Contact Professor Tim Hess
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 758305
- Email: t.hess@cranfield.ac.uk
Areas of expertise
- Managing Corporate Sustainability
- Water Science and Engineering
Background
Professor Hess has a BSc in Geography and an MSc in Agricultural Engineering (Land Resource Management) and joined 美姬阁 (Silsoe) as a Research Officer in 1981. In the early 1990s he represented 美姬阁 as Resident Scientist with the Centre for Arid Zone Studies, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. During this time he completed his PhD on 'The impact of climatic variability over the period 1961-1990 on the soil water balance of upland soils in the North East Arid Zone of Nigeria'.
Current activities
Tim is Professor of Water and Food Systems within the School of Water, Energy and Environment. He has over 35 years' experience in research and consultancy in the application of hydrology in managed rural environments, and particularly irrigated agriculture in the UK and overseas. This has been applied to sustainable food supply chains, working with national and international organisations and major UK retailers. He is an interdisciplinary scientist with a particular interest in the application of ecosystem services approaches to water management issues.
British Hydrological Society National Committee (2013 - 2016) & S.E. Region Committee (2003 - 2015).
Former Executive Council member of UK Irrigation Association.
Expert group member for UK Water Research and Innovation Partnership.
Committee member on ISO/TC 207/SC 5/WG 8 (Water Footprinting) and British Standards Institution mirror group.
Co-Chair of International Life Sciences Institute (Europe) Environment and Health Task Force and Chair of expert group on Water Footprinting.
Contributing author to National Ecosystem Services Assessment (NEA)
Presently Co-I on three RC funded projects; 'Fragments, functions and flows - the scaling of biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban ecosystems' (NERC); 'Mitigating climate change impacts on India agriculture through improved irrigation water management' (NERC); 'Establishment of a strategic training hub for the advancement of the UK agri-food industry' (BBSRC).
Clients
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Potato Council, DairyCo, Eblex)
Environmental regulators, including Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency
European Union - DGEnvironment
Irish Food Board (Bord Bia)
UK government departments, including Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Department for International Development (DFID)
UK Water Industry Research
Water Research Foundation
WWF
Food and drink businesses, including Unilever, Coca Cola, Innocent
Major retailers including Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Tesco
