Archives: Team Members

Emma is Senior Farm Carbon and Soil Advisor for the FCT. Having previously worked as an Agronomist and Crop Production Advisor based in Herefordshire, she provides technical advice across a diverse range of farming systems, delivering carbon auditing and farm efficiency projects across the UK.

After studying Biological Sciences at The University of Reading, Emma achieved the BASIS Certificate in Crop Protection (IPM), FACTS and BASIS Soil and Water qualifications alongside a combined MSc (Hons) from The University of Edinburgh and SRUC in Soils and Sustainability. In addition to her advisory role at FCT, Emma is also the co-ordinator of the Soil Farmer of the Year competition which has been running since 2015 to award and champion farmers from across the industry who manage soil to support productive and healthy crops and pasture, which in turn supports a profitable and resilient farming system.

Location: West Midlands

Liz is the Chief Executive Officer at the Farm Carbon Toolkit, a role she took on recently, having been a director there for the past five years. Liz has a wealth of experience of agriculture and food both in the UK and internationally. She has worked in the sector for over 30 years and brings a practical approach combined with scientific and sector knowledge to her roles. 

Liz holds a BSc in Animal Science and is a Nuffield scholar, where her research involved exploring co-operation in the red meat sector and was a precursor to her joining EFFP. Here she worked on the development of supply chain collaboration in England. Other roles have been with English Food and Farming Partnerships and ADAS.

Liz is an Oxford Farming Conference Director and an advisor to Sell My Livestock. In her spare time Liz manages one of the largest pedigree flocks of Shropshire sheep in the UK and combines this with being a Council Member of the Breed Society.

Prior to joining FCT Liz was Associate Director of Farming and Land Use at the Soil Association. Liz brings not only an extensive expertise in the UK food and farming markets, but she also has a deep and practical understanding of the importance of improving soil health, reducing environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, and building resilience within the sector. She advocates that building economic resilience must occur alongside retaining product quality and animal welfare standards and building sustainable, regenerative practices on farm.

Location: South West

David has spent his entire life working in the farming sector and retains his enthusiasm for farming and rural communities. His interests in agriculture are broad and range from intensive livestock production right through to small scale social enterprise. He believes that over the coming decades conventional agriculture and organic farming will converge as a consequence of declining chemical options, new technologies and customer demand.

David is a NED at Waldersey Farms on the fens and at the Rural Payments Agency where he represents the industry. He is a Director of The Farm Carbon Toolkit, a Trustee of The Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust, an Ambassador for Social Farms and Gardens and helps St George’s House at Windsor Castle organise their farming consultations.

Prior to his ‘retirement’ in May 2018 David was CEO of the Royal Agricultural Society of England where he developed the Innovation for Agriculture initiative. Innovation for Agriculture is a consortium of 16 Agricultural Societies that promotes emerging technologies that will shape agriculture over the coming decades. Innovation for Agriculture has three technical programmes focused upon Soil Health, Precision Livestock Technologies and Antibiotic Resistance. The organisation is project coordinator for the 4D4F Horizon 2020 project which promotes the adoption and development of precision technologies in the dairy sector.

Previously David enjoyed a long career with The Co-operative Farms who he joined as a graduate after studying at Seale Hayne. During his time with The Co-operative Farms David held a number of Senior positions including Head of Fruit Operations and Manager of Stoughton Estate in Leicestershire. He has considerable experience in the combinable, dairy and fruit sectors.

In 2010 he completed a Nuffield study on ‘New Science and Pioneer Technologies to transform UK agriculture’ which took him to leading research facilities in the USA, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. The study developed a particular interest in genetics and automation.

David is married with two grown up sons and lives in Leicestershire.

Location: East Midlands

Agricultural Data Analyst

Izzy is the Farm Carbon Toolkit Agricultural Data Analyst. She is passionate about getting useful insight from the valuable data we collect, using robust statistical techniques. 

Izzy previously worked in the Scottish Government’s Agricultural Analysis Unit, collecting and processing data for the June Agricultural Census and the Sheep and Goat Inventory. She was part of a programme designed to overhaul the data collection procedure, so as to reduce the burden on farmers and improve the quality of the data collected and its relevance towards climate change and other challenges facing farmers. Before that, she completed a Masters in Applied Statistics with the University of Strathclyde.

Izzy lives in Cumbria and is part of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team, and spends all the spare time she can exploring hard-to-reach crags in the Lake District mountains.

Location: Cumbria

Read ‘A Day in the life of Izzy Garnsey’ here.

Hannah Jones is a Farm carbon and soils adviser with the Farm Carbon Toolkit. Hannah has previously coordinated and carried out research projects spanning herbal leys, arable systems, cover crops and field vegetables. Her role has been to coordinate farm-based trials by working closely with farmers and agricultural businesses to optimise the impact and applicability of the research. She has taken this experience and is contributing to the developing project portfolio of FCT. Her work includes bespoke trials which feed into the Farm Carbon Calculator, the advisory work and knowledge transfer. Her interests and drive focus around the business and environmental sustainability of farms, and her favourite days include discussing innovations on farm around a kitchen table!

She has a PhD in plant pathology from Oxford University, a degree in plant sciences from Birmingham University, a Masters in postgraduate teaching from the University of Reading, and is FACTS qualified. Hannah has taught crop sciences at Duchy College and the University of Reading, supervised 10 PhD students, and various masters and undergraduate students. She has contributed to a range of refereed papers relating to organic farming systems, wheat breeding, herbal leys, climate change effects on crops and plant breeding for diversity. 

Location: South West

Read ‘A Day in the life of Hannah Jones’ here

Tilly is a Farm Carbon and Soils Advisor for the FCT. Prior to this role, Tilly worked as a soil scientist, helping to support all elements of land development, management and regeneration by providing soil analysis and technical advice.

Her passion for soil was ignited and solidified during her masters degree at the University of Edinburgh and SRUC where she studied Soils and Sustainability. Here, she was able to research and study the impact of different land uses and farming systems on soil health and ecology, and the influence these practices have on the ability of soil to sequester carbon and regulate nitrous oxide emissions.

Location: South West

Stefan is based in Cornwall and supports a variety of projects at FCT, including work with Duchy of Cornwall tenant farmers and the Farm Net Zero project. Stefan grew up on a mixed tenanted family farm and studied Agriculture at the University of Reading. Here, a passion for soil health developed and became a central focus for his final year dissertation investigating the relationship between organic rotations and Soil Mesofauna populations. 

Aside from the family farm, Stefan has a diverse range of on farm experience, including livestock, arable and vegetable production. He has long been passionate about regenerative agricultural practices, recognising how they can promote better soil health to improve resilience and provide a range of mutually beneficial ecosystem services.

Location: South West

Read ‘A day in the life of Stefan Marks’ here.

Lizzy oversees the updates to our farm carbon calculator. Lizzy previously worked analysing large data sets from biochemical analysis of crop plants and led on projects supporting research software development at the University of Sheffield. Having also worked in the charity sector helping constituents communicate climate change issues with their local and national decision-makers, Lizzy is interested in overcoming barriers to the adoption of more sustainable practices. Her training as a soil biologist has led to a passion for the need to protect and safeguard the potential of our agricultural soils.

Lizzy grew up on the border of Somerset and Devon in a rural farming community. She is now based in Sheffield where she recently completed her PhD researching the effects of mycorrhizal fungi on barley during drought. She has a masters degree in Plant and Microbial Biology (MRes) and a degree in Biology with a Modern Language (BSc Hons). In her spare time, Lizzy volunteers with Foodworks, a Sheffield-based charity who repurpose surplus food and also grow their own within the city using regenerative principles.

Location: Sheffield

Read ‘A day in the life of Lizzy Parker‘ here.

Rob is based on the Devon/Cornwall border and is one of our Farm Carbon and Soils Advisors here at FCT. Rob came to us from a farm advisory role with the Devon Wildlife Trust. Here he primarily advised farmers on management changes to help improve water quality, as well as helping farmers to provide wider ecosystem services. Rob has an extensive background in livestock and arable farming in the UK, and further afield in Canada. He is passionate about regenerative systems, especially grazing systems and believes soil health should be at the core of any farm business.

Rob has also previously been the Southwest Regional facilitator for Pasture for Life, providing advice and support for its members in the region. Additionally he has a BSc in Environmental Biology from the University of Nottingham.

Location: South West

Read ‘A day in the life of Rob Purdew‘ here.