Dr Charlotte Bickler
Job title:
Academic qualifications:
- PhD in Evolutionary Ecology (University of Bristol)
- MRes in Biodiversity and Conservation (University of Leeds)
- BSc in Biology (University of Nottingham)
Role and responsibilities:
I am Principal Crop Diversification Researcher at the Organic Research Centre and maintain a focus on the application of research through participatory action research and knowledge exchange. I am a member of GM Freeze’s board of directors, the advisory board for the Northern Real Farming Conference, and work part-time at ORC as I also coordinate the Diverse Cereal Seed Project for UK Grain Lab.
Research interests:
My work focusses on developing participatory approaches to improve our understanding of how ecological processes can be optimally harnessed to ensure their successful integration in land management for agricultural productivity, sustainability, and biodiversity conservation. I am particularly interested in developing research on the application of evolutionary breeding and heterogeneous cultivars.
During my time at ORC I have worked on a range of projects exploring how we can effectively increase biological diversity in agricultural systems. For example, within the H2020 project LIVESEED, I coordinated work on identification and description of genetically diverse cereal populations and within the H2020 project DIVERSify, I led on knowledge exchange to increase the uptake of intercropping (see: plant-teams.org). My research experience has increased my awareness and understanding of the integrated approach necessary to facilitate the transition to an agroecological food and farming system and I endeavour to understand how we can deliver a just transition to a brighter future that encompasses the organic principles of health, ecology, fairness and care.
Publications:
- Brannan T, Bickler C, Hansson H, Karley A, Weih M, Manevska-Tasevska G (2023) Overcoming barriers to crop diversification uptake in Europe: A mini review
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (Volume 7) https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1107700 - Kiær LP, Weedon OD, Bedoussac L, Bickler C, Finckh MR, Haug B, Iannetta PPM, Raaphorst-Travaille G, Weih M, Karley A J (2022) Supply Chain Perspectives on Breeding for Legume–Cereal Intercrops Frontiers in Plant Science (Volume 13) https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.844635
- Costanzo A, Amos D, Bickler C, Trump A (2021) Agronomic and genetic assessment of organic wheat performance in England: a field-scale cultivar evaluation with a network of farms. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 41, 54 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-021-00706-y
- Bliss K, Bickler C, Villa A, Tippin L, Vieweger A, Meldrum J, Padel S, Pearce B, Lea M (2019). ‘Getting out of the commodity trap: Enabling diversity through alternative food networks’. Messéan A, Drexler D, Heim I, Paresys L, Stilmant D and Willer H: First European Conference on Crop Diversification, Budapest, Hungary, 18 – 21 September. https://zenodo.org/record/3516329#.XwcIeShKiUl
- Karley A, Banfield-Zadin J, Bickler C, Bliss K, Brooker R, Iannetta P, Midmer A, Mitchell C, Newton A, Pakeman R, Pearce B, Tippin L, George D (2019). ‘Knowledge Exchange in ‘Plant Team’ Cropping with On-Farm Participatory Research’. Messéan A, Drexler D, Heim I, Paresys L, Stilmant D and Willer H: First European Conference on Crop Diversification, Budapest, Hungary, 18 – 21 September. https://zenodo.org/record/3516329#.XwcIeShKiUl
- Tippin L, Banfield-Zanin J, Midmer A, Bickler C, Manfield A, Karley A, George D, Pearce B (2019). ‘The perceived or realised practical restrictions imposed by Plant Teams’. Messéan A, Drexler D, Heim I, Paresys L, Stilmant D and Willer H: First European Conference on Crop Diversification, Budapest, Hungary, 18 – 21 September. https://zenodo.org/record/3516329#.XwcIeShKiUl
- Bickler, C (2019). ‘Organic heterogeneous material – opportunities and challenges’. Biofach Congress, Nürnberg, Germany, 13 – 16 February. https://orgprints.org/34953/
- Bickler, C, Taylor L, Mousavi-Derazmahalleh M, Wyse SV, Cockel C, Eastwood RJ, Muller JV, Nelson MN (2019) Searching for new genetic and adaptive diversity for carrot improvement. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Carrot and other Apiaceae. Leuven: International Society for Horticultural Science, pp. 19 – 28.
- Bickler C, Costanzo A, Pearce B (2018). ‘Marketing of a genetically diverse wheat (ORC Wakelyns population): Lessons learn and routes forward’. Baćanović-Šišić J, Dennenmoser D and Finckh MR: EUCARPIA Symposium on Breeding for Diversification, University of Kassel, Witzenhausen, Germany, 19 – 21 February.