STC has appointed Luke Tilley to work with entomologist Dr Pat Croft in delivering applied or ‘near-market’ R&D for the UK horticultural industry.
Luke obtained his BSc (Hons) from the University of Sheffield, Animal & Plant Sciences in 2005 and since then has been undertaking a PhD with the University of York and STC on ‘New Strategies for the Control of Shore Fly in Protected Culture’. He is a member of the Royal Entomological Society and in 2009 was elected as Trustee and Council member of the RES. He is also a member of the IOBC.
Dr McPherson, Science Director at STC explained… “there is yet another major upheaval in the UK R&D infrastructure and this, in addition to previous cut-backs in applied R&D funding, means that there are very few new science specialists coming into the industry. It is vital that we can reverse this decline and Lukes appointment shows that STC is committed to continued delivery of technology to UK horticulture. We are keen to strengthen our links with universities and other science partners to ensure effective delivery of applied R&D into the future.”
Graham Ward, STC CEO said… “we are very pleased to welcome Luke to STC and hope that you will all get a chance to meet and work with him in the coming months and years. Luke, and others like him, are the future R&D lifeblood of the industry “
Graham Ward added… “Nearly 10 years ago the industry helped secure the future of STC and it is now a successful industry-owned applied R&D facility for UK horticulture. To help secure and strengthen applied R&D delivery into the future, in this period of continued withdrawal of support for facilities by Defra , an applied R&D platform between STC, ADAS and EMR has also been created . Industry support continues to be needed to ensure that the applied research base does not fall below the critical mass of this platform .”
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