Coffee Break Seminars
Our Coffee Break Seminars were a relaxed learning, networking, and discussion forum for our food security community that ran from June 2020 until November 2024.
Previous talks, with links to recordings where available, are listed below.
2024
Friday 22nd November Dr Leonie Luginbuehl, Head of Plant Physiology and Symbiosis Group, Department of Plant Sciences onCarbon assimilation and allocation: From single cells to plant microbial systemsPlease find the video of Dr Luginbuehl's seminar here.
Friday 15th November Thomas Addoah, PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, Cambridge Conservation Initiative, University of Cambridge, Is the implementation of cocoa companies’ forest policies on track to effectively and equitably address deforestation in West Africa?
Friday 1st November Erinn Campbell, PhD Student, Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, 'Frank and honest'? The politics of international plant pest reporting, 1952–1994 Please find Erinn Campbell's slides here.
Friday 18th October Lucy Davis, PhD Student, Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories, University of Cambridge The challenge of overnutrition: understanding and reversing diet-induced obesity and insulin resistancePlease find Lucy Davis' slides here.
Friday 24th May Robert Powell, Postgraduate Student, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge Limitations of improved grazing for climate mitigation in global rangelands
Friday 17th May Isabel Teixeira-Pearce, MPhil student, Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge Political economy of agribusiness in Brazil: Producing soybeans, reproducing food insecurityPlease find Isabel Teixeira-Pearce's slides here.
Friday 10th May Pei Jiang, PhD candidate, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge Biopolitics of Breeding: An Investigation into Herbicide-Resistant Foxtail Millet in China. Please find Pei Jiang's slides here.
8 March 2024 Mariel Alem-Fonseca (PhD Candidate, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge) Evaluating Emerging Food Supply Chains from a Resilience and Cost Perspective: A Study on the Alternative Protein Industry.Please find the recording here.
1 March 2024 Elisapeththu Hoole (PhD Candidate, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge) Supporting women farmers: optimizing climate-adaptive organic agriculture policies in Sri Lanka’s Dry-Zone.Please find the seminar recording here.
2 February 2024 Wenjun Zhou (PhD Candidate, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge) Genomic response to artificial selection in an industrially valuable insect species.
2023
24 November 2023 Tejas Rao (PhD Candidate, Department of Land Economy & C-EENRG, University of Cambridge) and Professor Yasemin Kor (Judge Business School), Protecting Farmers and the Planet: Food Sovereignty and organic production. Please find the recording here.
17 November 2023 Dr Thomas Ball (Research Associate, Zoology, University of Cambridge), Balancing sustainable domestic food production with overseas biodiversity consequences. Please find the recording here.
10 November 2023 Georgina Dowsett (PhD candidate, MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge) New class anti-obesity medications: the solution to our unhealthy food system?
3 November 2023 Clara Ma (PhD candidate, Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance and Conservation Research Institute, University of Cambridge), Policy interventions to promote sustainable food consumption.
6 October 2023 Megan Walker (MPhil student,Dept of Zoology, University of Cambridge) and Jessa Garibay-Yayen(MPhil student,Dept of Zoology, University of Cambridge) "Sustainable seafood for health and the planet" Please find the recording here.
16 June 2023 Dr Paul Lohmann (El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy) Accelerating the sustainable food transition: The impact of behaviourally informed interventions on sustainable food choices Please find the event recording here.
26 May 2023 Valentine Reiss-Woolever (PhD candidate, Zoology) Crop choice: the social factors that influence oil palm smallholders and their ecological effects. Please find the event recording here.
19 May 2023 (World Bee Day) Nynke Blomer (PhD candidate, Zoology) and Benny Qihao Shen (PhD candidate, Archaeology) Sharing Landscapes: Competition between managed honeybees and wild beesPlease find the event recording here.
12 May 2023 (International Day of Plant Health) Dr Jessica Bergman (Plant Sciences) Fantastic fungi and how to keep them healthy Please find the event recording here.
31 March 2023 Dr Soujanya Mantravadi (Institute for Manufacturing) How important are digital technologies for Urban Food Security and supply chains?Please find the event recording here.
24 March 2023 Dr Nadia Mohd-Radzman (Sainsbury Lab, University of Cambridge) Rehabilitation of forgotten beans for resilient food system: challenges and potential biotech solution
17 March 2023 Simone Markoff (University of Basel, Switzerland)Analyzing possible pathways to align biodiversity conservation with agricultural development in TanzaniaPlease find the slide deck here.
3 March 2023 Zsuzsanna Ihar (Department of Hisory & Philosophy of Science) Dietary Downfall: Examining the Role of Diet and Nutrition in the Depopulation of St. Kilda, Scotland (funded by the Wellcome Trust "From Collection to Cultivation" and Gates Cambridge) Please find the event recording here.
10 February 2023 Dr Charlotte Kukowski (Department of Psychology) Reducing UK Meat Consumption: The Promise of Targeting Decision ContextsPlease find the event recording here.
3 February 2023 Renata Retkute (Department of Plant Sciences) Forecasting risks from invasive pests like locusts affecting staple food crops in Sub-Saharan AfricaPlease find the event recording here.
27 January 2023 Dr Joeva Rock (Centre of Development Studies) We are not starving: the struggle for food sovereignty in Ghana
20 January 2023 Dr Yunhu Gao (Faculty of Engineering) How to Feed the Global Population with Less Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Nitrogen Fertilisers? Please find the slide deck here.
2022
25 November 2022 Dr Charles Read (Faculty of History and Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge) The Irish famine and the financial crises of 1847 and 2022: lessons from history for modern-day policymakersPlease find the event recording here.
18 November 2022 Iris Berger (Dept of Zoology, University of Cambridge) Agricultural strategies for optimal balance between eco-systems and biodiversity protection in IndiaPlease find the slide deck here and the event recording here.
11 November 2022Thomas Idris Marquand (Environmental Chemistry, University of Cambridge) The East Anglia Fens: Crop Productivity and Climate Vulnerability Please find the slide deck here and the event recording here.
4 November 2022Baptiste Albertone (Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge) Sustainable Development in the Periphery: A structuralist prospective Please find the recording here.
21 October 2022 Dr Michael Pashkevich (Dept of Zoology, University of Cambridge) Oil Palm: from Indonesia to LiberiaPlease find the recording here and the slide deck here.
7 October 2022Joao Joaquim(History & Philosophy of Sciences, University of Cambridge) Agricultural Virology in Mid-Twentieth-Century Britain: the search for virus-free potato stock Please find the recording here and the slide deck here.
30 September 2022 Dr David Godding (Dept of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge) Developing a predictive model for an emerging epidemic on cassava in sub-Saharan Africa. Please find the recording here.
23 September 2022 Dr Carol Ibe (JR Biotek Foundation) Democratising plant bio-technologies to address food security challenges in sub-Saharan Africa
24 June 2022 Min-Yao Jhu (Crop Science Centre, University of Cambridge/NIAB) Sustainable Crop Nutrition: a reality? Please find the recording here. Please find the slide deck here.
10 June 2022Emma Wordsworth (Faculty of History, University of Cambridge) Learning from the past: Victorian famine relief, a global vision. Please find the slide deck here. Please find the recording here.
27 May 2022 Dr Angie Burnett (Plant Sciences) Plants under Stress: Climate Change and Food Security Please find the recording of the seminar here.
20 May 2022 Dr Robert Beyer (Zoology/Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research) Turning back the clock? Relocating farmland could do that. Please find the slide deck here and the recording of the seminar here.
13 May 2022 Dr Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan (Law) The interface between Biodiversity, Intellectual Property, and Food Security. Please find the slide deck here.
29 April 2022 Dr Daniel Borch Ibsen (MRC Epidemiology; Aarhus University) Legumes in a sustainable healthy diet: (how) to be or not to be, that is the question. Please find the slide deck here and the recording of the seminar here.
22 April 2022 Dr Francis Wamonje (NIAB) Can viruses help protect our crops?. Please find the seminar recording here.
25 March 2022 Dr Daniel Fuks (Archealogy) Archaeobotany and plant archaeogenetics: problems, prospects and potential for global food security.
18 March 2022. Broderick House (Zoology) Urban bivalves: exploring new seafood aquaculture opportunities for food security. Please find the seminar recording here.
11 March 2022 Dr James Borrell (Kew Gardens) Ethiopia and 'the tree against hunger': Strategies for unifying wild and agrobiodiversity conservation? Please find the seminar recording here.
4 March 2022 Dr Joseph Glauber and Dr David Laborde from IFPRI How will Russia's invasion of Ukraine affect global food security? Please find the seminar recording here.
25 February 2022 Dr Patricia Manzano Fisher (Program of Sustainability Science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)) What are the triggers to choose a sustainable lifestyle? Please find the seminar recording here. Please find related journal articles here and here.
4 February 2022 Natasha Yelina (Crop Science Centre) Is Climate Change affecting fertility in our pulses? Please find the seminar recording here.
28 January 2022 Yuru Huang (MRC Epidemiology) Tracking restaurant menu items in the UK: energy and nutrition trends. Please find the seminar recording here.
21 January 2022. Grainne Hutton (Public Health) The Heartbeat of Africa: Food, Culture, and Wellbeing. You can read about Grainne's work here. Please find the recording here.
2021
10 December 2021 Panel talk Christmas Dinner 2050: will we be eating alternative turkey? Please find the recording here.
This event was organised with #AnnualFoodAgenda, powered by EIT Food, supported by the EIT, a body of the European Union, in association with CambPlants.
3 December 2021 Dr Matt Holmes (CRASSH) Selling Biotechnology: An Archival Exploration of the GM Controversy. Please find the recording here.
26 November 2021. GFS, Cambridge Zero and the Centre for Science and PolicyHow can we achieve both food security and net zero?
19 November 2021 Dr Silviu Petrovan (Zoology) Can we prevent the next zoonotic pandemic? An interdisciplinary solution scan of options. Please find the recording here.
12 November 2021 Dr Rachel Carmenta (University of East Anglia) Between a rock and a hard place: the burdens of uncontrolled fire for smallholders across the tropics. Please find the recording here.
05 November 2021 Matthew Keeble (MRC Epidemiology) 'New' ways of buying takeaway food: what do we know about online food delivery services? Please find the recording here.
22 October 2021 Dr Tom Thirkell (Crop Science Centre) Cereals and Soil Fungi: using symbiotic microbes for agricultural sustainability. Please find the recording here.
15 October 2021 Rijak Grover (Sociology) The impact of women's rural employment on food security and nutrition in West Africa (Benin). Please find the recording here.
8 October 2021 Dr Fumiya Iida (Engineering) How robotics can assist agriculture and food security. Please find the recording here.
24 September 2021 Emily Servante (Plant Sciences) Harnessing the genetic potential of rice for global food security. Please find the recording here.
17 September 2021 Dr Chioma Ngonadi (Archaeology) How understanding our ancestors' agricultural practices can help improve food security. Please find Chioma's International Women's Day interview here. Please find the seminar recording here.
2 July 2021 The launch of the Forgotten Crops Society, founded by researchers from the Global Food Security IRC, Mohamed VI Polytechnic University (Morocco), the Crop Trust, OCP North America, and the National Museum of Ethnology of Osaka (Japan). Please find the seminar recording here.
25 June 2021 Dr Miriam Alvarado and Hannah Ford Sugar taxes as effective ways of reducing the consumption of fizzy drinks: comparing the Barbados and the UK. Please find the recording here.
18 June 2021 Hamish Symington (Plant Sciences) How improving flowers can help us feed the world and ensure biodiversity.
11 June 2021 Franziska Fischer (Plant Sciences) Cereal killers: who they are and how they impact our lives.
4 June 2021 Gareth Hollands (Psychology) Reducing food energy consumption. Please find the seminar recording here.
28 May 2021 Dr Ryan Nhering (Department of History) Brazil's model to feed the world through its public research programme in agriculture. Can we talk about a Brazilian Green Revolution? Please find the recording here.
21 May 2021 Dr Enrica Porcari, Chief Information Officer and Director Technology from the World Food Programme: How technology and innovation can assist to meet the 'Zero Hunger' UN Development Goal. Please find the seminar recording here.
14 May 2021 Dr Andre Cabrera SerrenhoPlastic, the 'P' word. Please find the recording here.
7 May 2021 Nadia Radzman (Plant Sciences) African Yam bean to reduce food insecurity in Nigeria. Please find the seminar recording here.
23 April 2021 Emelyn Rude (History) From Losing Oysters and Loving Shrimps: a case study in the culinary response to an ecological catastrophe. Please find the seminar recording here.
26 March 2021 Dr Sarah Dalzell Nutrition in Context: Are millets a strategy for sustainable, healthy diets in The Gambia?
19 March 2021 Dr Amelia Hood (Zoology)The impact of understory vegetation management on predators in oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia.
12 March 2021. Dr Curie Park (Institute for Manufacturing) How to address food industry challenges. Please find the seminar recording here.
5 March 2021. Dr Angela Cano (assistant curator, University Botanic Gardens) How we can safeguard rare plants on earth and ensure they can benefit everyone in the future. Please find the recording here.
26 February 2021 Dr Alessandra Galie of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) How livestock management can assist in empowering rural women, particularly at a time when livestock itself is under threat from environmental challenges. Please find the recording here.
19 February 2021 Dolly Theis (CEDAR) Is the UK Childhood Obesity Plan fit for purpose? Looking at policy and evidence. Please find the recording here (University of Cambridge Raven ID needed).
12 February 2021 Dr Emma Garnett (CISL) What approaches work to increase vegetarian sales and reduce meat consumption?
5 February 2021 Dr Giles Yeo (Clinical Biochemistry) Is obesity a choice?
29 January 2021 Adam Muhammad Adam (Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology) How smartphone integrated soil sensors can help small-scale farmers to achieve sustainable soil diagnosis and nutrient management.
22 January 2021 Dr Payam Mehrshahi (Plant Sciences) How our improved understanding of algae is helping develop new sustainable and nutritious ingredients for future kitchens and animal feed.
2020
4 December 2020 Harriet Barlett (Zoology) and Dr Amy Munro-Faure (Cambridge Zero) How farming can be more sustainable and make our Christmas greener.
27 November 2020 Rhiannon Wood (Vet Studies) Superbugs in our food: should we be worried?
20 November 2020 Dr Nazia Mintz-Habib (Resilience and Sustainability Research Programme) Food security in a warming world.
13 November 2020 Dr Federica Sulas (Archaelogy) Farming & feeding the Ethiopian highlands: practicing food security through time.
November 2020 Professor Michel Ghanem (Plant Sciences, University Mohammed VI, Morocco)Neglected no more: why some crops are orphans - and what can be done for food security.
23 October 2020 Professor Martin Jones (Archaelogy) FAO's "Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems" (GIAHS).
16 October 2020 Dr Paolo Bombelli (Bio-Chemistry) How plants and solar-panels can co-exist to produce green energy and better crops.
9 October 2020 Dr Harriet Hunt (Archaeogenetics) Food security and the archeology of minor crops.
2 October 2020 Dr Lili Jia (Institute for Manufacturing) How can we incentivise the architecture of a sustainable food system?
25 September 2020 Charlotte Milbank (Zoology) Wild Foods, Hunger and Nutrition - harnessing knowledge for sustainable food security.
18 September 2020 Dr Matt Davey (Plant Sciences) Climate Change is turning Antarctic coast green.
31 July 2020 Chioma Achi (Vet Studies) Salmonella as a threat to food security.
24 July 2020 Dr Milorad Radakovic (Vets Studies) Safe food or food as perceived as safe.
17 July 2020 Bright Jaato (Engineering) Solar energy technology for water purification in Africa.
10 July 2020 Professor Cristiane Derani (Law) Sustainable Food Systems in the EU.
3 July 2020 Dr Helen Curry (History) History of Seed Banks and the Future of Food.
26 June 2020 Daniella Salazar-Herrera (Development Studies) How can small folder farmers help fight poverty and hunger?
19 June 2020 David Willer (Zoology) Aquaculture and sustainability.
12 June 2020 Dr Jean Adams (CEDAR) Food Insecurity in the UK.
5 June 2020 Dorien Braam (Vet Studies) Infectious Disease in misplaced populations.
Image credit: pixabay.com