Newcastle University

Dr Mary Brennan is a Senior Lecturer in Food Marketing who specialises in Food Policy, Marketing and Behavioural Change.  She has developed extensive food related consumer and policy research expertise over her 12 years in academia.  She has completed research projects on domestic food safety practices (Food Safety Promotions Board Ireland); communicating food risk uncertainty to the public (Food Standards Agency); consumer quality and safety perceptions of organic and low input food (EU Framework 6 Programme); and lay and expert engagement with enviromental issues (ESRC Science in Society programme). She was appointed as an expert member (1 of 10) to the Food Standards Agency's (FSA) first Social Science Research Committee in April 2008 (2yr term completed in April 2010).  She served as a member of the SSRC working party set up to advise and support the FSA Advisory Committee on Microbiological Food Safety in relation to Listeria and the over 60’s.  In addition, she is a member of the International Life Sciences Institute’s Consumer Science Expert Group on Consumers Risk Perception of Food Choice.  She is currently serving as an expert member on a Panel of experts for a DEFRA project entitled Evidence Review on the Sustainability of Healthy Diets. This project is examining a wide range of scientific/social scieiftic evidence relating to the sustainability of a healthy diet. In Dec 2010, she submitted her PhD by Published Work to Newcastle University and successfully completed her viva on 1st April 2011. She is currently working on a number of EU Framework 7 programmes looking at pesticide exposure, personalised nutrition and GM Animals. The common thread that has flowed through her research has been the behavioural dilemma and struggle faced by many different food policy and practice stakeholders who have been tasked with attempting to influence and change public food and health practices (safety/consumption/cooking/waste).  She is actively researching and exploring this dilemma from a variety of angles using the complexity of the policy and industry environment, the theoretical framework of social practices (and the sociology of everyday life) and the applied framework of social marketing as her core reference points.  She has mixed research method experience that includes the use of a wide range of social research methods including: focus groups; in-depth interviews; lifestyle diaries; observational techniques and large scale surveys.  Also she has developed interdisciplinary expertise in the collection, use and integration of scientific data (mircobiological/temperature) into the social science investigation of food.

Education 

PhD by Published Work, Newcastle University (Awarded May 2011) 2002-2011

MSc. International Agricultural & Food Marketing, Newcastle University 1998-1999

BE (Bachelor of Engineering) Agricultrual and Food Engineering, University College Dublin, 1994-1998 

Research Interests

1. Public perception of food risk and uncertainty
2. Food Risk Communication
3. Public involvement and engagement in science and technology.
4. Consumer attitudes to novel foods and processes.
5. Consumer attitudes or organic and low-input foods.
6. Social Marketing & Behavioural Change
7. Interdisciplinary social science
   Qualitative research methods and techniques. 

Ongoing Projects

Mary is current involved in a number of EU Framework 7 projects (alongside Professor Lynn Frewer) including: Pegasus, Food4Me and BROWSE.

Postgraduate Supervision

Emma Giles - Food Standards Agency Postgraudate Studentship Oct 2006-Sept 2009 (PhD awarded in July 2010)

Helen Kendall - Food Standards Agency Postgraduate Studentship Oct 2009-Sept 2012

Ian Boffey - ESRC Open Competition Postgraduate Studentship Oct 2010-Sept 2013 

Esteem Indicators

Member of the Food Standards Agency Social Science Research Committee (2008-2010)

Member of International Life Sciences Insitute Expert Group on Consumers' risk perception of food choice

Degree Programme Director

Bsc. (hons) Food Marketing and Nutriton (due to start Sept 2012)

For more information please go to: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/afrd/undergrad/degrees/marketingnutrition/ 

Module Leader  (Current & Future)

Undergraduate

Stage 1

Principles of Food Marketing (Due to start Sept 2011)

Stage 2

Investigating the Food Consumer (Due to start Sept 2011)

Communicating Food & Nutrition (Singapore Delivery - Due to start Jan 2012)

Communicating Food & Nutrtion ( Newcastle Delivery - Due to start Sept 2012)

Stage 3

Critical Perspectives in Food & Nutrition (Newcastle Delivery - Due to start Sept 2013)

Contemporary Issues in Food & Nutrition (Singapore Delivery - Due to start Jan 2013)  

Postgraduate 

Research the Food Consumer (current and ongoing)   

• Kendall H, Kuznesof S, Seal CJ, Dobson S, Brennan M. Segmenting the Food-Safety Attitudes and Behaviours of the Older Consumer. Food Quality and Preference 2012. In Press.
• Frewer LJ, Bergmann K, Brennan M, Lion R, Meertens R, Rowe G, Siegrist M, Vereijken C. Consumer response to novel agri-food technologies: Implications for predicting consumer acceptance of emerging food technologies. Trends in Food Science & Technology 2011, 22(8), 442-456.
• Treagear A, Dobson S, Brennan M, Kuznesof S. Critically Divided? How Marketing Educators Perceive Undergraduate Programmes in the UK. European Journal of Marketing 2010, 44(1-2), 66-86.
• Ness M, Brennan M, Oughton E, Ritson C, Ruto E. Modelling consumer behavioural intentions towards food with implications for marketing quality low-input and organic food. Food Quality and Preference 2010, 21(1), 100-111.
• McCarthy M, Brennan M. Food risk communication: Some of the problems and issues faced by communicators on the Island of Ireland (IOI). Food Policy 2009, 34(6), 549-556.
• Ness M, Oughton E, Ritson C, Brennan M, Ruto E. Improvement of Food Quality and Safety in the European Organic and “Low Input” Supply Chain. 2008. Report for WP 1.1.4, Subproject 1, EU Framework VI FOOD-CT-2003-506358.
• McCarthy M, Brennan M, De Boer M, Ritson C. Media risk communication - What was said by whom and how was it interpreted. Journal of Risk Research 2008, 11(3), 375-394.
• Tregear A, Kuznesof S, Brennan M. Critical Apporaches in undergraudate marketing teaching: Investigating students perceptions. Journal of Marketing Management 2007, 23(5-6), 411-424.
• McCarthy M, Brennan M, Kelly AL, Ritson C, de Boer M, Thompson N. Who is at risk and what do they know? Segmenting a population on their food safety knowledge. Food Quality and Preference 2007, 18(2), 205-217.
• Brennan M, McCarthy M, Ritson C. Why do consumers deviate from best microbiological food safety advice? An examination of 'high-risk' consumers on the island of Ireland. Appetite 2007, 49(2), 405-418.
• McCarthy M, Brennan M, Ritson C, De Boer M. Food hazard characteristics and risk reduction behaviour: The view of consumers on the island of Ireland. British Food Journal 2006, 108(10), 875-891.
• Thompson N, Bell DR, Brennan M, Deckers JWP, Gray TS. Deliberating the environment. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University, 2005. Centre for Rural Economy Research Report.
• Bell DR, Thompson N, Deckers JWP, Brennan M, Gray TS. Deliberating the Environment: Scientists and the Socially Excluded in Dialogue. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University, Centre for Rural Economy, 2005.
• McCarthy M, Brennan M, Ritson C, Kelly AL, DeBoer M, Thompson N. Novel Food Risk Communication Startegies: Final project report. Ireland: Safefood, the Food Safety Promotions Board, 2005.
• De Boer M, Mccarthy M, Brennan M, Kelly AL, Ritson C. Public understanding of food risk issues and food risk messages on the island of Ireland: The views of food safety experts. Journal of Food Safety 2005, 25(4), 241-265.
• Bell DR, Thompson N, Deckers JWP, Brennan M, Gray TS. Deliberating the Environment: Final Project Report, Economic and Social Research Council - Science and Society Programme. ESRC: Newcastle University, 2004.
• Kuznesof S, Brennan M. Perceived Risk and Product Safety in the Food Supply Chain. In: Bourlakis, M.A., Weightman, P.W.H, ed. Food Supply Chain Management. London, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004, pp.32-48.
• Miles S, Brennan M, Kuznesof S, Ness M, Ritson C, Frewer LJ. Public worry about specific food safety issues. British Food Journal 2004, 106(1), 9-22.
• Fearne A, Gracia M, Bourlakis M, Brennan M, Temple M, de Motte L. Mapping of potential research areas for economic analysis. London, UK: Food Standards Agency, 2003.
• Fearne, A., Garcia, M., Bourlakis, M., Brennan, M., Caswell, J., Hooker, N. & S Henson. Review of the economics of food safety and food satndards: Report prepared for the Food Standards Agency under the contract RRD10/D03/A. 2003. .
• Frewer LJ, Hunt S, Brennan M, Kuznesof S, Ness M, Ritson C. The views of scientific experts on how the public conceptualize uncertainty. Journal of Risk Research 2003, 6(1), 75-85.
• Frewer LJ, Miles S, Brennan M, Kuznesof S, Ness M, Ritson C. Public preferences for informed choice under conditions of risk uncertainty. Public Understanding of Science 2002, 11(4), 363-372.
• Frewer LJ, Hunt S, Miles S, Brennan M, Kuznesof S, Ness M, Ritson C. Communicating risk uncertainty with the public. London: Food Standards Agency, 2001. Final Report and Technical Annex.
• Ritson, C., Brennan, M. & Kuznesof, S. Methodlogical Evaluation of the focus group: Report for Department of Trade and Industry Task Force - Food Chain for Crops and Industry. 2001. .