Programme
The 2024 symposium is an in-person event and will host a number of special focus sessions addressing contemporary issues and technical methods.
Our Keynote speakers will be announced below leading up to the symposium.
Don't forget to register for the Symposium to gain access to all the sessions and receive a copy of the proceedings.
The 2023 programme can be found below.
6th_giate_symposium_programme_2023.pdf | |
File Size: | 370 kb |
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Our 2024 Keynote Speakers
Steven Wolf
Opening Keynote Presentation:
Steven Wolf studies environmental governance (i.e., interplay of state and non-state actors in environmental (mis)management) at Cornell University (USA). His teaching and research focus on the implications of real and imagined state (public), market (private) and community (collective) coordination mechanisms applied to agriculture, forests, and environmental change. Recent collaborations with students and postdoctoral researchers focus on India, China, Mexico, and USA. Current work centers on analysis of accountability relations and lack thereof. He is Past President of RC40, Research Committee on Agriculture and Food, International Sociological Association.
Steven Wolf
Opening Keynote Presentation:
Steven Wolf studies environmental governance (i.e., interplay of state and non-state actors in environmental (mis)management) at Cornell University (USA). His teaching and research focus on the implications of real and imagined state (public), market (private) and community (collective) coordination mechanisms applied to agriculture, forests, and environmental change. Recent collaborations with students and postdoctoral researchers focus on India, China, Mexico, and USA. Current work centers on analysis of accountability relations and lack thereof. He is Past President of RC40, Research Committee on Agriculture and Food, International Sociological Association.
Professor Karl BehrendtElizabeth Creak Chair in Agri-Tech Economic Modelling
Keynote Presentation:
Karl is the Founding Director of the Global Institute for Agri-Tech Economics at Harper Adams University, which works to analyse the role of innovative agricultural technologies using economics and science (see the GIATE website for further information). He is the International Society of Precision Agriculture Economics Community Leader, a member of The Food and Drink Sector Council, Agricultural Productivity Task Force – Research & Innovation Group, and a Technical Sub-Committee Member of the British Standards Institute developing the Code of Practice for the use of crop robots in agriculture and horticulture.
He has over 25 years industry experience in farm and agribusiness management, agricultural consulting, extension and research. His current focus is on working with industry and other research institutions to provide economic intelligence and agri-tech solutions for UK and global agriculture and value chains. His core discipline is in the area of bioeconomic modelling of agro-ecological systems and decision support for farmers and policy development.
Karl is also Adjunct Research Professor at Charles Sturt University in Australia and part of the China International Talent Program with Inner Mongolia Agricultural University.
Professor Spiros Papaefthimiou
Keynote Presentation:
Spiros is Professor in Technical University of Crete, Director of the Industrial, Energy and Environmental Systems Lab and he is specialized in renewables, energy efficiency and energy saving applications. His research interests include various aspects of renewables (assessment and implementation of technologies and especially photovoltaics and solar thermal systems, implementation of national policies related to renewables and financial and social incentive schemes, renewable energy heating and cooling applications, renewable energy auctions and market exchange, Life Cycle Assessment and environmental impacts analysis from large-scale deployment of renewable energy technologies); Sustainability in the energy sector; Energy saving devices; Technologies of "smart" materials for energy related applications; Energy characterization of building structural elements; Water-Energy nexus; Advanced greenhouses. As part of his academic work he has published more than 60 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has been cited more than 3100 times, with a current h-index of 32; additionally, he has actively participated in more than 50 research projects. He has presented papers to numerous international energy related conferences and acted as referee for international journals in the area of Renewables, Energy efficiency and Energy policy, while on the same time he has served as member in various professional and academic associations such as the International Association for Energy Economics and the International Solar Energy Society. Additionally he has provided lectures and supervised MSc theses in various academic institutions including ESCP London, EADA Spain and Montpellier Business School. Spiros is the President of the Hellenic Association for Energy Economics. Spiros is member of the top 2% of the world's top scientists for 2022 in the field of Energy, according to the "World’s Top 2% Scientists" ranking published by Stanford University.
Professor Dimitrios S. Paraforos
Keynote Presentation:
Dimitrios S. Paraforos grew up on a farm in northern Greece. He completed a bachelor's degree in automation engineering and a master's degree in agricultural engineering. After several years in industry, he moved to the University of Hohenheim (Germany), where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2016 and his Habilitation in Agricultural Engineering in 2020. In 2018, he received the Baden-Württemberg Certificate for University Didactics and in 2020, he was awarded the GIL Prize for his habilitation thesis.
Since April 2023, he has been Professor of Technology in the Cultivation of Specialty Crops at Geisenheim University. He is also Associate Editor of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture and Smart Agricultural Technology (both published by Elsevier). He has been involved in more than 20 European and national research projects in the field of digitisation of agriculture and technology transfer.
He is currently coordinating two BMEL-funded projects, DIWAKOPTER and Oenotrace, dealing with the implementation and traceability of sustainable cultivation practices in specialty crops. In 2024, he was awarded the LOEWE Transfer Professorship by the State of Hesse, with funding of one million euros. His research interests include the automation of agricultural machinery, unmanned ground and air vehicles, and distributed and resilient digital farming systems.
Keynote Presentation:
Dimitrios S. Paraforos grew up on a farm in northern Greece. He completed a bachelor's degree in automation engineering and a master's degree in agricultural engineering. After several years in industry, he moved to the University of Hohenheim (Germany), where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2016 and his Habilitation in Agricultural Engineering in 2020. In 2018, he received the Baden-Württemberg Certificate for University Didactics and in 2020, he was awarded the GIL Prize for his habilitation thesis.
Since April 2023, he has been Professor of Technology in the Cultivation of Specialty Crops at Geisenheim University. He is also Associate Editor of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture and Smart Agricultural Technology (both published by Elsevier). He has been involved in more than 20 European and national research projects in the field of digitisation of agriculture and technology transfer.
He is currently coordinating two BMEL-funded projects, DIWAKOPTER and Oenotrace, dealing with the implementation and traceability of sustainable cultivation practices in specialty crops. In 2024, he was awarded the LOEWE Transfer Professorship by the State of Hesse, with funding of one million euros. His research interests include the automation of agricultural machinery, unmanned ground and air vehicles, and distributed and resilient digital farming systems.
Professor Simon Pearson
Keynote Presentation:
Simon has been responsible for founding and developing the Lincoln Institute of Agri Food Technology (LIAT), now recognised as “world leading” within the 2021 BEIS Innovation Strategy, Creating the Future. His group have helped pioneer the development of advanced robotic systems, machine learning, artificial intelligence and digital systems for UK agriculture. In 2021, he co-chaired the DEFRA Automation and Robotics Review with former Secretary of State George Eustice. For his contribution to the sector, he was awarded the 2022 RASE Science and Technology Award.
Keynote Presentation:
Simon has been responsible for founding and developing the Lincoln Institute of Agri Food Technology (LIAT), now recognised as “world leading” within the 2021 BEIS Innovation Strategy, Creating the Future. His group have helped pioneer the development of advanced robotic systems, machine learning, artificial intelligence and digital systems for UK agriculture. In 2021, he co-chaired the DEFRA Automation and Robotics Review with former Secretary of State George Eustice. For his contribution to the sector, he was awarded the 2022 RASE Science and Technology Award.
Professor Paul J. Thomassin
Keynote Presentation:
Paul J. Thomassin is a Professor of Agricultural Economics at McGill University. He received his B.Sc. (Agr) from McGill University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Hawaii. His research areas include agricultural and environmental economics, technological change, and the economics of climate change. He leads the socio-economic pillar of a multidisciplinary sustainable agriculture network in Quebec. Current research projects include dairy farmer adoption decisions to meet net-zero goals, plant breeding technology and the adoption of new pulse varieties on the farm and regional levels, and the economic impact of antimicrobial resistance from the food supply chain.
Keynote Presentation:
Paul J. Thomassin is a Professor of Agricultural Economics at McGill University. He received his B.Sc. (Agr) from McGill University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Hawaii. His research areas include agricultural and environmental economics, technological change, and the economics of climate change. He leads the socio-economic pillar of a multidisciplinary sustainable agriculture network in Quebec. Current research projects include dairy farmer adoption decisions to meet net-zero goals, plant breeding technology and the adoption of new pulse varieties on the farm and regional levels, and the economic impact of antimicrobial resistance from the food supply chain.
Professor Tom MacMillan
Keynote Presentation: A shared research strategy for UK agricultural universities
Tom MacMillan is the Elizabeth Creak Chair in Rural Policy and Strategy at the Royal Agricultural University. Tom focuses on informing national and international policy relating to the land-based sector, the environment and food. He specialises in farmer-centred innovation, and food and farming policy. Tom is Deputy Director of The National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise, Director of Research for the Food, Farming & Countryside Commission, and was the Policy Advisor to Henry Dimbleby for the recent National Food Strategy. He has worked in farm-centred innovation for over a decade, and previously as Director of Innovation at the Soil Association, he founded the Innovative Farmers programme.
Keynote Presentation: A shared research strategy for UK agricultural universities
Tom MacMillan is the Elizabeth Creak Chair in Rural Policy and Strategy at the Royal Agricultural University. Tom focuses on informing national and international policy relating to the land-based sector, the environment and food. He specialises in farmer-centred innovation, and food and farming policy. Tom is Deputy Director of The National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise, Director of Research for the Food, Farming & Countryside Commission, and was the Policy Advisor to Henry Dimbleby for the recent National Food Strategy. He has worked in farm-centred innovation for over a decade, and previously as Director of Innovation at the Soil Association, he founded the Innovative Farmers programme.
Images from the 2019 Symposium