘Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire’ (OBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Dr Michaela Fox

Michaela is a Lecturer (Education) in the Institute of Global Food Security in Queen’s University, Belfast. Her work is primarily focused on supporting the development of education programmes within the EITFOOD partnership. Michaela’s research background is related to the integrity of the food system and she has a history of working in the food production industry in Northern Ireland.

Dr Simona Grasso

Simona is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading. Simona’s background is in food science and she has a particlar interest in developing new sustainable up-cycled foods.

Prof Luca Cocolin

Luca is a professor in the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences at the University of Turin. Luca’s research focuses on the development, optimization and application of molecular methods for the detection, quantification and characterization of foodborne pathogens; the microbial ecology of fermented foods (mainly sausage, cheese and wine) by using culture independent and dependent methods; bioprotection: molecular characterization of bacteriocin production and its study in vitro and in situ; and the study of the human microbiome.

Dr. Alice Mauchline

Senior Research Fellow at the University of Reading. Alice was a Research Scientist at Rothamsted Research before moving on to the University of Reading. Her area of interests are sustainable crop production, evaluation of agri-environmental schemes and farmer advisory support, chemical ecology of insects and the use of semiochemicals in pest control, insect behaviour and plant-insect interactions, innovative pedagogies especially in fieldwork teaching and integration of citizen science approaches in research and teaching.

Educators

Dr. Stephanie Brooks

Stephanie is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queens University, Belfast. Her research has focused on the barriers and opportunities for optimal performance of the beef supply chain in Northern Ireland. She has also spent time working in the food industry as a research and development specialist; and blockchain consultant. Stephanie is currently working on WeValueFood, a EIT Food Programme aiming to improve next generation consumer engagement with food.

Prof. Moira Dean

Moira is a professor in consumer psychology and food security. She has carried out research into consumer food choice, food safety, food fraud, risk perceptions and food supply chain management in the areas of organic food, beef, fish, wholegrain, portion size, healthy shopping, cooking skills and food labeling, with different stakeholders. Moira has worked on a number of projects funded by the Food Standards Agency, Safefood, The Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation, Medical Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, the European Union and Industry. She is experienced in qualitative and quantitative methodologies for the assessment of attitudes, values, perceptions and barriers associated with food, health and sustainable living.

Mr Liam Fassam

Liam is a supply chain thought leader & ‘doer’ – over 25 years as a Senior leader in FMCG and Food supply chain operations. Now engaged as Asc. Professor and Research Institute Director; leading research allied to social impacts on societies connection to food, Digital disruption in food logistics (AI/Machine learning) and Fraudulent behaviours in supply chains (global). Liam is also engaged as expert adviser to SeaFish (Non-Governmental Public body) in the area of food supply chain, and Expert advisor European Commission on Sustainable Food Chains, All Party Sustainable Resource Group in the areas of Supply chain and Food security (APSRG), All-Party Parliamentary Freight transport group (APFT) and Connected Places catapult for transportation research expertise.

Mrs. Patricia Hardiman

Patricia Hardiman is a Research Assistant in the Institute of Global Food Security in Queen’s University, Belfast. She is a member of the WE Value Food project research team and her work is primarily focused on the design and the development of novel approaches to educate and to engage next generation food consumers. Patricia’s background is into Research and Development in Food Industry and in Education in France, in the United states and in Northern Ireland

Dr. Fiona Lavelle

Fiona is a post doctoral research fellow in the Institute for Global Food Security at Queens University, Belfast. Her background is in Sport Science and Health and Preventative Cardiology. She obtained her PhD in 2017 investigating the impact of cooking and food skills on the healthiness of diets in adults as well as the barriers and facilitators to cooking from basic ingredients. Fiona is currently leading novel interdisciplinary research on interlinking motor skills development and cooking skills in children.

Mr Ian Marshall

Ian Marshall has vast experience and extensive knolwedge of the agri-food industry and understands every part of the supply chain from ‘farm-to-fork’ with his involvement in the primary production of dairy, beef, sheep and grains on his family farm. Ian currently works within the Queens University Belfast (QUB) Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) as a Business Development Manager; and was successfully elected to the 2018 Seanad Eireann after a nomination from the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.

Dr. Niamh O’Kane

Niamh is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University, Belfast. She is currently working on WeValueFood, a 3-year, Pan-European project funded by EIT Food, aiming to improve next generation consumer engagement with food. Niamh’s PhD focused on the use of social media for behaviour change and public health communication, with a focus on nutrition and physical activity.

Try using the comments section below to share your thoughts and queries with other learners on the course.

The Educator team has limited availability to answer questions or respond to your comments during this course. However, we encourage you to interact and support each other by posting your thoughts and comments and sharing your knowledge with other learners