Dr Maria Aina
BEng(Hons), MSC, PhD, PGEducation, FHEASenior Lecturer
Maria Ainas's PhD is in Sustainable Supply Chain Management, and Business Simulation/Modelling. Her research interests include Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Agri-waste management, Agri-Tech, agribusiness entrepreneurship, Circular Economy Models, Business Strategy, Business Analytics, and Project Management.
I have supported 3 PhD students, and I am currently accepting PhD Students in
- Business Project Management
- Rural Businesses and Entrepreneurship
- Sustainable Supply Chain
- Circular Economy Models
- Logistics and Transportation
- Business Analytics and Simulation
Professional Memberships
- Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CLIT)
- Higher Education Academy (HEA) - Fellow
- Higher Education Academy (External Examiner)
- Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply(CIPS)
- British Academy of Management (BAM)
- Women in Logistics (WIL)
Academic Department: Harper Adams Business School
Research: Global Institute for Agri-Tech Economics (GIATE)
Research: Rural Resilience Research Group (3RG)
Office: JAF61 Jubilee Adams, Tudor Lodge and NW Building
Publications
Other publications
- Maria Aina and Oghale Ayetuoma (2026) Attracting Young Talent to Agribusiness for Continuous Productivity and Efficiency Amidst Global Challenges (Global Institute for Agri-Tech Economics (GIATE) 8th Symposium on Agri-Tech Economics for Sustainable Futures)
- Blandine A. Ekpodilè-Domingo; Matthew Ayamga; Maria Aina. (2026) Reconstructing Entrepreneurial Identity: Women’s Agency and Stakeholder Influence on Affirming Women's Entrepreneurial Identity in Small Businesses Journal of Rural Studies (JRS). ((modifying))
- Irene Bridget and Maria Aina (2025) The Emerald Handbook of Decolonising Sustainability: A Global South Perspective(Chapter contribution on Self-Employment in the Global South: Trends and Patterns)
- Maria Aina and Oghale Ayetuoma (2025) Examining the challenges to attracting and retaining young talents in Agribusiness in fulfilling SDG 'Zero Hunger Goals': A UK and West Africa HE perspective (British Academy of Management)
- Maria Aina (2025) Exploring Impacts of Interventions for Sustainability in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): A West Midlands Perspective (Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport:Logistics Research Network))
- Dabo, A.-A., Mor, R. S., Albatal, M. M., Raji, M. & Maria Aina, (2025) Logistics planning strategies for seasonal traffic management Scientific Journal of Logistics 2025, 21 (2), 167-181
- Emmanuel Terngu Vanger, Amin Hosseinian-Far, and Maria Aina (2024) Challenges of Implementing the ECOWAS Protocol on Transhumance Across Member States, Agrarian Livelihood Protection, and Ecological Sustainability (Book Chapter : Springer)
- Maria Aina (2024) Emerging Challenges in the Food Supply Chains - Exploring Causes and Potential solutions for food waste, LRN Greece Forum, April 2024 (Presentation)
- Maria Aina1 (2024) The impact of food waste (5th Symposium on Circular Economy and Sustainability Chania, Greece 17-19 June, 2024 )
- Maria Aina (2024) Agri-Business Sustainability in the UK (Global Institute for Agri-Tech Economics )
- Maria Aina,Bridget Irene and Wenjun Xie (2023) User’s Benefit Perceptions and Privacy Concerns for the Personalised Recommendation Service on Taobao: A Privacy Calculus Perspective(Global Conference on Business and Social Sciences (GCBSS) September 2023, Thailand)
- Bridget Irene, Tammy Mudd, Joan Lockyer, Siona Ndeh, Kemi Chukwuma Nwuba, Okeoghene Enebeli & Maria Aina 'Responsible entrepreneurship in a family business context: Is your child the golden ticket?' The Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Conference (2023) (The Alistair Anderson best paper at ISBE,2023)
- Maria Aina and Wenjie Yu (2023) Impact of Big Data Analytics on Competitive Advantage (Logistics and Research Network(LRN), September 2023, Edinburgh
- Maria Aina (2020) Exploring Available Support to Achieving The NetZero Target in the West Midlands - Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute(EBRI),Birmingham
- Maria Aina (2018) Exploring available Agric-tech for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in the Marches Region
- M. Aina, Y. Dai and D. Petrovic (2011) Analysis of interrelationships between Suppliers configuration and performance within the supply network: A simulation approach," International Conference on Automation and Computing, Huddersfield and IEEE Xplore IEEE
- Maria Aina, Yang Dai and Dobrila Petrovic (2010) A sustainable supply network model and its configurations. International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC), Birmingham
Additional Information
- Public Engagement
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- Presentation at the UK House of Lords (Rural Economy Research Group) on Agri-tech and the Future Rural Workforce, 2025
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Honours and Awards
- Best Paper Award, Family Business Track, ISBE 2023
- Winner of Alistair Anderson ERD Publication Prize for an ECR, ISBE 2023
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Knowledge Exchange Projects
- UUON Sustainability Summit 2023: Professor Hosseinian Far, A. (Consultant), Aina, M.(Consultant), Dabo, A.-A. (Consultant), Vanger, E. (Consultant) Activity: Further Knowledge Exchange Activity › Industry Engagement › Knowledge Exchange
- Agri-Tech for Businesses support Project 2019-2020: Providing consultancy for agribusinesses in the West Midlands region
- Energy, Bioproduct and Sustainability Project 2020-2021: Consultancy for Businesses within and Outside the United Kingdom
- DEFRA(Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and CPRE (Campaign To Protect Rural England) 2009, Hedgerow Project
- Teaching Activities
- Honours Research Project
- Master's Research Project
- PhD supervision
- International Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Modules
You can contact Dr Maria Aina if you would like to discuss any of the following course modules: