Professor Michael Winter

About me:

Michael is a rural policy specialist and social scientist with particular interests in applying inter-disciplinary approaches to policy-relevant research and in direct engagement in the policy process. His current research focuses on i. the historical and contemporary geography and sociology of west country agriculture, ii. the governance of sustainable agro-food systems and food security, particularly in the context of learning lessons from the COVID pandemic.

He chairs the Devon Local Nature Partnership. He is a member of Natural England's Science Advisory Committee and chairs its Social Science Expert Panel.

Previous appointments include: Board member of Natural England (2016 to March 2023), member of the UK JNCC, Board member of Rothamsted Research and chair of the Board's Science Advisory Commitetee; Chair of North Devon UNESCO Biosphere Partnership, Visiting Programme Director in Food Security at Wilton Park (Foreign Office), member of Defra’s Panel of Agricultural & Environmental Economists, the National Ecosystem Assessment Expert Panel, & DEFRA’s Science Advisory Council, and a Commissioner for the Commission for Rural Communities from its inception in 2006 until its abolition in 2013. In 1999-2000, he was a member of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales chaired by Lord Burns. In 2008-09 he vice-chaired an inquiry into the future for the uplands reporting to the Prime Minister. In 2018 he was a member of the Defra Bovine TB Strategy Review Panel chaired by Professor Sir Charles Godfray.