The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases is supported by a Secretariat, and led by the Special Representative. The GRA Council is the representative body of all Members and Partners which oversees all activities of the GRA and encourages greater global cooperation and knowledge sharing.
Special Representative
Dr. Harry Clark MNZM (NZAGRC, New Zealand) is the Special Representative for the GRA. His role is to act as an ambassador for the GRA. This includes:
- Assisting members to maximise the benefits of their participation in the GRA;
- Lifting the GRA’s profile at relevant international meetings;
- Broadening links with non-governmental organisations, potential partners, the agricultural sector and other relevant organisations;
- Helping to secure funding for research and capability building projects of the GRA; and
- Expanding GRA membership to include active participation from regions that are currently under-represented.
Council Chair
Dr. Esther Esteban Rodrigo is the Director of the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Centro Nacional integrado en la Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) in Spain, and is the nominated Chair of the GRA Council for 2023–2024.
Mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change is one of Spain’s most important challenges. In recent times the country has experienced severe draughts which have had a detrimental effect on agricultural production. Availability of fresh water is being compromised in some municipalities. These extreme events are becoming more and more frequent in the Mediterranean area and science-based solutions are urgently required to actively overcome and address this difficult situation.
To date, Spain has been an active participant in GRA activities, with its involvement growing over the past few years. In particular, Spain co-chairs the Croplands Research Group, co-leads the Feed Additives Flagship project, and Spanish researchers are active cross the Research Groups and by hosting CLIFF-GRADS fellows.
Spain views the presidency role as providing an opportunity to strengthen their GRA participation and are working on a range of initiatives including an Agroforestry and Agroecology Flagship project, a new Mediterranean Network and supporting capability building advanced courses.
The GRA Chair role coincides with Spain also assuming the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (July-Dec 2023). It is envisaged that this will assist with Spain’s goal of further disseminating the GRA concept in national and international fora, in particular in Spain, Europe and Latin America.
Click here to learn more about how the GRA Council works.
Secretariat
The GRA Secretariat supports the GRA Council and Research Groups in the development and communication of activities, meetings and events and also works with our members and partners to encourage continued leadership and participation in the GRA.
The GRA Secretariat is hosted by New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries with support from Germany’s Thünen Institute (Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries).
“I recently started work as a research associate in the climate coordination unit at the Thuenen Institute in Brunswick (Germany) that supported the GRA conference in Berlin 2018. My academic background is in international and agricultural economics. Currently, I am finalizing my doctoral thesis on “Agricultural trade flows and food standards” at the University of Goettingen. I studied in Germany, Belgium, Poland and Mexico and worked with international organizations such as the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) and International Labour Organization (ILO).
My research interests include agricultural, climate and environmental policy. Therefore, I am very happy to join the GRA secretariat team for the next 4 years and support their work as well as GRA activities (particularly research) in Europe.
I am interested in the following research questions:
– What factors influence knowledge sharing within international research networks?
– How can the development and implementation of climate mitigation measures be evaluated?
– Who are key actors with regard to strategies for mitigation climate change in agriculture in the EU?
– Which mitigation measures have upscaling potential to meet the net zero emissions target of the EU under the European Green Deal by 2050?
For further information see here“
Nina Grassnick – Thünen Institute (Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries), Germany
Séga Ndao has a PhD in agronomic sciences from Institut Agro Montpellier, France, and more than ten years experience working with various agricultural research institution (national and international). Currently, Séga is supporting the NZAGRC to implement GHG inventory improvement programmes in West and Central Africa, with a particular focus on livestock GHG emissions reporting and mitigation. Additionally, he provides assistance for the GRA Secretariat activities (e.g., capability building, Network and Research Group support). Séga also dedicates time to following related agricultural projects in West and Central Africa, and in particular, helping with the translation of the research actions into national livestock GHG inventories, and connecting to the wider activities of the GRA.
Séga Ndao is based in Senegal and supports the work of the GRA in Africa.
Contact Us
To get in touch with one of our team, send us an email