Professor of Science Policy at the University of Sussex, and joint leader of the Agriculture and Food Domain of the STEPS Centre (STEPS stands for: Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability, see http://www.steps-centre.org/index.html ).

Since 1974 he has been researching into the causes, consequences and regulation of technological change in the food and chemical industries. Publications include BSE: risk science and governance, Oxford University Press 2005; ‘Science, risk and governance: radical rhetorics and the realities of reform’, Research Policy, Vol 38, No 4, May 2009, pp 624-636; and ‘Can food safety policy-making be both scientifically and democratically legitimated? If so, how?’, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2007, Vol. 20, pp. 483-508.