About
This site is sponsored by the European Crop Protection Association. It is for information purposes only but we hope that it will also form the basis for a sound, open and balanced online debate on the future of pesticides in Europe and beyond. If you have any comments on the site, we would be happy to hear from you.
 |
Anna Seretny is the Communications Coordinator at the European Crop Protection Associaton (ECPA). Anna has worked in the European Parliament as a Parliamentary Assistant to a Polish MEP; before joining ECPA she worked for biotech assocation – EuropaBio. Anna holds a Masters degree in Journalism and Social Communications from the Jagiellonian University, Krakow. | |
 |
Gavin Whitmore is the eCommunication Manager at the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA). Previously working for a European nature and biodiversity conservation NGO, Gavin is English and holds an MSc in European Environmental Policy and Legislation and a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Management. | |
 |
Phil Newton Communication Manager at the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA). He is British-Canadian and has an educational background in both science and communications, having begun his career as a science journalist and maintaining an active association with the sciences throughout, with particular attention to health science and pharmaceuticals. In 2006, Phil won the Blue Wave Award of Excellence in Marketing from the International Association of Business Communicators, as well as the Canadian Public Relations Society’s Premier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Marketing Communications. He is the author of “Winning: A Celebration of Paralympic Sport”. | |
 |
Helen Dunnett was formerly in charge of eCommunications and social media at ECPA. With a training in fine arts & photography, Helen started her career as a photographic stylist in London, before becoming a fundraiser for a charity in Scotland working with the homeless, young offenders and children at risk. She then once again dramatically changed direction by joining ECPA, where she worked to stimulate online debate to help increase public understanding of the key issues surrounding pesticides: a legacy that remains in the shape of this blog! | |
 |
Wyn Grant is Professor of Politics at the University of Warwick. He has worked on agricultural and environmental issues for many years. He was Principal Investigator for a recently completed Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme project on the environmental and regulatory sustainability of biopesticides and was also actively involved in the European Commission REBECA policy action on biological control agents. However, he is interested in the debate about pesticides more generally. | |
 |
Horst Schnellhardt (b. May 12, 1946) is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament for Saxony-Anhalt. He is a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People’s Party. | |
 |
Dr. Vic Shorrocks (b.1932) is a retired agricultural scientist (ex. M.G.S. and Oxford) who has worked in research (mineral nutrition of rubber trees in Malaysia) and in industry for RTZ Borax (worldwide involvement with mineral micronutrients and herbicides); in 1980 he set up and ran the Micronutrient Bureau which provided information on human, animal and crop micronutrition. He keeps a close eye on several agricultural developments including pesticides, bracken control, organic farming, GM crops and selenium. | |
 |
Richard Tren is a founder and director of the health policy and advocacy group, Africa Fighting Malaria which has offices in both South Africa and the United States. Africa Fighting Malaria is one of the few malaria advocacy groups that advocates for the increased use of indoor spraying of insecticides in malaria control and successfully challenged the WHO and donor agencies to support the limited use of the insecticide DDT to control malaria-spreading mosquitoes. Richard is an economist and has researched and written widely on health and development, with a particular focus on malaria and other communicable diseases. Richard is also a council member of the Free Market Foundation of Southern Africa. | |
| Marten Snell is a retired agronomist with a strong interest in global food security. This interest was triggered as a toddler during the last year of W.W. II, when Marten survived the last eight months of the war on a diet of boiled tulip bulbs, dandelion and stinging nettle leaves! Having left a lasting impression, Marten was adament that he would work in agriculture, ending up as an agronomist with a Ph D from the University of Guelph (Canada). His initial research was in the area of systemic fungicides which, almost by default, led to a career in the agrochemical industry and a number of European and global jobs in product development (mainly herbicides), regulatory affairs, environmental fate, public relations and contamination prevention during the manufacturing of plant protection products. Marten continues to take a keen interest in the debate on responsible use of pesticides, pesticide legislation, climate change, the merits of organic farming and GMO crops. |
Our Code of Conduct
- We seek to generate an open, transparent, honest and balanced debate on this site, aimed at helping stakeholders and the general public to better understand the issues surrounding pesticides.
- Both sides should be able to voice their views: in fact we strongly urge all experts from either side of the divide to contribute.
- Opinions expressed should represent a deliberate point of view: they should have been reached in a thoughtful way and be carefully researched.
- Arguments should be fact based: speculation or emotional pleas will not be tolerated.
- Admit and correct mistakes: if something we have posted is proven to be factually incorrect we will admit to it and correct it.
About pesticides
Pesticides is the generic term for herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and others. You will also see them referred to as plant protection products (PPPs) or crop protection products (CPPs). To learn more about what pesticides are, visit the following sites to read their definitions:
Content which we have no control over, such as the incoming news fed automatically via RSS or via the Delicious feeds on the right, might not necessarily be covered by the code of conduct, although we will seek to constantly adapt the feed filters to ensure as far as possible that only relevant material appears on the site.
