Joanne Cook
PhD Student

Profile

Biography

My interests are the interactions between food and environment. I have an integrated Masters in Physics with Astrophysics from the University of Manchester. Whilst completing this, I worked with the Take A Bite Out of Climate Change team at outreach events to encourage discussions on how food impacts the planet. We also produced learning tools for use by teachers and schoolchildren to learn about the different stages in the food chain that can cause greenhouse gas emissions. Having completed two research assistant positions in the summers of 2019 and 2020, engaging with food and climate research at the University of Manchester, I was excited to begin my PhD in October 2020 and continue studying links between food and the environment.

Career

• PhD Environmental Science University of York 2020 - Present

• MPhys Physics with Astrophysics (First) University of Manchester 2016 - 2020

Research

Overview

I am a PhD researcher interested in how climate change and the air pollutant ozone will interact to affect nutrition security in India. This will be achieved through modifying the existing DO3SE crop model to incorporate quality parameters, including protein concentration, within the wheat grain. From this, it will be possible to determine the how the quality of wheat grains will change under future climate and ozone scenarios. Once I have understood the impact on the quality of the crop, I hope to understand how a change in crop quality will impact on an individual’s nutrition security.