Supervisors
The supervisors and co-supervisors of DESTINY are all recognised scientists in their respective fields, and in aggregate represent a balanced combination of disciplines, gender, and career paths.
SCIENTISTS
Philippe Lescoat
Professor at AgroParisTechProfessor in Animal Production, Animal Value Chains and Environment at AgroParisTech, he is affiliated with a research unit combining works on agronomical issues connected to agricultural transitions and governance issues.
His research interests can be split in two interconnected areas. The first one consists of studying the interactions between agricultural value chains at local levels and the roles of stakeholders. He aims to propose methods to implement local transitions towards an improved sustainability of the agricultural socioecosystem. The conceptual framework is territorial ecology including aspects of bioeconomics as proposed by N Georgescu-Roegen. The second one deals with the renewal of farmers and their employees since a majority of them will retire in the next decade. He works on identifying the lock-ins and levers to improve this renewal.
Leading supervisor of thesis 6.3 and co-supervisor of thesis 5.2 and thesis 5.4
Benoît Gabrielle
Professor at AgroParisTechCurrently research professor of environmental biophysics at AgroParisTech, he is affiliated with a research unit focusing on the functional ecology of agro-ecosystems, located in Palaiseau (20 km south of Paris).
His research interests include the biophysical modelling of agro-ecosystems, the environmental assessment of arable and energy crops, and the sustainability analysis of bioenergy chains and urban agriculture systems through life-cycle approaches. He recently coordinated a flagship programme on land-based climate mitigation measures, as part of the CLAND Convergence Institute in France. He is also the Director of the “Biosphera” Graduate School of life, agricultural and environmental sciences of the Paris-Saclay University, the top French university in science and technology. Biosphera coordinates research and education at graduate level on agriculture, ecology, natural resources and food, with an cross-disciplinary approach involving 850 students and 30 research laboratories.
Prof. Benoît Gabrielle was a lead-author on the Bioenergy chapter of the special report on Renewable energy of IPCC, and contributed to other assessments for UNEP and national agencies.
Leading supervisor of thesis 3.2
Caroline Orset
Associate Professor at AgroParisTechCaroline Orset is an associate professor at AgroParisTech – Université Paris-Saclay and a member of Paris-Saclay Applied Economics (PSAE). She is also a research associate at Laval University (CREATE, Canada) and at the Climate Economics Chair (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL).
Her research addresses various issues related to the investment strategies of innovative firms, the prevention of health, environmental and food risks, and the strategies of interest groups (NGOs, industry lobbyists and consumer associations) to influence public policy in situations of scientific uncertainty.
Her teaching focuses on the economics of risk and uncertainty, environmental economics, health economics, food economics, and behavioural and experimental economics.
Leading supervisor of thesis 6.2
Davide Viaggi
Professor at UNIBOProf. Davide Vlaggi participates in research projects funded by the European Union, the Ministry of University and Research, Region Emilia-Romagna. Among them, he coordinated 3 EU projects (CAP-IRE and CLAIM of FP7, PROVIDE in H2020) and participated in about other 20.
The main research themes concern the common agricultural policy (CAP), the bioeconomy, the economics and management of water resources and the evaluation of agri-environmental policies. Main economic tools used include linear programming, principal-agent models, multi-criteria analysis, cost-benefits analysis and externality accounting and evaluation. The results have been presented in about 300 publications.
Prof. Davide Vlaggi participated in the organisation of several national and international conferences and he is referee for some of the main national and international journals of the concerned scientific sectors. Since 2001, he has been teaching courses in Economics, Rural appraisal, Real estate appraisal, Economics, Environmental economics, Policy evaluation, firm management at the Universities of Bologna and Ferrara. He is responsible of Socrates/Erasmus exchanges with the Universities of Iasi, Girona, Gent, Rennes, Valladolid.
Prof. Davide Vlaggi is currently president of the Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics and is member of the main national and international associations in the sector of agricultural economics and environmental economics.
Leading supervisor of thesis 6.1 and co-supervisor of thesis 6.2
Massimiliano Petracci
Professor at UNIBOMassimiliano Petracci is a full professor at the University of Bologna since 2018 and his research encompasses several aspects of poultry production and product quality.
Over the past 20 years, Massimiliano Petracci has become an internationally recognized expert in poultry meat quality within academia and industry. Currently he is working on the characterisation and mechanisms underlying the emerging meat abnormalities in poultry (white striping, wooden breast and spaghetti meat). He is author of more than 140 peer-reviewed articles and he has edited books entitled “Improving poultry meat quality” (Burleigh Dodds, 2022) and “Poultry quality evaluation” (Academic Press, 2017).
Since 2014 he serves as chair the Working Group 5 “Poultry Meat Quality” of the European Federation of the World’s Poultry Science Association and he is associated editor of “World Rabbit Science”, “Meat and Muscle Biology” and “Frontiers in Physiology” and “World’s Poultry Science Journal”. He also participates in various international (INTAQT, FutureEUAqua e NextGenProteins), and national projects. In addition to his research responsibilities, he is the Coordinator of PhD Programme of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Science and Technology and he teaches courses on innovations in meat and egg processing and seafood quality in the master course on Food Science and Technology at the University of Bologna.
Leading supervisor of thesis 3.1
Tullia Gallina Toschi
Professor at UNIBOProf. Tullia Gallina Toschi is a full professor at the University of Bologna and the coordinator of the research group of chemistry, instrumental and sensory analysis of food. She specifically directs the research interests to the study of sensory and instrumental methods for verifying food authenticity, quality and preferences, with a special interest in the vegetable oils and fats, in particular olive oil. I also study food innovation, re-use of by-products and virtuous interactions in the research & development, such as the industrial symbiosis
Prof. Tullia Gallina Toschi has coordinated many international and national research projects and she is an expert member of the olive oil chemists’ of the EU Commission DG-Agri and of the International Olive Council. She widely disseminates the research activities.
Prof. Tullia Gallina Toschi was President of the Commettee of Guarantee and is currently the Rector’s Delegate for Welfare at Work. She promoted and implemented the first Gender Annual Report (2015) and financed with EU funds and implemented the first Gender Equality Plan of the University of Bologna (GEP, 2017-2020).
Co-supervisor of thesis 4.3
Diana Di Gioia
Professor at UNIBOProf. Diana Di Gioia is a Full Professor in Agricultural Microbiology and the coordinator of the bachelor Degree in Agricultural Technology.
Her main research interests involve:
• the study of beneficial and probiotic microorganism in plants, rhizosphere and soil
• the application of microorganisms to soil aimed at the improvement of soil quality and fertility
• the application of probiotics and prebiotics to humans and animals to fight diseases and correlation with the gut microbiota composition
• the characterization of the microbial communities from several matrixes, including agricultural soil under different agronomic management
• the antimicrobial activity of natural molecules and agro-industrial by-products.
• description, polyphasic taxonomic and functional characterization of new potential probiotic strains.
Leading supervisor of thesis 3.1
Antti Haapala
Professor at UEFProfessor Antti Haapala, from University of Eastern Finland (Joensuu), studies different ways of converting woody biomass in industrial processes and the application areas for the refined products. His background is in development of sustainable processes in the realm of chemical wood refining, including pulp and paper, nanocellulose and biocomposites. Recently this has meant studies on natural fibers and their refining towards nanocelluloses, and the chemical composition and functionality of wood.
Professor Haapala has published research papers on process design, unit operations, paper product properties and manufacture and applications of cellulose fibers and their properties. Most recent activities for Prof. Haapala has been the establishment of a new Sustainable materials MSc technology programme that includes the mentioned themes and combines those with industrial management and data science aspects.
Leading supervisor of thesis 4.2
Reijo Lappalainen
Professor at UEF
Leading supervisor of thesis 4.3
Blas Mola
Professor at UEFProf. Blas Mola’s main research lines focus on all topics related to biomass production for energy, both from forest management and fast-growing plantations. His interests entail the production and economic aspects, policy framework, environmental effects and social consequences of their development. In addition to this, he has interest in the analysis and modelling of risk, especially combined with ecosystem services, either caused by natural disturbances, man-made origins or social conflicts.
Co-supervisor of thesis 3.4
Irina Mihailova
Associate Professor at UEFIrina Mihailova is Associate Professor of International Business at the University of Eastern Finland.
She has earned her PhD in 2010 from Aalto University and her current research focuses on international digital firms and business models, scaling, circular transformation, institutions and strategy, and cultural industries.
Previously, Dr. Mihailova has been working on the international joint ventures, internationalization of emerging market firms and cross-management in MNEs. Her work has appeared in Academy of Management Review, Organization Studies, Journal of World Business, Management and Organization Review, Management International Review, and Thunderbird International Business Review, amongst others.
Leading supervisor of thesis 4.1
Iris Lewandowski
Professor at UHOHIris Lewandowski holds the chair of “Biobased Resources in the Bioeconomy” at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. Here, she is also Chief Bioeconomy Officer (CBO), Scientific co-ordinator of the European Bioeconomy University (EBU) and Director of the international master programme “Bioeconomy”. Presently, she is Co-chair of Baden-Württemberg’s federal Bioeconomy Council.
She has an academic background in Agricultural Sciences and her research focuses on the development of sustainable biomass supply systems and biobased value chains and nets for a growing bioeconomy.
Leading supervisor of thesis 5.1 and thesis 5.3 and co-supervisor of thesis 3.1 and thesis 3.3
Sebastian Hess
Professor at UHOHSebastian Hess holds the chair of Agricultural Markets and leads the Research Centre on Cooperatives at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
His research focuses on the efficient functioning of agri-food markets under presence of credence goods, cooperation and price formation in agri-food value chains and international trade.
He studied Agricultural Economics in Göttingen, Germany, and at UC Davis in California and received his doctorate from the University of Göttingen. Before joining Hohenheim in 2019, he worked as a researcher at SLU in Uppsala, Sweden and at Kiel University in Germany.
Leading supervisor of thesis 5.2 and co-supervisor of thesis 6.1
Bastian Winkler
Doctor at UHOHDr. Bastian Winkler is a Post-Doc researcher at the Department of Biobased Resources in the Bioeconomy at the University of Hohenheim. He works on integrated rural and urban agricultural systems for the sustainability transition towards the bioeconomy – based on the circular utilisation of locally available resources. His particular research emphasises on soilless (urban) cultivation and (rural) agroforestry systems from conceptualisation, planning and implementation to sustainability assessments through valorisation of ecosystem services and True Cost Accounting.
Since 2019 he is involved in the scientific coordinators group of the ‘European Bioeconomy University’ (EBU).
In 2016, Mr. Winkler developed circular, ‘terrabioponic’ garden systems and is CEO of SME Geco-Gardens GmbH .
Co-supervisor of thesis 3.1 and thesis 3.2
Stefan Salhofer
Assocaite Professor at BOKUStefan Salhofer is associated professor at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, (also known as BOKU), Institute of Waste Management and Circularity.
His research topics are on recycling, like Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (e-waste), packaging and organic waste. This addresses waste collection schemes, processing and recycling as well as Life Cycle Assessment in order to analyse the impacts of waste Management. Research projects and co-operations address waste management both in Europe and in countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Leading supervisor of thesis 3.4 and co-supervisor of thesis 4.4
Karl-Heinz Erb
Associate Professor at BOKUKarl-Heinz Erb, Associate Professor for Land Use and Global Change at the Institute of Social Ecology, BOKU University Vienna.
With over two decades of interdisciplinary research experience, Karl-Heinz Erb studies the interplay between society and global environmental systems across various spatio-temporal scales, with a focus on land system science. His research interests encompass, among others, food security, biodiversity loss, or land-use climate interactions. His research is aimed to advance the understanding of the role of land management in the Earth system.
He served as member of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Global Land Programme, as a lead author of the IPCC “Special Report on Climate Change and Land Use,” and as co-chair of the Austrian Panel of Climate Change (APCC) “Special Report on Land Use and Climate Change” He has authored over 150 scientific papers and is recognized as a highly cited researcher (years 2018-2023).
Leading supervisor of thesis 5.4 and co-supervisor of thesis 5.3 and 6.3
Antje Potthast
Professor at BOKU
Co-supervisor of thesis 4.2
Luisa M. Trindade
Professor at WULuisa Trindade holds the prestigious position of full professor in Bioresources Breeding and Genetics at Wageningen University & Research, concurrently spearheading the Biobased Economy group within the Plant Sciences Department.
Over the past decade, she has steered various Wageningen UR Investment and knowledge-based initiatives, notably shaping the Protein Transition, Circular and Biobased Economy, and the Biorefinery WUR programs. With profound expertise in plant genetics, Dr. Trindade and her dedicated team pioneer the development of cutting-edge tools to enhance crop breeding for a Circular Bioeconomy. Among her innovative concepts is the notion of zero-waste crops, a visionary idea she firmly believes will define the future of agriculture.
She coordinates and lectures several MSc courses in Bioresources for a Bioeconomy and she is a member of the Program committee of the Biobased Sciences MSc program.
Leading supervisor of thesis 3.3
Ellen Slegers
Assistant Professor at WUDr. ir. PM (Ellen) Slegers is an assistant professor at the Operations Research and Logistics group at Wageningen University.
Her team develops robust approaches for prospective sustainability assessment of biobased chains, to quantify the expected performance and related system-wide sustainability impacts of low technological-readiness biobased systems. The main challenges that they focus on are to 1) deal with limited and uncertain data available for immature biobased technologies, and 2) to quantify the expected environmental, economic and social impacts and trade-offs between them. In the multidisciplinary research projects, models principles from process systems engineering, operations research, systems analysis, and sustainability analysis (e.g., LCA) are combined and decision support models are developed to quantitatively address the sustainability performance.
Ellen is teaching BSc and MSc courses on Life Cycle Assessment in the Circular Economy, Sustainability Assessment and Decision Sciences.
Leading supervisor of thesis 4.4 and co-supervisor of thesis 4.1 and 5.1