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Dr Hannah Pitt
(she/her)
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Hannah Pitt
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Geography, School Community Co-ordinator
Overview
I am Senior Lecturer in Environmental Geography. My research into skills and work in commercial horticulture is the focus of a new book Revaluing Horticultural Skills
Other research explores interactions between community, places, and sustainability in the contexts of food systems, and engagement with outdoor spaces. I specialise in collaborations with third sector organisations and communities, and have particular interest in understanding human-plant relations.
I am Community Coordinator for the School of Geography & Planning, and member of the Sustainability Working Group.
Current projects:
- Tyfu Eich Ysgol / Grow your own school: Collaboration with Grow Cardiff to develop support for Welsh primary schools to integrate gardening in education, supported by AHRC IAA funding, and Cardiff University Civic Mission Fund.
- How can housing associations transform food systems in Wales?: Partnership with Hafod and Food Sense Wales supported by funding from Learned Society Wales / Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru
- Building research impact partnerships for healthy and sustainable school food systems: Strategic Impact Project with Prof. Mara Miele and Prof. Kevin Morgan
Recent projects:
- Where Next for Future Farming Skills?: AHRC funded impact project in partnership with Landworkers Alliance to develop priorities for future training in agro-ecological farming.
- Knowing to Grow: Sêr Cymru II Research Fellowship which aims to enhance resilience of knowledge and skills dimensions of agri-foodsystems. It focuses on horticultural production– large scale fruit and vegetable growing- with case studies in Wales, the UK and EU. Knowledge network mapping will identify where systems are vulnerable, and how power dynamics affect future resilience.
- Finding pathways towards transformation of traditional farming in marginal areas: British Academy funded research to explore farmers’ concerns and opinions about diversifying their production, and the pressures of meeting the demand for more UK-grown plant-based food.
- Good Work for Good Food: An international collaboration to develop and promote a shared vision for good work across the food system.
- Resilient Green Spaces: A partnership working to pilot alternative re-localised food systems using communities and their green spaces as the driving force for change across Wales.
- The Careoperative: An international leadership collective focused on Transforming (food) Systems.
- Evaluation of Food Power examining the role and potential of local networks working to reduce the causes of food insecurity.
- OMG! Data research partner developing an information management tool for organic market gardners
- Investigating potential for bluespaces to enhance individual and community wellbeing with Canal & River Trust
- Understanding reasons for under-use of urban waterways amongst marginalised communities.
- Evaluating civil society programmes aiming to promote food sustainability and food related education.
- PhD - an ethnography of community gardens as place making.
Collaborators
- Food Sense Wales
- Grow Cardiff
- Hafod
- Landworkers Alliance
- Social Farms & Gardens
- Tyfu Cymru / Lantra Cymru
- Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming
- Canal & River Trust
- SOCOPA - Somali Community and Parent Association Leicester.
- Garden Organic
- Soil Association
- Alliance Homes
Publication
2025
- Care, O. et al., 2025. Reaping what we sow: centering values on food systems transformations research.. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 54 (2), pp.226-238. (10.1007/s13280-024-02086-5)
- Pitt, H. 2025. Getting intimate with crops in horticulture’s loveless human-plant relations. Social and Cultural Geography 26 (9), pp.997-1017. (10.1080/14649365.2024.2431018)
- Pitt, H. 2025. Working in food systems. In: Holloway, L. et al., Elgar Encyclopedia of Food and Society. Social Sciences series Edward Elgar Publishing. , pp.510-515. (10.4337/9781800887435.00132)
2024
- Craft, R. and Pitt, H. 2024. More than meat? Livestock farmers' views on opportunities to produce for plant-based diets. Agriculture and Human Values 41 , pp.975-988. (10.1007/s10460-023-10533-4)
- Pitt, H. 2024. Revaluing horticultural skills The knowledge and labour of growing food. Critical Food Studies United Kingdom: Routledge. (10.4324/9781003281689)
- Pitt, H. 2024. Training in agro-ecological horticulture: Case studies and delivery models. Project Report.[Online].Cardiff: Cardiff University School of Geography and Planning. Available at: https://ourfood1200.wales/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Training-in-Agro-ecological-Horticulture-Case-studies-delivery-models-FINAL.pdf.
- Smith, T. A. and Pitt, H. 2024. Noticing nature on the waterways. Children's Geographies 22 (3), pp.331-349. (10.1080/14733285.2023.2279994)
- Woodley, E. et al., 2024. The future of geography field course pedagogy in UK Higher Education. Geo: Geography and Environment 11 (2) e00158. (10.1002/geo2.158)
2023
- Klassen, S. et al., 2023. Pathways for advancing good work in food systems: reflecting on the good work for good food international forum. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 12 (2), pp.1-17. (10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.004)
2022
- Craft, R. and Pitt, H. 2022. Exploring opportunities for farmers in Wales to produce foods for future markets.
- Pitt, H. 2022. Horticulture in the UK - Characterising knowledge ecosystems.
- Pitt, H. 2022. Horticulture in the UK - Resilience to and beyond pandemic.
- Pitt, H. and Smith, T. A. 2022. Conversations with practitioners 2: Phoebe Smith and Dwayne Fields. In: Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences. Cham: Palgrave, Macmillan. , pp.337-362. (10.1007/978-3-030-94460-5_14)
- Smith, T. A. and Pitt, H. 2022. ‘But, would we be the odd family?’: Encountering and producing unfamiliar bodies and landscapes. In: Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. , pp.283-308. (10.1007/978-3-030-94460-5_12)
- Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. 2022. Unfamiliar landscapes: an introduction. In: Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences. Palgrave Macmillan. , pp.1-32. (10.1007/978-3-030-94460-5_1)
- Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. 2022. Whose unfamiliar landscape? Reflecting on the diversity of young people’s encounters with nature and the outdoors. In: Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences,. Palgrave Macmillan. , pp.551-570. (10.1007/978-3-030-94460-5_23)
- Zaidi, N. and Pitt, H. 2022. Invisible boundaries to access and participation in public spaces : Navigating community diversity in Leicester, UK.. Local Environment 27 (9), pp.1059-1074. (10.1080/13549839.2022.2090533)
2021
- Care, O. et al., 2021. Creating leadership collectives for sustainability transformations. Sustainability Science 16 , pp.703-708. (10.1007/s11625-021-00909-y)
- Pitt, H. 2021. Living lexicon for the environmental humanities: roots. Environmental Humanities 13 (2), pp.470-474. (10.1215/22011919-9320255)
- Pitt, H. 2021. What knowledge is required to grow food? A framework for understanding horticulture’s skills ‘crisis’. Journal of Rural Studies 85 , pp.59-67. (10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.05.001)
- Sanderson-Bellamy, A. et al. 2021. Shaping more resilient and just food systems: lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 50 , pp.782-793. (10.1007/s13280-021-01532-y)
2020
- Bayfield, H. et al. 2020. Awesome women and bad feminists: the role of online social networks and peer support for feminist practice in academia. Cultural Geographies 27 (3), pp.415-435. (10.1177/1474474019890321)
2019
- Backman, M. et al. 2019. Experiential approaches to sustainability education: towards learning landscapes. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 20 (1), pp.139-156. (10.1108/IJSHE-06-2018-0109)
- Pitt, H. 2019. Limits to growth? Why gardening has limited success growing inclusive communities. In: Certoma, C. , Noori, S. and Sondermann, M. eds. Urban Gardening and the Struggle for Social and Spatial Justice. Manchester: Manchester University Press. , pp.108-123. (10.7228/manchester/9781526126092.003.0007)
- Pitt, H. 2019. No ducking, no diving, no running, no pushing: Hydrophobia and urban blue spaces across the life-course. In: Foley, R. et al., Blue Space, Health and Wellbeing: Hydrophilia Unbounded. London: Routledge(10.4324/9780815359159)
- Pitt, H. 2019. What prevents people accessing urban bluespaces? A qualitative study. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 39 , pp.89-97. (10.1016/j.ufug.2019.02.013)
- Pitt, H. 2019. Working Paper 1: The state of horticulture in the UK. Working paper. Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/1470203/Working-Paper-1-FINAL-TEXT.pdf.
- Pitt, H. 2019. Working Paper 2: The state of skills for UK horticulture. Working paper. Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1527847/Working-Paper-2-FINAL.pdf.
- Pitt, H. 2019. Working Paper 3: What is the problem with horticultural skills in the UK?. Working paper. Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1527848/Working-Paper-3-Problem-FINAL.pdf.
- Pitt, H. 2019. Working Paper 4: What will solve the problem with horticultural skills in the UK?. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1527849/Working-Paper-4-Solutions-FINAL.pdf.
- Pitt, H. and Smith, T. 2019. Leicester Young Ecology Adventurers: Evaluation Report 2: Final ,.
2018
- Maughan, C. , Laycock Pedersen, R. and Pitt, H. 2018. The problems, promise and pragmatism of community food growing. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 33 (SI6), pp.497-502. (10.1017/S1742170518000200)
- Pitt, H. 2018. An apprenticeship in plant thinking. In: Bastian, M. et al., Participatory Research in More-than-Human Worlds. London: Routledge
- Pitt, H. 2018. Muddying the waters: what urban waterways reveal about bluespaces and wellbeing. Geoforum 92 , pp.161-170. (10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.04.014)
- Pitt, H. , Jones, M. and Weitkamp, E. 2018. Every city a food growing city? What food growing schools London reveals about city strategies for food system sustainability. Sustainability 10 (8) 2924. (10.3390/su10082924)
2017
- Gray, S. et al., 2017. Inter-sectoral transfer of the Food for Life settings framework in England. Health Promotion International (10.1093/heapro/dax017)
- Gray, S. et al., 2017. Food for life: evaluation of the impact of the Hospital Food Programme in England using a case study approach. JRSM Open 8 (10), pp.1-9. (10.1177/2054270417712703)
- Pitt, H. 2017. Questioning care cultivated through connecting with more-than-human communities. Social and Cultural Geography 19 (2), pp.253-274. (10.1080/14649365.2016.1275753)
- Pitt, H. et al. 2017. Association between Food for Life, a whole setting healthy and sustainable food programme, and primary school children's consumption of fruit and vegetables: a cross-sectional study in England. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14 (6) 639. (10.3390/ijerph14060639)
2016
- Pitt, H. and Jones, M. 2016. Scaling up and out as a pathway for food system transitions. Sustainability 8 (10) 1025. (10.3390/su8101025)
2015
- Gray, S. et al., 2015. Improving hospital food: evaluating the impact of the UK Food for Life partnership. European Journal of Public Health 25 (S3), pp.-. 380. (10.1093/eurpub/ckv176.018)
- Pitt, H. 2015. On showing and being shown plants - a guide to methods for more-than-human geography. Area 47 (1), pp.48-55. (10.1111/area.12145)
2014
- Pitt, H. 2014. Book review - community gardening as social action. People, Place and Policy Online 8 (2), pp.-. 142. (10.3351/ppp.0008.0002.0006)
- Pitt, H. 2014. Therapeutic experiences of community gardens: putting flow in its place. Health and Place 27 , pp.84-91. (10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.02.006)
2013
- Pitt, H. 2013. Growing together: an ethnography of community gardening as place making. PhD Thesis , Cardiff University.
Articles
- Backman, M. et al. 2019. Experiential approaches to sustainability education: towards learning landscapes. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 20 (1), pp.139-156. (10.1108/IJSHE-06-2018-0109)
- Bayfield, H. et al. 2020. Awesome women and bad feminists: the role of online social networks and peer support for feminist practice in academia. Cultural Geographies 27 (3), pp.415-435. (10.1177/1474474019890321)
- Care, O. et al., 2021. Creating leadership collectives for sustainability transformations. Sustainability Science 16 , pp.703-708. (10.1007/s11625-021-00909-y)
- Care, O. et al., 2025. Reaping what we sow: centering values on food systems transformations research.. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 54 (2), pp.226-238. (10.1007/s13280-024-02086-5)
- Craft, R. and Pitt, H. 2024. More than meat? Livestock farmers' views on opportunities to produce for plant-based diets. Agriculture and Human Values 41 , pp.975-988. (10.1007/s10460-023-10533-4)
- Gray, S. et al., 2017. Inter-sectoral transfer of the Food for Life settings framework in England. Health Promotion International (10.1093/heapro/dax017)
- Gray, S. et al., 2015. Improving hospital food: evaluating the impact of the UK Food for Life partnership. European Journal of Public Health 25 (S3), pp.-. 380. (10.1093/eurpub/ckv176.018)
- Gray, S. et al., 2017. Food for life: evaluation of the impact of the Hospital Food Programme in England using a case study approach. JRSM Open 8 (10), pp.1-9. (10.1177/2054270417712703)
- Klassen, S. et al., 2023. Pathways for advancing good work in food systems: reflecting on the good work for good food international forum. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 12 (2), pp.1-17. (10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.004)
- Maughan, C. , Laycock Pedersen, R. and Pitt, H. 2018. The problems, promise and pragmatism of community food growing. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 33 (SI6), pp.497-502. (10.1017/S1742170518000200)
- Pitt, H. 2014. Book review - community gardening as social action. People, Place and Policy Online 8 (2), pp.-. 142. (10.3351/ppp.0008.0002.0006)
- Pitt, H. 2025. Getting intimate with crops in horticulture’s loveless human-plant relations. Social and Cultural Geography 26 (9), pp.997-1017. (10.1080/14649365.2024.2431018)
- Pitt, H. 2021. Living lexicon for the environmental humanities: roots. Environmental Humanities 13 (2), pp.470-474. (10.1215/22011919-9320255)
- Pitt, H. 2018. Muddying the waters: what urban waterways reveal about bluespaces and wellbeing. Geoforum 92 , pp.161-170. (10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.04.014)
- Pitt, H. 2015. On showing and being shown plants - a guide to methods for more-than-human geography. Area 47 (1), pp.48-55. (10.1111/area.12145)
- Pitt, H. 2017. Questioning care cultivated through connecting with more-than-human communities. Social and Cultural Geography 19 (2), pp.253-274. (10.1080/14649365.2016.1275753)
- Pitt, H. 2014. Therapeutic experiences of community gardens: putting flow in its place. Health and Place 27 , pp.84-91. (10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.02.006)
- Pitt, H. 2021. What knowledge is required to grow food? A framework for understanding horticulture’s skills ‘crisis’. Journal of Rural Studies 85 , pp.59-67. (10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.05.001)
- Pitt, H. 2019. What prevents people accessing urban bluespaces? A qualitative study. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 39 , pp.89-97. (10.1016/j.ufug.2019.02.013)
- Pitt, H. , Jones, M. and Weitkamp, E. 2018. Every city a food growing city? What food growing schools London reveals about city strategies for food system sustainability. Sustainability 10 (8) 2924. (10.3390/su10082924)
- Pitt, H. and Jones, M. 2016. Scaling up and out as a pathway for food system transitions. Sustainability 8 (10) 1025. (10.3390/su8101025)
- Pitt, H. et al. 2017. Association between Food for Life, a whole setting healthy and sustainable food programme, and primary school children's consumption of fruit and vegetables: a cross-sectional study in England. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14 (6) 639. (10.3390/ijerph14060639)
- Sanderson-Bellamy, A. et al. 2021. Shaping more resilient and just food systems: lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 50 , pp.782-793. (10.1007/s13280-021-01532-y)
- Smith, T. A. and Pitt, H. 2024. Noticing nature on the waterways. Children's Geographies 22 (3), pp.331-349. (10.1080/14733285.2023.2279994)
- Woodley, E. et al., 2024. The future of geography field course pedagogy in UK Higher Education. Geo: Geography and Environment 11 (2) e00158. (10.1002/geo2.158)
- Zaidi, N. and Pitt, H. 2022. Invisible boundaries to access and participation in public spaces : Navigating community diversity in Leicester, UK.. Local Environment 27 (9), pp.1059-1074. (10.1080/13549839.2022.2090533)
Book sections
- Pitt, H. 2018. An apprenticeship in plant thinking. In: Bastian, M. et al., Participatory Research in More-than-Human Worlds. London: Routledge
- Pitt, H. 2019. Limits to growth? Why gardening has limited success growing inclusive communities. In: Certoma, C. , Noori, S. and Sondermann, M. eds. Urban Gardening and the Struggle for Social and Spatial Justice. Manchester: Manchester University Press. , pp.108-123. (10.7228/manchester/9781526126092.003.0007)
- Pitt, H. 2019. No ducking, no diving, no running, no pushing: Hydrophobia and urban blue spaces across the life-course. In: Foley, R. et al., Blue Space, Health and Wellbeing: Hydrophilia Unbounded. London: Routledge(10.4324/9780815359159)
- Pitt, H. 2025. Working in food systems. In: Holloway, L. et al., Elgar Encyclopedia of Food and Society. Social Sciences series Edward Elgar Publishing. , pp.510-515. (10.4337/9781800887435.00132)
- Pitt, H. and Smith, T. A. 2022. Conversations with practitioners 2: Phoebe Smith and Dwayne Fields. In: Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences. Cham: Palgrave, Macmillan. , pp.337-362. (10.1007/978-3-030-94460-5_14)
- Smith, T. A. and Pitt, H. 2022. ‘But, would we be the odd family?’: Encountering and producing unfamiliar bodies and landscapes. In: Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. , pp.283-308. (10.1007/978-3-030-94460-5_12)
- Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. 2022. Unfamiliar landscapes: an introduction. In: Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences. Palgrave Macmillan. , pp.1-32. (10.1007/978-3-030-94460-5_1)
- Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. 2022. Whose unfamiliar landscape? Reflecting on the diversity of young people’s encounters with nature and the outdoors. In: Smith, T. A. , Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences,. Palgrave Macmillan. , pp.551-570. (10.1007/978-3-030-94460-5_23)
Books
- Pitt, H. 2024. Revaluing horticultural skills The knowledge and labour of growing food. Critical Food Studies United Kingdom: Routledge. (10.4324/9781003281689)
Monographs
- Craft, R. and Pitt, H. 2022. Exploring opportunities for farmers in Wales to produce foods for future markets.
- Pitt, H. 2022. Horticulture in the UK - Characterising knowledge ecosystems.
- Pitt, H. 2022. Horticulture in the UK - Resilience to and beyond pandemic.
- Pitt, H. 2024. Training in agro-ecological horticulture: Case studies and delivery models. Project Report.[Online].Cardiff: Cardiff University School of Geography and Planning. Available at: https://ourfood1200.wales/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Training-in-Agro-ecological-Horticulture-Case-studies-delivery-models-FINAL.pdf.
- Pitt, H. 2019. Working Paper 1: The state of horticulture in the UK. Working paper. Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/1470203/Working-Paper-1-FINAL-TEXT.pdf.
- Pitt, H. 2019. Working Paper 2: The state of skills for UK horticulture. Working paper. Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1527847/Working-Paper-2-FINAL.pdf.
- Pitt, H. 2019. Working Paper 3: What is the problem with horticultural skills in the UK?. Working paper. Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1527848/Working-Paper-3-Problem-FINAL.pdf.
- Pitt, H. 2019. Working Paper 4: What will solve the problem with horticultural skills in the UK?. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1527849/Working-Paper-4-Solutions-FINAL.pdf.
- Pitt, H. and Smith, T. 2019. Leicester Young Ecology Adventurers: Evaluation Report 2: Final ,.
Thesis
- Pitt, H. 2013. Growing together: an ethnography of community gardening as place making. PhD Thesis , Cardiff University.
Research
My recent book Revaluing Horticultural Skills is a detailed study of knowledge and skills essential for growing and producing food. It details how food is grown in the UK today, and how the work this industry depends on became devalued. This research was supported by the Sêr Cymru II programme which is part-funded by Cardiff Univeristy and the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.
I am working with various third-sector and public bodies to tackle challenges facing UK food systems, with an emphasis on issues in horticulture and education. Recent outputs include case studies in training in agro-ecological farming.
Research experience
I led collaborative research between the Canal & Rivers Trust and the Sustainable Places Research Institute to understand reasons people do not access their local waterway, and how they might be encouraged to do so (details here.) This used a selection of case studies centred on different waterways, using participatory techniques to engage various communities.The research builds on previous work for the Trust to examine the socio-environmental impacts of inland waterways in England and Wales, and develop an framework to measure the outcomes.
My background is in human geography and social anthropology with an emphasis on environment and sustainability. I am particularly interested in relationships between community, place, and sustainability. I explore innovative methodologies which enable both people and nonhumans to fully participate in social research, with a focus on plants.
Research projects
- Finding pathways towards transformation of traditional farming in marginal areas, 2021-22
- Resilient Greenspaces, led by Social Farms & Gardens, with Dr Angelina Sanderson Bellamy (UWE Bristol), 2021-2021.
- Evaluation of Food Power, with Dr Ana Moragues-Faus and Dr Andrew Williams (Cardiff University), 2017-2021.
- Knowing to Grow, Ser Cymru II Fellowship, 2018-2021
- Rethinking Healthy Spaces, with Dr Des Fitzgerald (Cardiff University), Dr Victoria Bates & Dr Lucy Selman (Bristol University) and Dr Oli Williams (Leicester University), 2017-18
- Canal & River Trust Understanding waterways' contribution to community wellbeing, 2018-2019.
- Canal & River Trust Understanding barriers and motivations to accessing waterways, with Prof. Terry Marsden (Cardiff University), 2015-2017
- Leicester Young Ecology Adventurers, research partner, with Dr Thomas Smith (Cardiff University), 2017-2019
- Alliance Homes, Evaluation of Growing Together Project, with Mat Jones (UWE Bristol), 2015-2017
- Garden Organic – Evaluation of Food Growing Schools London, with Mat Jones and Dr Emma Weitkamp (UWE Bristol), 2014-2017
- Food for Life Partnership Phase 2 Evaluation, with Prof. Judy Orme and Mat Jones (UWE Bristol), 2014-2015
- Pembroke 21C Scoping Report for Supporting Sustainable Living, 2011-2012
News
- Findings of the Food Power Evaluation https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2571109-evaluation-report-on-food-power-programme-released
- Imagining the future of food systems within the Cardiff City Region https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2472599-online-event-to-discuss-the-future-of-food-systems-within-the-cardiff-city-region
- Growers of fresh produce in Wales feeling the pressure of Covid-19 https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2369940-growers-of-fresh-produce-in-wales-feeling-the-pressure-of-covid-19
- Data collection tool can help organic market gardeners maximise profitability https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/1718735-data-collection-tool-can-help-organic-market-gardeners-maximise-profitability
- GW4 Researchers tour South West and Wales to ask: what is a healthy space? http://gw4.ac.uk/news/gw4-researchers-tour-south-west-wales-ask-healthy-space/
- Somali families in Leicester engage with waterways, including coverage on BBC East Midlands http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/493149-dirty-drowning-dodgy-people
- Article on children's engagement with nature, The Conversation http://theconversation.com/why-getting-children-to-engage-with-nature-isnt-all-its-cracked-up-to-be-55181
Teaching
- Tutor for Human Geography students on their placement year.
- Lead for final year under-graduate field study visit to Amsterdam.
- Module leader for post-graduate module Sustainable Food Systems, including live projects delivered in partnership with Food Cardiff and RCT Sustainable Food Partnership.
- In 2024 I led a Taith funded student visit to Copenhagen to trial long distance overland travel, and contributed to Royal Geographic Society activity to explore the future of student field study visits.
- Fellow of the HEA.
Biography
Education & Qualifications
- PhD Cardiff University School of Geography and Planning, 2014, title "Growing Together: An ethnography of community gardening as place making".
- MSc Sustainability, Planning and Environmental Policy (Distinction), Cardiff University School of Geography and Planning, 2004.
- BSocSc in Social Anthropology (First), Manchester University in 1997.
Honours and awards
- Invited Visiting Fellow at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) Berlin 2024
- Selected for Robert Bosch Foundation Postdoctoral Academy for Transformational Leadership, 2018-2020 https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/project/postdoc-academy-transformational-leadership
- Selected for GW4 Alliance Crucible programme, 2017 http://gw4.ac.uk/gw4-crucible-healthy-living/
Grants Awarded
- Cardiff University Civic Mission Progression Fund, £15,000 2025
- AHRC IAA Knowledge Exchange Partnership with Grow Cardiff, £15,000 2024-25
- AHRC IAA, ‘Where Next for Future Farming Skills?’, £9000, 2022-24
- British Academy/Leverhulme, 'Findings pathways towards transformation of traditional farming in marginal areas', £9,900, 2021-2022
- Sêr Cymru II Fellowship, Welsh Government/ ERDF, 2018-2021.
- Food Power, co-investigator for independent evaluation, Sustain / Big Lottery Fund, 2017-2021.
- Rethinking Healthy Spaces, GW4 Crucible Seed Funding, co-investigator 2017-2018.
- Cardiff University Research Opportunities Programme, student project Eastern European Migrants’ Experiences of Cardiff’s Greenspaces 2017.
- Leicester Young Ecology Adventurers, research partner, Heritage Lottery Fund, 2017-2018.
- Alliance Homes, co-investigator for independent evaluation, Big Lottery Fund, 2015-2017.
- Garden Organic, co-investigator for independent evaluation, Big Lottery Fund, 2014-2016.
- Pembroke 21C, awarded tender for research, Welsh Government Supporting Sustainable Living fund, 2012.
- Graduate College Cardiff University Interdisciplinary Research Initiatives - co-applicant for grants awarded for conference and seminar, 2011 & 2013.
- Cardiff University President’s Research Scholarship - full PhD funding, 2010.
Professional memberships
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy/ Advance HE, 2021
- Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society with the Institute of British Geographers, 2014-
Academic positions
- 2018-2021 Research Fellow, Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University.
- 2015-2018 Research Associate, Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University.
- 2014-2015 Research Associate, Institute for Sustainability, Health and Environment, University of the West of England Bristol.
Speaking engagements
- Invited Speaker, Building a Green Future Through Arts and Humantities Research, AHRC’s Wales and South West Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Cluster, November 2024
- Workshop organiser, Creating spaces of learning across difference, Wales Real Food & Farming Conference, November 2024
- Session organiser Just and Sustainable Food Systems: Teaching Food Matters, RGS-IBG International Annual Conference 2024
- Roundtable Organiser Decarbonising field courses: pedagogic practices for the climate emergency, RGS-IBG International Annual Conference 2024
- Co-convenor Crops and Their Humans: Vegetal Perspectives on Agricultural Mobilities Workshop ZMO Berlin, 2024
- Invited to give evidence to EFRA Committee Inquiry into Land Based Careers, 2024
Committees and reviewing
- 2015-2017 School representative to Cardiff University Research Staff Association (CURSA).
- 2016- 2018 ATHENA Swan Self Assessment team, School of Geography & Planning
External Committees
- 2024- Editorial Board, Plant Perspectives
- 2020- Member, Wales Horticulture Alliance
- 2016-2019 Trustee, UNA Exchange
- 2010-2013 Wales Advisory Group, Coed Cadw - The Woodland Trust
Supervisions
I am currently co-supervisor for Bethan Sian John (Aberystwyth University) as part of the AHRC funded South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership.
I am interested in supervising PhD students on topics including:
- knowledge and skills in food systems and production
- relationships between people and plants
- community interactions with green and blue spaces
Current supervision
Past projects
- Co-supervisor for Ali Taherzadeh ESRC DTP Wales funded PhD
Resisting, learning, growing : the role of social movement praxis in UK agroecology transformations
- Co-supervisor for Justyna Prosser ESRC DTP Wales funded PhD
Contact Details
[email protected]
+44 29208 79632
Glamorgan Building, Room 2.69, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WA
+44 29208 79632
Glamorgan Building, Room 2.69, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WA
