Professor Debbie Sparkes

Professor of Agronomy and Head of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

Phone: +44 (0) 115 951 6074

Email: debbie.sparkes@nottingham.ac.uk

Debbie is a member of the Future Food leadership team. Debbie’s research aims to use an understanding of crop physiology to inform crop management systems and future crop improvement. The majority of herresearch is funded by industry, either directly or in collaboration with Innovate UK. Current research includes a number of projects on the physiology and agronomy of sugar beet. A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the British Beet Research Organisation aims to identify physiological traits of sugar beet that are related to pest and disease tolerance. 

Debbie works with Professor Neil Crout on a number of projects that link modelling with crop physiology including another KTP, this time with the Processors and Growers Research Organisation, which aims to improve the prediction of the yield and quality of vining peas, thereby improving the efficiency of harvesting and processing of this valuable crop. 

She also works on a number of projects in the area of sustainable agriculture, most notably a long-term experiment at the University of Nottingham on Conservation Agriculture.