Biography
I hold a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Master's degree in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London. I have experience working in policy and advocacy; researching, writing and communicating evidence on agricultural development, natural resource management and food security to international policymakers and development experts. My background is in applied ecology, resource management, international development, and natural resource modelling.
Research
Katy's research aims, through the use of an agent-based spatially explicit model and policy scenarios, to investigate the implementation strategies of land sparing and sharing and their impact on future land use patterns, on stakeholder behaviour and on food security and incomes. Land sparing and land sharing have been proposed as frameworks to explore the trade-offs between agricultural productivity and biodiversity conservation. Their assessment, however, has largely failed to consider the potential local level impacts on food security, ecosystem services and livelihoods. In the Budongo Forest Reserve and surrounding landscape, deforestation and land use change threaten the natural resources on which the majority of the population depend. I hope to expand the relevance of the land sparing and land sharing framework as a strategic land planning tool to include a broader number of factors.
Publications
Conway, G. and Wilson, K. 2013. New genetic crops in a global context. In: Bennett, D.J. and Jennings, R.C. (eds). Successful agricultural innovation in emerging economies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Juma, C., Tabo, R., Wilson, K. and Conway, G. 2013. Innovation for sustainable intensification in Africa. A Montpellier Panel Briefing Paper. Imperial College London.
Conway, G. (with Wilson, K.). 2012. One billion hungry: can we feed the world? Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Arnold, T. and Wilson, K. 2011. Scaling up nutrition (SUN). A Montpellier Panel Briefing Paper. Imperial College London.
Handforth, C. and Wilson, K. 2011. Beyond big ideas. Searching for the middle ground in agricultural development. A Global Village, issue 5.