Advisory board members

jb.jpgJanet Barber United Kingdom

Janet Barber has national and international experience in planning and implementing public policy and field programs designed to achieve the sustainable use of natural resources. In addition she has experience of analyzing the effectiveness of investments made in sustainability programmes, by the public, private and not-for profit sectors both at the field and policy levels. She is familiar with charity governance issues, and, factors influencing corporate performance on sustainability. She is an Associate of Forum for the Future and fulfils a number of roles with companies, and the UK government, in relation to biological diversity and related topics.

ad.jpgAmadou Diop, United States

Dr. Diop holds a Ph.D. in Crop Science from Oregon State University is an independent consultant in sustainable development and regenerative farming and food systems. He conducted his research at three International Agricultural Research Centers of the CGIAR system (WARDA and IITA in West Africa, and IRRI in The Philippines).

At Rodale Institute, Dr. Diop provided intellectual leadership overseeing the technical integrity of programs and their relevance to the institute's mission and ensuring that programmatic objectives are measurable. During his tenure in Senegal, he trained a number of farmers, extension agents, and NGO staff members on regenerative agriculture principles and practices and project monitoring and evaluation.

He has also published many scientific articles and book chapters, and is among the lead coordinating authors of the recent United Nations International Assessment of Agricultural knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD). Diop is proficient in English, French, Spanish, Russian, and in Wolof (his native Senegalese language).

kg.jpgKeith Goulding Rothamstead research, UK

Dr. Bossel has led research projects and studies on energy supply policy, global dynamics, agricultural policy, forest dynamics and management, sustainable development and indicator systems. Before his retirement in 1997 he was professor of environmental systems analysis and director of the Scientific Center for Environmental Systems Research at the University of Kassel.

Mark Lundy International Centre for Tropical Agriculture

CIAT is one of the fifteen non-profit and non-political organizations that form the Future Harvest Alliance of International Agricultural Research Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Mark holds a B.A. in International Relations, an M.A. in Latin American Studies and a M.Sc. in Community and Regional Planning. His work focuses on developing knowledge, skills and tools to improve linkages between rural communities and markets for agricultural products. Mark recently completed the first phase of a learning project bringing together 19 development agencies in Central America to improve their understanding and practical use of a range of agro-enterprise development tools to improve rural livelihoods.

He is an active participant in the small holder initiatives supported by the Sustainable Food Laboratory both in Latin America and Africa with a particular focus on innovative and inclusive organizational models that support sustainable businesses and business models along supply chains.

rp.jpgRichard Perkins WWF, UK

Mr. Perkins studied agricultural and forest sciences at Oxford and agricultural economics in Wales. He has worked in Kenya, Lesotho, Eurostat, and Scotland, before starting at WWF-UK (formerly the WorldWide Fund for Nature) in August 1999.

rr.jpgRudy Rabbinge University of Waginengen, The Netherlands

Dr. Rabbinge's main teaching subject is Principles of Production Ecology. His main research projects include:

Yield potentials of energy crops under various land use options

Simulation and systems analysis for rice production

  • Theoretical and experimental research on the nature and level of yield depresssion in crop canopies due to pest and disease causing organisms
  • Towards ecologically sound management of Botrytis diseases in flower bulbs; scenario studies on optimal combination of cultural, biological and fungicidal options
  • Development of methods for designing, validation and optimization of integrated cropping systems
  • Methodological aspects of explorative land use studies
  • Sustainable land use and food security in developing countries
  • An explorative land use study for the Loess Plateau, China. A case for the Ansai County
  • Exploring options for sustainable land use in small farms in the South of Uruguay
  • "Creative with land" a knowledge transfer project about innovation in the rural areas of the Netherlands

mr.jpgMohammed Rafiq Rainforest Alliance, UK

Mr. Mohammad Rafiq's specialises in social forestry and has expertise in the planning and management of different types of forests and afforestation in varied ecologies.

Mr. Rafiq started his career in 1978 as a professional forester with the Forests, Fisheries and Wildlife Department of the Government of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Pakistan. In his sixteen years of work with the Government, he worked on different assignments including two major projects in integrated development and social forestry laying foundation for social forestry work that followed in Pakistan. In recognition of his pioneering social forestry work, the Government of NWFP granted him a special award. He also led the process of Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy (SPCS) as a major contribution to environment in Pakistan. Over the years, he has authored several papers and publications on natural resource management, environment and governance.

In 1994, Mr. Rafiq joined IUCN-The World Conservation Union as the Deputy Director of IUCN - SPCS Support Project, eventually becoming the IUCN Country Representative in 2000. In 2003, he moved to IUCN HQ in Switzerland working as Senior Advisor to the Director General to develop and lead the IUCN Global Business and Biodiversity Programme.

 In November 2008, Mr. Rafiq joined Rainforest Alliance as Senior Vice President for Programs.

sw.jpgSuhas Wani International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICCRISAT), India

ICRISAT is one of the fifteen non-profit and non-political organisations belonging to the Future Harvest Alliance of Centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Suhas Wani is Soil Scientist by training and working as Regional Theme Co-ordinator for Asia for the Land, Water and Agro-Diversity Management and Principal Scientist (Watersheds). His area of specialisation is sustainable management of natural resources in the rain-fed areas, collective action for managing community watersheds, enhancing productivity and incomes for the farmers from rain-fed systems through efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. Suhas is leading a team of watershed scientists in Asia. ICRISAT-led consortium has developed an innovative farmers participatory watershed management model, which is being up scaled through more than 200 community watersheds in India, China, Thailand, and Vietnam.

tw.jpgTensie Whelan Rainforest Alliance, US

Tensie Whelan serves as the president of the Rainforest Alliance. She has been involved with the Rainforest Alliance since 1990, first as a board member, and then later as a consultant, becoming the executive director in 2000.

Whelan has been working in the environmental field for more than 25 years, during which time she served as the vice president of conservation information at the National Audubon Society and executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters. Whelan also worked as a journalist and environmental communications consultant in Costa Rica, and was the managing editor of Ambio -- an international environmental journal based in Stockholm.

Whelan serves on the boards of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition and Social Accountability International, is a member of the advisory board for corporate social responsibility at Fortis, as well as the sustainable agriculture advisory board for Unilever, sits on the governing body of the U.N. Foundation's World Heritage Alliance, and is the co-chair of the steering committee of the Sustainable Food Lab.

She holds an M.A. in International Communication from American University's School of International Service and a B.A. in Political Science from New York University. Whelan's published work includes one of the first books on ecofriendly tourism, Nature Tourism: Managing for the Environment (1991, Island Press).

sw2.jpgStephanie Williamson Pesticides Action Network, UK

Stephanie trained as an ecologist and entomologist and has worked in environmental and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) training and educational activities, in the UK and abroad, since 1985. She has worked in over 17 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, with four years spent in Nicaragua (where she also learnt how to pick coffee!) and has participated in numerous international conferences on IPM and farmer training. She served as a member of PAN UK's Board of Directors for two years whilst working at CABI Bioscience UK Centre, before joining PAN UK as a staff member in 2000. Her main area of work at PAN UK is on pesticide problems, IPM and alternatives, with an emphasis on Africa, as well as interests in Good Agricultural Practice and the implications of European pesticide legislation and market requirements for farmers in developing countries. Stephanie is currently studying for her Ph.D. with the Centre for Environment & Society, University of Essex.