GM Crop Farm Scale Evaluations:
Scientific Steering Committee Minutes
20th May 2002
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Members attending: |
Chris Pollock (chair) |
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Nicholas Aebischer |
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Nick Sotherton |
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David Gibbons |
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Alistair Burn |
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Jim Orson |
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Research consortium: |
Les Firbank |
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Joe Perry |
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Peter Rothery |
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David Roy |
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Secretariat: |
Nick Brickle (secretary) |
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Andrew Empson |
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Assessors: |
Linda Smith (Defra) |
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Derek Bearhop (SERAD) |
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Mick Crawley and Roger Turner.
2. Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the last SSC meeting, held on November 1st 2001, have already been approved by email correspondence and are publicly available of the FSE website. Matters arising since the last meeting include the spring FSE site selection and the 6th Interim report. No meeting has been held since November and so both matters were approved by email correspondence. The SSC guidance on site selection and the interim report are both publicly available on the website.
3. Update on progress by research consortium
The consortium described progress with spring 2002 site selection. Overall selection of spring oil seed rape, maize and a beet was approved by the SSC. The relatively low number of maize sites in the south west and spring oil seed rape sites in the south east was highlighted by the consortium. The SSC agreed that the possible impact of this on the results would need to be addressed in the final report.
The matter of a winter oil seed rape site in Kent where the non-GM comparator crop had failed to establish was discussed. The SSC decide the site should be dropped from the FSE as it had not been possible for the farmer to follow normal agricultural practice in such a circumstance and re-sow the unestablished crop in the spring.
The consortium stated that work has begun to identify suitable sites for winter oil seed rape to be planted in 2003. Around 17-20 sites are being sought. It is hoped that an announcement of selected sites, once approved by the SSC, can be made in early/mid July 2003.
The consortium gratefully acknowledged the help of SCIMAC and the farmers involved in the FSE in getting sufficient suitable sites in 2002.
4. Update on progress by secretariat
The SSC secretariat informed the SSC that the 6th Interim report of the FSE research, previously approved by the SSC, was now available on the FSE website.
Recent discussions held with the British Ecological Society regarding the publication of the FSE results were reported to the SSC. The discussions so far have been very positive and will continue.
5. Timetable for SSC involvement in the publication of results
A draft timetable for the involvement of the SSC in the completion of the FSE was discussed. It was agreed that full SSC meetings would be held in:
- November 2002 to review progress towards a final report.
- February 2003 to approve the submission of the final report to the journal.
- Summer 2003 to draft the SSC's final advice to Government for the three spring crops and to approve a non-specialist summary of the results (see below).
Between now and the November 2002 meeting the SSC would divide into subgroups to work with the research consortium to prepare drafts of the various sections that make up the final report (see below).
The research consortium agreed to propose a timetable for the completion of the winter oil seed rape programme that could be discussed at the November meeting.
6. Draft structure of the final report
The final report of the ecological studies in the FSE will take the form of a series of papers submitted to a journal for publication. The research consortium presented a draft outline of these papers for the SSC to consider.
Discussions were mainly based on how the results would be structured into papers. Several amendments were suggested to the structure proposed by the research consortium. It was agreed that there should be flexibility as the most suitable final structure may only become apparent as the report is written. It was agreed that options should be explored with the journal where the papers would be submitted to ensure that the results were presented in the most comprehensive and appropriate manner.
For each paper, or related papers, in the final report, two or three members of the SSC were given the role of mentoring the preparation in partnership with the relevant members of the research consortium. These sub-groups of the SSC would review progress at regular intervals between now and the completion of the manuscripts
7. Non-specialist overview of research papers
The SSC discussed the need for a non-specialist overview of the results of the FSE. This would be based wholly on those results published in the peer-review scientific papers, and would be made available at the time of their publication.
A draft structure was approved, mirroring the published final report, with all members keen that the non-specialist summary take the opportunity to provide appropriate background to the work conducted in the FSE and its general relevance to agroecological science.
Discussion was held on the authorship of the non-specialist summary and in particular the extent of editorial control by the research consortium and the SSC. It was agreed that final approval of the summary would lie with the SSC, and that operational issues relating to preparation, authorship etc would be considered once the detailed scope of the summary had been agreed.
8. AOB
The SSC extended its congratulations to Mick Crawley on his recent election as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
9. Next meeting
The date of the next meeting was agreed as 15th November 2002
Page published 5 July
2002;
Page last modified
25 February, 2003