Three new senior lecturers join Harper Adams food department

Posted 22 January 2016

Harper Adams University has welcomed three new members of staff to the Department of Food Science and Agri-Food Supply Chain Management. 

Dr Louise Manning and Dr Karim Farag moved to Harper Adams from the Royal Agricultural University while Martin Anderson, former manager of the Regional Food Academy, returns to the University after a period in industry and at Reaseheath College.

Dr Manning is a senior lecturer in food policy and management. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the agri-food supply chain in a variety of roles. Her specialism is food integrity including food safety, food quality, food crime, governance, social and corporate responsibility. 

She advises both government and businesses on supply chain risk assessment techniques and associated mitigation strategies. She has penned several books and writes regularly for trade press and her two blogs (Food Safety Chat and Poultry Discussion), as well as being an active Twitter user.

“I am really pleased to be joining Harper Adams University,” she said. “It has been really good to meet so many new people and catch up with some old friends too. 

“Lecturing always has a way of grounding you as you have to continuously defend what you believe about a subject and give evidence to support what you are saying. I am really lucky that I am able to communicate every day about topics that are relevant and close to my heart.

“I am looking forward to helping young people to stretch their abilities; to help them often accomplish something which at the start they weren’t too sure they were capable of and to prepare them for the working environment.”  

After originally training as a vet, Dr Farag had a change of heart and turned to food science. He has an MSc in Meat Science & Technology from the University of Bristol and a PhD in Food Science from University College Dublin. He has previously worked as technical manager at RWM food group and technical account manager for Tesco.

His research focuses on the use of emerging thermal and non-thermal technologies in the processing of foods, in particular meat. Other areas of interest are: food and poverty, household food security, food rights and justice, both nationally and internationally; local food initiatives; evaluating policy intervention at local and national levels; practice of food ethics. 

Dr Farag said: “I’m really excited to be joining the food department at Harper Adams University. The university is very serious in raising the standard of teaching, research and knowledge transfer. It is very encouraging to see the extent of investment on campus and the level of collaboration with the relative industries.

“I am looking forward to meeting the students and engaging with them in teaching and research, but it is also exciting working with all the staff members in my department and beyond and engaging in collaborative projects.”   

Martin Anderson is now a senior lecturer in food science and management. He re-joins Harper Adams University after working in industry as a consultant and lecturer for Reaseheath College, as well as other education providers, for the past two years. 

His first role at Harper Adams was managing the Regional Food Academy and lecturing in food science and meat science. Prior to this, his career involved technical and operations management in some of Europe’s largest red meat processors. 

His research interests include food quality management, food retail, operations management and education in the food industry. He said: “It feels amazing to be back at Harper Adams University. The students and colleagues have really made me feel so welcome. It feels like I have arrived back home after a long period of absence.

“I left Harper Adams because of a fantastic opportunity back in industry. I had also reached a stage in my life where I was unsure of whether I was an academic or food manufacturer. By going back to industry I realised how much I value teaching, research, the interaction with students and the intellectual freedom that Harper Adams had given me. 

“I went back into teaching across a range of higher education providers across the UK, none of which quite lived up to the Harper experience. As soon as I saw this role advertised I knew that I had to apply. I was so delighted to be successful in application.”