Academics
Dr David Christian Rose
Dr David Christian Rose leads the group. He is the Elizabeth Creak Associate Professor of Agricultural Innovation and Extension at the University of Reading. He received his Bachelors (first-class) in Geography from the University of Cambridge, followed by a Masters in Geographical Research and a PhD (Geography) from the same university. He was Director of Studies in Geography at Gonville and Caius College (2015-17). After short post-docs at Cambridge and UCL, he took a Lectureship position in Human Geography at the UEA. He joined Reading in October 2019. His academic interests centre around the social impacts of agriculture 4.0, including extension, behaviour change, future skills needs and ethics of new technologies. He is also interested in policy co-design and farmer mental health. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and co-Director of the Centre for Effective Innovation in Agriculture.
E-mail: d.c.rose@reading.ac.uk
Post-doctoral research assistants
Jorge Campos
Jorge Campos is finishing his PhD but joins as a research assistant on the Ronot Hi. He received his Bachelors (first-class) in Agronomy from the Universidad de Concepcíon (Chile), followed by a Masters in Agricultural Economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He was Agricultural Economist at the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile (2009-2011) and Economist and Head of Department at Ministry of Social Development of Chile (2012-2018). Jorge has been involved in research projects as a part-time research assistant. His interests centre around the technological impacts on labour outputs, automation impacts on agriculture, policy design and evaluation, among others.
Email: jorge.camposgonzalez@reading.ac.uk
PhD students
Kirsten Ayris
Kirsten Ayris is a PhD student (FoodBioSystems DTP), supervised by David Rose (University of Reading), Sarah Fletcher (Cranfield University), and Elizabeth Sklar (University of Lincoln) with input from the Agri-EPI Centre. She completed her BA in English Literature/Linguistics at the University of York, and her MSc in Sustainable Development at the University of Sussex. Her research focuses on the use of creative public engagement methods for responsible innovation of agricultural technologies, particularly agricultural robotics. She has previously worked for the Sustainable Earth Institute at the University of Plymouth, which included support for the Agri-Tech Cornwall research project.
E-mail: k.j.ayris@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Auvikki de Boon
Auvikki de Boon is a PhD student, supervised by David Rose (Reading) and Camilla Sandström (Umeå University, SE). She holds a B.A. in Political Science, Sociology, and History from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Univeristy of Bonn, and a M.Sc. in Political Science from Umeå University. Before joining the Change in Agriculture group, Auvikki worked as a research assistant at Umeå University. Her research interests include sustainable governance of agricultural innovation, collaborative environmental governance, policy analysis, stakeholder participation, and climate change adaptation.
E-mail: a.i.b.deboon@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Ram Kiran Dhulipala
Ram Kiran Dhulipala is the Theme Leader of Digital Agriculture & Youth theme at ICRISAT, Hyderabad. After graduating as an engineer, he worked as a software engineer in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) from 2004 to 2010 on technologies like VOIP, OSI stack and SIP. He obtained an MBA in 2011. In his current role, Ram drives action research on the use of latest digital technologies in agriculture and has been instrumental in strategizing and executing a private sector and partnership based approach towards digital agriculture. Ram believes in the concept of comparative advantage and therefore believes that organizations like ICRISAT (or other CGIAR Centers) are better positioned to play the roles of an innovation broker in digital agriculture. Some of his research interests include the role of innovation brokers, innovation ecosystems, factors driving digitalization of agriculture.
E-mail: r.k.dhulipala@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Cath Jackson
Cath Jackson has about 20 years of experience working in environmental conservation. She works for Natural England and has spent the last 10 years working with farmers and landowners in Sussex. She is presently undertaking a PhD part time looking at how landscape scale projects have involved farmers, how Facilitation Fund groups engage farmers and what the results of that engagement are. She is interested in how agricultural policy can be developed and put into practice collaboratively. She is primarily supervised by colleagues in Sustainable Land Management (same school) as well as Natural England, but David is playing a supporting role.
E-mail: cath.jackson@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Minju Kim
Minju Kim is a PhD student in International and Rural Development, supervised by Prof. Henny Osbahr and Dr Sarah Cardey and Dr David Rose at University of Reading. She completed a BSc in Applied Plant Sciences at Kangwon National University in South Korea, and a MSc in Agriculture and Development at Reading, specialising in participatory communication methods for farmers. Her research interests include the role of farmer-generated YouTube videos and farmer digital influencers in agricultural innovation systems. She worked as an assistant for farmer learning and innovation in Kangwon National University.
Email: min-ju.kim@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Dannielle Roche
Dannielle Roche is a PhD student (FoodBioSystemsDTP) at Cranfield University with co-supervision from David at Reading. She completed her Bachelors and Masters at the University of East Anglia in Environmental Sciences and Climate Change respectively. Her main academic focus at this point centres on how the use of soil management practices influence biostimulant efficacy in enhancing health-related properties of fresh produce.
E-mail: dannielle.roche@cranfield.ac.uk
Juliette Schillings
Juliette Schillings is a PhD student, supervised by Dr David Rose and Prof. Richard Bennett (Reading). She holds a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Paris Descartes and an MSc in Process and Engineering in Food and Environmental Sciences. Finally, she studied an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare at the University of Edinburgh. Juliette worked as a scientific communication officer at the Farm Animals department from the animal welfare charity RSPCA prior to joining the Change in Agriculture group. Her research interests include animal welfare, animal behaviour and the ethics of Precision Livestock Farming technologies. Her PhD is funded by the Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust.
E-mail: j.schillings@pgr.reading.ac.uk