GM Crop Farm Scale Evaluations:
Scientific Steering Committee Minutes
15th November 2002
|
Members attending: |
Chris Pollock (chair) |
|
|
Nicholas Aebischer |
|
|
David Gibbons |
|
|
Alistair Burn |
|
|
Jim Orson |
|
|
|
|
Research consortium: |
Les Firbank |
|
|
Joe Perry |
|
|
Peter Rothery |
|
|
Geoff Squire |
|
|
Gill Champion |
|
|
Matt Heard |
|
|
Alison Haughton |
|
|
David Brooks |
|
|
David Bohan |
|
|
David Roy |
|
|
Alan Dewar |
|
|
Cathy Hawes |
|
|
|
|
Secretariat: |
Nick Brickle (secretary) |
|
|
|
|
Assessors: |
Linda Smith (Defra) - agenda items 1 to 5 only |
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Mick Crawley and Nick Sotherton.
2. Minutes of last meeting
Already approved and publicly available on the FSE website.
Between the last meeting and this one the SSC published advice, agreed by correspondence, on winter oilseed rape site selection and the presence of unexpected seed material in some oilseed rape sites. Both pieces of advice are available on the FSE web-site.
3. Update on progress by research consortium
The consortium informed the SSC that all field work on spring oil seed rape, beet and maize is now complete and that enough experimental fields had been studied to address the null hypothesis. The SSC congratulated all members of the research consortium, the farmers and the industry group SCIMAC on this achievement.
Prior to the meeting a draft interim report had been circulated to members. This was approved for immediate publication on the FSE web-site.
4. Winter oilseed rape results
The SSC asked the consortium to consider proposals for presenting the results of the winter oilseed rape studies and to circulate ideas by March 2003. A strategy for publication would then be agreed at the next SSC meeting.
5. BTO bird studies
The SSC were informed that the BTO bird studies undertaken on the FSE sites were now complete following a lengthy process of review by SSC members. The SSC agreed that, in accordance with its previously agreed publication strategy, that the results should be submitted for publication in a manner that would ensure that they are not available before the main results of the FSE.
6. Future action to approve FSE papers
Plans for reviewing the draft papers before submission to a journal were discussed. The SSC agreed that the sub-groups should continue to review the individual papers over the next few weeks followed by an opportunity for all members to review all papers by early January. Submission to a journal will take place in mid January with a view to publication in Summer 2003.
7. FSE draft papers
In closed session the SSC reviewed progress with each draft paper that will make up the final FSE report. The content of each paper, and the overall structure of the papers as a series, were discussed.
8. AOB
No matters were raised
9. Next meeting
The date of the next meeting, if necessary, was agreed as 14th January 2003.
Page published 6 December
2002;
Page last modified
26 February, 2003