International Teachers' and Advisers' Conference

I completed my Bachelor of (Agricultural and Food) Engineering (BE) degree at University College Dublin (Ireland) in 1998. In September 1998, I moved to the UK and received my MSc International Agricultural and Food Marketing and PhD (by published work) from Newcastle University (UK), in 1999 and 2011 respectively. From September 1999, I held a series of academic positions at Newcastle University, managing the BSc Marketing degree (including associated admissions) from 2002 – 2011. In Nov 2013, I moved to University of Edinburgh Business School, where since joining I have held the role of Head of the Marketing Group (Aug 2015 – current), completed the Aurora programme in 14/15, been promoted to Professor of Food Marketing and Society (August 2017), and am 18 months through my three-year term as Director of UG Programmes (1 August 2017 – 30 July 2020).

I am a food consumer researcher, who explores the complex, dynamic relationships people have with food, how these shape everyday food practices, underpin contemporary food policy challenges, and which are considered very resistant to change. I complement my theoretical and conceptual contributions to food marketing and society with creative interdisciplinary collaborations and innovative mixed method research, offering new insights into everyday food practices, especially those considered ‘less than ideal’ and often practised behind closed, domestic doors (i.e. eating food past its use-by date, throwing out edible food, undercooking of meat, over-consumption of food). My research also explores the concept of sustainable food in terms of production, procurement, and consumption, and I am an active member of FRIED, the Food Researchers in Edinburgh Network, and the Scottish Food Coalition (Chair).