Role of agriculture in tackling many of the global challenges facing society, including improving global food security, sustainable healthy diets, 'One Health', accelerating international development, responding to global climate change, and achieving susatainable natural resource use.  Sustainable use of farm animal genetic resources.

After studying Agriculture and Animal Breeding, Geoff joined the East of Scotland College of Agriculture (now part of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)) as an animal breeding specialist, and was involved in animal breeding research, education and knowledge exchange. He established and led for many years a research team working on livestock genetic improvement/sustainable use of farm animal genetic resources. Subsequently he held a variety of leadership roles in SRUC – latterly as Vice Principal Research, overseeing research activities spanning agricultural economic and social science, animal, crop, soil and environmental sciences and farming systems.

Geoff joined the University of Edinburgh in 2016 as Chair of Global Agriculture and Food Security, Assistant Principal, and Director of the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security. The Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security is one of five Global Academies that aim to galvanize interdisciplinary teaching, research and translation – across the University and with partners - on key global challenges.

He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies in 2008 and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology 2015.

Assistant Principal, Global Agriculture and Food Security

Director, Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security

Geoff is leading the team designing a new suite of BSc programmes in Agricultural Science (with SRUC), and will be involved in delivery of these new programmes which start in 2018. He has been part of a team developing a new MSc in Global Food Security and Nutrition (with SRUC) also starting in 2018. He also teaches on the BVM&S programme and the MSc programmes in Animal Breeding; International Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law; and One Health.

• Other Global Academies in the University of Edinburgh.
• Co-supervision of PhD students with colleagues in SRUC.
• Part of the Strategic Global Food Security Alliance in support of Planetary Health with the Universities of California and Sydney.
• Sustainable Healthy Diets with many other colleagues in Universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen (Rowett Institute) and Stirling, SRUC, James Hutton Institute, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Malawi), and academic and NGO partners in Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.