Reflecting on the past year, the global community is confronting unparalleled challenges necessitating innovative solutions in food systems, sustainable development, and climate change. In this context, the work and mission of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) have never been more essential. This report highlights NRI’s world-leading research, knowledge exchange and teaching which address some of the biggest global challenges.

I hope you enjoy reading the report and look forward to another year of bold, new initiatives as we work together to create sustained positive change and a better future for all.

I am delighted to share with you the Annual Review from our award-winning Natural Resources Institute. NRI’s staff and students are consistently pushing boundaries, carrying out research that makes an impact, contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), winning major research grants and prizes, and representing the University on a global stage. Through dedicated teaching and research supervision, NRI’s teams are helping to form the next generation of experts equipped with the skills to devise sustainable solutions to some of the world’s most significant challenges.

If you get the chance to visit NRI, I’m sure you’ll agree that the enthusiasm and passion that our scientists have for their work is palpable – this is something that’s felt from the students on undergraduate degrees up to Professors and beyond, and translated into a successful array of prizes, publications and innovations. Enjoy reading and learning more about NRI.

Since joining the University of Greenwich as Vice-Chancellor in December 2019, I have been fascinated to learn about the work of the Natural Resources Institute. As I get to know the people that make up NRI – the staff, students and collaborators – it’s clear to see their passion for their work, and their drive to make the world more equitable and sustainable.

As you will read in this Annual Review, NRI’s work covers a broad range of issues, tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges, from poverty to food insecurity, gender and social inequality, sustainable development, and many more. Through teamwork and academic excellence, NRI’s teams are consistently awarded grants from diverse funders to develop sustainable solutions to these global challenges...

This year’s Annual Review from our Natural Resources Institute demonstrates the excellence of their research across a diversity of issues, which aims to improve the lives of some of the world’s poorest people. Their teams are consistently awarded prestigious grants from major funders including the UK Department for International Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Research Councils and the European Union, in areas such as food and nutrition security, sustainable business and finance models, controlling major pests and diseases, and gender and social difference. Importantly, the world-leading researchers at NRI are also experienced lecturers, who engage their students in an exciting range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, and who supervise a growing group of dynamic postgraduate research students. Their teaching contributes to the University of Greenwich’s silver rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework in recognition of high-quality resources, teaching and personalised provision. Enjoy reading and discover their work...

We are enormously proud of our award-winning Natural Resources Institute. Since NRI became a part of the University of Greenwich in 1996, they have gone from strength to strength, consistently carrying out world-leading research that transforms lives. This year they were chosen to receive the highly competitive Rockefeller Foundation Cassava Innovation Challenge Award, building on the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Education awarded at Buckingham Palace in February 2016. This Annual Review shows how their research and teaching programmes are responding to global issues and illustrates how their approach echoes the University of Greenwich’s core values of ambition, creativity, excellence, determination and inclusivity...