Michael Winter
Board Member

Canon Professor Michael Winter OBE is Director of the Centre for Rural Policy Research and Professor of Rural Policy at the University of Exeter. He is President of the Devon Rural Network, a Vice-President of the Community Council for Devon, and past Chair of the South West Rural Affairs Forum 2002 – 2007. He is a member of Defra’s Agricultural and Environmental Economics Academic Panel, a member of the South West Regional Development Agency Economists Panel, and a member of Defra’s Science Advisory Council.

In 1999-2000 was a member of the Home Office Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs.Michael has 30 years’ experience as a social scientist working on rural issues.  In the 1980s he focused mainly on agricultural and environmental policy and politics. For much of the 1990s, he worked on farmer responses to policy and farmer knowledge.  Recently his major work has been on cross-disciplinary approaches to agri-environmental, climate change and land use issues in the UK.

He is currently working primarily on food security related issues. Michael’s work has been funded by the ESRC, Defra, environmental agencies, charitable trusts, and local and regional authorities.  He has published many research papers, books and reports.

Declaration of Interests

Email Michael at info@ruralcommunities.gov.uk