Transparency data

Defra’s Science Advisory Council: register of interests 2021

Updated 26 February 2024

This register records declarations made by members in respect of interests they have that are relevant to the remit of Defra's Science Advisory Council (SAC).

There is also an opportunity for SAC members to declare, at the beginning of a meeting, any conflict of interests relating to meeting agenda items. Members will withdraw from discussion of matters in which they feel that they cannot act impartially. Where this occurs, it will be reflected in the official record of the meeting.

The guidance by which SAC members have provided information on their interests is included below. . The SAC Secretariat will review and maintain the register on a regular basis, publishing revised details on the SAC website as they occur.

0.1 Professor Louise Heathwaite (Chair)

• University of Lancaster (current employer)
• Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Research and Enterprise, Lancaster University, since 2019
• President of the Freshwater Biological Association, since 2017 (unremunerated)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, since 2015 (elected)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, since 2009 (invited)
• Member of the Independent Advisory Panel of the, Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Transforming Food Production, since 2018
• Member of the Royal Society Global Environment Research Committee, since 2019
• Director of Lancaster University Business Enterprises Ltd, since 2019
• Leading a review of freshwater science in 2020

0.2 Professor Richard Bardgett

• The University of Manchester (current employer)
• University of Lancaster (previous employer)
• President of the British Ecological Society (2017 to 2019)
• Member of the Academia Europaea, since 2015 (elected)
• Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, since 2006 (elected)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, since 2011 (invited)
• Executive editor of the Journal of Ecology, since 2020
• Member of the Royal Society's Newton International Fellowships Committee since 2019, International Exchanges Review Committee since 2017, and Biological Sciences Grants Panel since 2014
• Former Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Committee E (2013 to 2018) and member BBSRC Research Advisory Panel (2013 to 2018)
• Member of the UK-SCAPE Programme Advisory Group since 2021 and former member of the board of directors for Rothamsted Research (2009 to 2019)
• Holder of grants from Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), BBSRC and European Research Council (ERC)

0.3 Professor Lisa Collins

• University of Leeds (current employer)
• Head of School of Biology, University of Leeds
• Director of the National Pig Centre, University of Leeds
• Deputy Director of the, Global Food and Environment Institute, University of Leeds
• Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology
• Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales
• Member of the Finance Committee for the Learned Society of Wales
• Member of the BBSRC Committee E
• Co-chair of the UKRI SPF Transforming Food Production panel
• Current funding from BBSRC, NERC, ESRC, Scottish government, EU, Innovate, Karro Food Group, WM Morrisons, 2 Sisters Food Group
• Editor of the, Animal Behaviour journal
• Previous employers were University of Oxford, Compassion in World Farming, Queens University Belfast and University of Lincoln

0.4 Professor Peter Cox

• University of Exeter (current employer)
• NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (previous employer)
• Met Office (previous employer)
• Holder of grants from NERC, EU, ERC
• Current and recent committee service for NERC Science Board, the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Meteorology, Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) panel for UoA 7 Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences and former co-chair of AIMES project of Future Earth
• Lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th, 5th5th, and 6th assessment reports (working group 1)

0.5 Professor Lin Field

• Rothamsted Research (current employer)
• University of Nottingham (Honorary Professorship, School of Life Sciences)
• Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society
• Fellow of the Society of Biology
• Current research projects funded by BBSRC, Bayer and Syngenta

0.6 Professor Rosemary Hails

• National Trust (current employer)
• NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (previous employer)
• Honorary Chair at the University of Exeter Honorary
• Honorary Chair at the University of Cranfield Honorary
• Trustee of the John Innes Foundation (remunerated)
• Senior Editor for 'People and Nature' (remunerated)
• Trustee of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) (unremunerated)
• Research and co-ordination currently funded by NERC, BBSRC, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), ESRC
• Recent committee work for Defra includes: Chair of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (chair until 2019), for NERC: Science Board, for UKRI: Global Challenge Research Fund and as vice president and chair of grants committee for the British Ecological Society
• Imperial College (past employer)
• Member of the following societies: British Ecological Society, Royal Entomological Society, fellow of the Royal Society of Biology

0.7 Professor Nick Hanley

• University of Glasgow (current employer)
• Universities of St Andrews, Stirling and Edinburgh (previous employers)
• Holder of current research grants from the Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, European Commission, ESRC, MRC, and BBSRC
• Member of advisory groups for the Scottish Biodiversity Programme Board and Nature Scot
• Member of the following for work : European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Agricultural Economics Society
• Member of the following on a personal basis: John Muir Trust and the National Trust for Scotland

0.8 Professor Rowland Kao

• University of Edinburgh (current employer)
• University of Glasgow (past employer and associate academic)
• Research funded by BBSRC, ESRC, NERC, Department for International Development (DFID), Defra and the Scottish Government
• Contributor to the Defra Animal Health Modelling Services framework
• Currently leading a project to develop operational models for bovine Tuberculosis in Great Britain, and a project which is primarily funded by BBSRC but has Defra contributions 'Phylodynamic analyses of the epidemiology of M. Bovis in Britain and Ireland'.
• Member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling Group (SPI-M), currently advising SAGE)
• Member of the Bovine Tb Partnership

0.9 Professor Dame Henrietta Moore

• University College London (current employer)
• Co-founder and chair of, SHM Productions Ltd (a strategy and insight consultancy)
• Co-president and founding trustee of the, SHM Foundation
• President and trustee at British Institute in Eastern Africa
• Director of Birmore Ltd
• PI of ESRC Relief Centre on prosperity in the Age of Mass Displacement
• Trustee of the Barbican Centre Trust
• Co-Investigator ETHICOBOTS (bovine TB in Ethiopia, part of Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems (ZELS) programme, funded by BBSRC, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), DFID, ESRC, MRC and NERC)
• Research funding applications currently under review by: AHRC, ESRC, BBSRC and NERC
• Chair of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) panel
• Fellow of Royal Society of Arts, Academician of the Learned Societies for the Social Sciences and member of the Institute of Directors
• Former member of the European Scientific Research Council (2009 to 2013)
• Advisory board member for the European Citizen Science Association
• Co-investigator on several ESRC projects

0.10 Professor Susan Owens

• Professor of Environment and Policy (Emerita), University of Cambridge, Department of Geography
• Fellow Emerita of, Newnham College, Cambridge
• Member of the management committee for the centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge (2014)
• Fellow of the British Academy (FBA)
• Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS)
• Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS)
• Member of Defra's Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee, Defra (2013 to November 2021)
• Member of Defra's Social Science Expert Group since 2016)
• Recent member of the Independent Review Panel on Highly Protected Marine Areas (2019 to 2020)
• Member of Natural Resources Wales Evidence Advisory Board (since 2020), Natural Resources Wales (since 2020)
• Chair of the, Science Advisory Council, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) (2015, member since 2012)

0.11 Professor James Wood

• University of Cambridge (current employer)
• Defra's Bovine TB Eradication Advisory Group for England (TBEAG) member
• Science Advisory board member member for the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
• Science Advisory board member for the Roslin Institute
• Council member for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS)
• Council member for Veterinary Schools
• Honorary Research Fellow for the Zoological Society of London (ZSL)
• Director and Charity trustee for the British Equine Veterinary Association Ltd
• Director for Equine Veterinary Journal Ltd
• Chair of the board of trustees for Survival International

Research currently (or recently) funded by:

• Defra – directly and through BBSRC, all on bovine TB
• The Alborada Trust, The Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, NERC, ESRC, DFfID and the MRC
• European Food Safety Agency (registered expert)

1. Annex A: guidance for SAC members

It is your responsibility to ensure that your entry in the SACs register of members' interests is accurate and up to date.

You should declare any financial or other interests, or any personal connections that arise during your term of appointment including those that could be seen as providing a conflict of interest real or perceived between your public duties and private interests.

When considering what interests should be declared, you should ask yourself whether a member of the public, acting reasonably, would consider that the interest in question might influence your words, actions, or decisions. The examples given below are not exhaustive.

1.1 SAC member interests may relate to:

Financial interests

These can include:

• directorships
• shares or share options
• consultancies
• research grants and fee-paid work. In particular, the following should be declared
• current research commissioned directly by Defra for which you are principal or co-investigators
• current applications for research commissioned directly by Defra for which you are principle or co-investigators

1.2 Non-financial interests

These can include non-financial private links with outside organisations or a high level of political activity.

Additional examples include:

• current positions in your institution that could benefit from information gained through the SAC
• current positions in the wider research community that could benefit from information gained through the SAC
• research interests of close family or colleagues who may benefit from information gained in SAC discussion
• board positions with other organisations that might be influenced, or influence information gathered from or shared with the SAC