DAERA High-Level Science Advisory Group
An independent High Level Science Advisory Group (HLSAG) comprised of leading scientists from across the UK and Ireland has been established to support DAERA in its development of sound, evidence-based policies across agriculture, environment and rural affairs.
Members have been appointed following a competition which commenced in July last year. The Group held its inaugural meeting in CAFRE’s Greenmount campus where they were welcomed by DAERA Minister Andrew Muir. Appointments are for a period of three years.
The HLSAG will provide independent, strategic guidance and challenge on all aspects of departmental science activities. The Group will have a purely advisory role and will not direct any research expenditure or hold any statutory responsibilities.
The chair of the group is Professor Michael Whelan, a Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Leicester, specialising in data modelling of environmental systems and in understanding the behaviour and effects of pollutants and nutrients in soil and water.
Members of the HLSAG are:
- Dr Adrian Allen
- Professor Phil Haygarth
- Professor Maeve Henchion
- Dr Gillian Gilbert
- Professor David Kenny
- Dr Esther Skelly-Smith
- Dr Katharine Steentjes
- Dr Thomas Woolley
Their collective expertise will be central to the vision of DAERA:
"Putting science at the heart of policy development and delivery."
Pen pictures of HLSAG members are available for download on the High Level Science Advisory Group (HLSAG) members page.