Waitrose working to encourage sustainable food production
Written by Ellie Barbrook: As the first year of my PhD is coming to a close I am rounding up my first experiment. Comparing methods for quantifying mineralizable/ plant available nitrogen (N) in soils. My PhD is focused on finding ways of retaining N in soils, in both plant available and non-available forms. This experiment […]
Written by: Keira Dymond. Pollinators are known to contribute significantly to human wellbeing. They are responsible for about 1/3 of the food we eat, and they are also vital for other wild plant species, thereby helping to maintain the natural environment and functioning ecosystems. It is commonly assumed that most of these pollination services are […]
Written by Nick Kuht: During last winter I was fortunate enough to be able to complete a 3-month placement with KTN, an organisation which seeks to connect and support business, government, research and the third sector in responding to challenges across a range of sectors, driving positive change through innovation. Specifically, I spent my placement […]
Witten by: Laine Callaghan Humans rely on pollinators. They’re essential to our survival. In fact, an estimated 90% of the world’s flowering plants and more than 75% of agricultural crops benefit from animal pollination to some extent. With increasing population size, climate change and an ever-growing lack of food security, these pollination services have become […]
Written by: Alex Blomfield Butterflies are sensitive environmental indicators, making them vulnerable to habitat loss and environmental change. The ecological requirements of lepidoptera are relatively well documented, but in an increasingly fragmented landscape, species’ persistence is influenced not only by the provision of adult and larval resources, but by the spatial configuration of habitat patches. […]
Written by: Laura Reeves I am a first year PhD student on the Waitrose CTP programme at Reading University. My research currently focuses on how tri-trophic interactions between pears, pests and natural enemies are impacted by climate change. Pear flowering times: Pears are an economically important crop within the UK, contributing to 4.0% of total […]
Written by Jennifer Davies. I (along with so many others) had a rocky start to the first year of my PhD but, for me, the end of the year was much smoother. After 12 months of being limited to virtual gatherings, it was great to finally meet and spend time with the Waitrose CTP cohorts […]
Congratulations to Catherine Walsh, one of our WCTP students, who gave a presentation at the UK Plant Physiology Conference 2021 entitled ‘Lost in photorespiration: the C2 ammonia rescue’.
Written by: Mandy Stoker My farmer’s survey reveals the current state of play and provides an insight into views of this increasingly popular options for soil preservation. Agriculture is undergoing a green revolution. Priorities are shifting away from greater yields at any cost, and towards a more compassionate system that invests in the environment and […]
Written by: Anastasia Sokolidi The current way that we approach the treatment of our crop with regards to infection is that when we see visible symptoms we spray. Sometimes, in certain crops we apply crop protective product even before we see visible symptoms. Ideally, we want to spray as little as possible and only when […]
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