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Dr Alan Hopkins

Associate

Alan Hopkins has contributed to research with the Centre for Rural Policy Research through his previous employment at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research and became an Honorary Research Associate in 2006. His background spans the environmental, agronomic and policy aspects of agricultural land management, particularly grassland. His research and review papers include work on farm surveys, low input and organic faming, sustainable land management, habitat restoration, agri-environment policies and nature conservation, and the implications of climate change for agriculture. He is currently contributed to research in the CRPR on organic farming markets and on sustainability indicators in the south-west England region.

Research interests

My research interests span the environmental, agronomic and policy aspects of agricultural land management. Recent research has focused on developing measures and utilizing resources that can lead to improved sustainability in terms of farm-producer incomes as well as environmental gains and improved food quality. Examples include the use of legume-based forage systems for livestock production (and barriers to their farm-scale adoption), organic and low-input farming, and forage resource management for equines. A recent development concerns the potential for biodiverse ecosystems and regional habitats to be identified with distinctive agricultural products and non-food enterprises (and reappraisal of the value of land supporting semi-natural vegetation). Other recent studies have evaluated the adaptation needs of agriculture, farmland ecosystems and rural enterprises to climate change, and several studies for MAFF/ Defra on the impacts of climate change have been carried out. I also have an interest in the ecological and policy issues of habitat restoration, both in the context of land subjected to previous inappropriate agricultural management, and land degraded by mining or similar activities.

Selected current and recent projects

Legume forages for sustainable grazing in Europe (EU Commission: LEGGRAZE , QL K5 CT-2001-02328).
Realising the Links between Quality Food Production and Biodiversity Protection (leader: Prof Henry Buller, funded through RELU programme)
Green Futures: Practical environmental enhancements in the South West's improved grasslands (Exeter University and IGER, 2005-2006). Funded through the SW Regional Food and Farming Strategy.
Impacts of climate change on the UK agricultural industry (Defra contract CC0366).

Biography

Alan Hopkins [BSc, Environmental Sciences (UEA), PG cert ed. (Birm), MPhil, Agriculture (Reading)] is an Honorary Research Associate of the Centre for Rural Policy Research at the University of Exeter. Between 1982 and 2006 he was a project leader and Senior Research Scientist at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Devon, from where he conducted farm surveys and field trials as well as contributing to several joint projects with the University of Exeter Centre for Rural Research. His background spans the environmental, agronomic and policy aspects of agricultural land management, and his research and review papers include issues relating to organic faming and sustainable land management, habitat restoration, agri-environment policies and nature conservation, and the implications of climate change for agriculture. He is a Chartered Environmentalist, a member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management’s technical committee, and Deputy Editor of the journal Grass and Forage Science.

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