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Since completing my BSc and MSc in Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences (at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece), I have been strongly interested in applying mathematical models to environmental and agricultural problems. Looking at enhancing my understanding of sustainability and its several environmental and socio-economic aspects, I studied an MSc in Integrated Resource Management (The University of Edinburgh). I recently completed my PhD in Sustainable Dairy Farming Systems (The University of Edinburgh), which took place in the SRUC and INRA (France). I am now studying sustainable intensification of UK dairy farms (Bangor University).
Many lads and lasses have asked me why I am pursuing a career in (sustainable) agriculture since I have no farming background. My answer is simple: we have all got to eat! We are some 7.5 billion people on this planet, so meeting our nutritional needs has an enormous cost for the environment, which, in turn, fuels climate change, putting food production at stake. I find it quite worrying that our food system is so globalised that a farm in the UK may impact on the environment elsewhere, or that bad harvests elsewhere may have enormous costs for UK livestock farms.
I see volunteering on Agricology as a perfect opportunity to familiarise myself with practical approaches to more self-sufficient farming, and to help make them known to a wider audience. |
