Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Staff Profile

Dr Carmen Hubbard

Reader in Agricultural Economics and Policy

Background


Qualifications

  • PhD in Agricultural Economics, University of Aberdeen
  • BSc & MSc, Economic and Social Statistics, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania (1986-1991)

Area of expertise

  • Agricultural economics

Languages

Romanian, English, French, Spanish (basic)

Awarded Fellowships/Scholarships

  • Research Fellowship, Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan (2014)
  • EU Phare - ACE PhD scholarship, European Commission, (1999 – 2003)
  • Awarded Internship, European Commission, DG Budget (2000 - 2001)
  • Summer School Scholarship, 'Convergence in Europe and the Process of Enlargement and Association Programme', European Commission (2002)
  • Summer School Scholarship  'Competitiveness and EU Enlargement', the European University Institute and European Commission (2001)
  • Summer School Scholarship, 'Statistics for Social Science' Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
  • EU Tempus - Phare Scholarship,  ‘Developing skills in educational methodology’, South Birmingham College, Birmingham, UK, European Commission, Tempus Programme (1995).

Roles and Responsibilities 

·         Elected Senate Member (2018-2021)

·         Research Manager, CRE (2009-2014)

·         Member, Equality, Diversity and Social Inclusion School Committee (2016-2018)

·         Member, School Research Committee (2013-2014)

·         Junior Staff Mentor (2013-2014)

·         School Research Newsletter Editor (2012 - 2014)  

·         Financial Manager, Northern Rural Network (2009-2011)

·         Project Manager ESRC-funded Case Studentships (2009-2012)

·         CRE Coordinator Rural Development Reading Group (2010-2013)

·         School Seminar Series Coordinator (2012-2014)

·         Leader of the Social Science Group, Advanced Training Partnership in Intensive Livestock Production (BBSRC -funded collaboration with the Royal Veterinary College and Cambridge University) (2011-2014)

·         CRE Research Newsletter Editor (2009-2014)

·         CRE Discussion Papers Editor (2007-2010) 

External Roles 

  • Visiting Professor, CIHEAM - Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (IAMZ), Spain 2013 - )
  • External examiner, Reading University, MSc Programme in Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (2018 - 2022)
  • Appointed Member, Farm Animal Welfare Committee (2015-2021) 
  • Member Executive Board, UK Agricultural Economics Society (AES) (2014 - 2017)
  • Member, Advisory Board, EuroChoices (2014 -)  
  • Member, Steering Group, The North East Farming and Rural Advisory Network (2013 – )
  • Member  Steering Group, The North East Rural Growth Network (2013 - )
  • CRE Representative Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network (TARRN) (2009-2013)
  • Associate Editor, Journal of Agricultural Economics (2014 -)
  • Member, Editorial Board, ‘Studies of Agricultural Economics’(2013 -)

Professional Memberships

  • Member of the Agricultural Economics Society (AES)
  • Member of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE)
  • Member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE)
  • Member of the Animal Welfare Research Network (AWRN)
  • Member of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES)

Research

Research Interests

  • The economics and political economy of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP); 
  • Agriculture and Rural Development
  • Farm Animal Welfare
  • Applied Welfare Economics
  • Comparative country analysis

Other Expertise

  • Consumer behaviour regarding organic and functional foods, animal welfare
  • Innovation and rural businesses
  • The role of knowledge institutions (universities) in engaging with businesses 

Current Research Projects

  • Valumics: Understanding food value chains and network dynamics (2017-2021), EUH2020
  • Strength2Food (2015-2021) http://www.strength2food.eu; EUH2020
  • Sustainable pig production systems (2017-2020), Defra- ERANET
  • HealthyLivestock (2018-2022) EUH2020

 

Completed Research Projects 

Brexit: How might UK Agriculture Thrive or Survive? (04/2017-09/2018). It assessed the economic impacts of a selected number of UK trade and domestic agricultural policy scenarios following Brexit by integrating state of the art economic modelling approaches at macro, sector and farm levels. It provided policy makers and the farming industry with a comprehensive and robust analysis to support future policy development and decision making. Full report available at https://research.ncl.ac.uk/esrcbrexitproject/. Funder: Economic and Social research Council (ESRC)

Adding Value to the Vietnamese Agri-food sector (2015-2017). It aimed to build links between Newcastle University and the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City, to investigate how precision farming techniques could be applied more widely and what the current barriers to that are, what opportunities exist for building brands and penetrating international markets, and how the agri-food sector could be helping to build and strengthen the country's economy. Funder British Council Newton Fund  https://research.ncl.ac.uk/bcvietnamproject/

COMPETE (International comparison of product supply chains in the agri-food sectors: determinants of their competitiveness and performance on EU and international markets) (2012-2015). It focused on the evaluation of competitiveness and determinants of competitiveness of various European agri-food supply chains in order to provide better targeted and evidence based policies at both EU and national levels. Funder: European Commission FP7

Collab4Safety (Strengthening cooperation for global food safety research) (2012-2016) - aimed at developing a sustainable coordination platform for exchange of food safety information about research findings, capacity building and policies and facilitate the control and mitigation of existing and emerging food risks. Funder: European Commission FP7,

International Research Staff Exchange Scheme: Knowledge and Expertise Exchange Europe – New Zealand (KEEENZ) (2014-2015) - a multidisciplinary exchange programme to promote research collaboration between Europe and New Zealand focused on EU External Relations and Public Diplomacy;  Funder: The European Commission and the New Zealand Ministry of Research Science and Technology             

Unlocking Rural Innovation in the North East of England: The Role of Knowledge Institutions. This investigated how Newcastle University engages with rural businesses, and how this engagement may be improved to release innovative potential in rural firms. Funder: The Strategic Development Fund for Research and Innovation, Newcastle University 

EconWelfare (‘Good animal welfare in a socio-economic context: project to promote insights on the impact for the animal, the production chain and society of upgrading animal welfare standards’)  (2009-2011); Funder: European Commission FP7 

Rural Businesses, Innovation and Newcastle Science City, (2009 – 2010); Funder: Newcastle University  

Scarled (Structural Change in Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods) (2006 and 2009) Funder: European Commission FP6 

Welfare Quality (‘Integration of animal welfare in the food quality chain: from public concern to improved welfare and transparent quality’) (2004-2009); Funder: European Commission FP6 (team-member)

EDORA (European Development Opportunities in Rural Areas)  (2008 – 2010), Funder: ESPON DG Regio 

TIPTAP (Territorial Impact Package for Transport and Agricultural Policies) (2008-2009); Funder: European Commission FP7

Postgraduate Supervision

  • Since 2007, over 25 MSc students completed successfully their dissertation under my supervision.
  • Award for the 'Best Dissertation',  MSc in International Marketing (2008)

Current PhD Supervision 

  • Yumi Isaka Kato. ‘Land Transactions in Rural Areas: Comparative Analysis between Scotland and Japan’ (2018 - 2021)
  • Fathir Fajar Sidiq. ‘Developing Responsible Research and Innovation Framework: Promoting Sago for Local Food Security in West Papua, Indonesia ‘ (2018 - 2021)

 Past PhD Supervision

  • Essien Antia-Obong (2014 - ) "Market participation under import ban: policy implications for smallholder poultry farmers in Nigeria" 
  • Moses Chukwu (2014 -) "Estimating the potential of herbaceous feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production in Nigeria"
  • Yong Jung: "Impacts of rural development policy on farm households in South Korea" (2013 - 2016)
  • Namgeun Song: “The Dynamics, Process and Pitfalls of Policy Transfer/Learning: Comparative Study of Partnerships Based on Leader Approach in the UK and South Korea” (2009-2012)

 

 

Teaching

 

Undergraduate Teaching

Module Leader:

  • ACE1006 'Economics for Business" (2015 - )
  • ACE3000 'Globalisation: Patterns, Processes and Challenges' (2017 - ) 
  • ACE3099 ‘Agribusiness Management Dissertation, BSc Degree Programme in Agribusiness Management (2014 - 2016)

Contributing  teaching to:

  •  ‘Qualitative Techniques’ module (2011 – 2013), BSc in  Rural Social Science Research
  •  ‘Sustainable Development” module, BSc Joint Honour ‘Economics and Mathematics’

Postgraduate Teaching

  • Contributing teaching to ACE8100 'Food Security: Societal, Policy and Regulatory Changes'  (2015 - )
  • Contributing teaching to ACE8111 'Research methods for Food Policy'  (2015 - )

Module Leader (2012-2015)

  • 'People in the System’, Royal Veterinary College (within the BBSRC Advanced Training Partnership)  

Module Leader (2007-2009)

  • ACE8001 Research Methods and Project Management
  • ACE8036 Participation and Rural Development

Contributing teaching to  ‘Dissertation Planning’ module (2010-2013), for MSc in Advanced Food Marketing 


Publications