Partners & Collaborators
Tomatoes for Tomorrow is a new, flexible, growing network of collaborators, coordinated out of Lancaster University, University of Leeds, Colegio de Postgraduados Chapingo, Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional Unidad Oaxaca and Universidad Nacional de Mexico
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Tomatoes for Tomorrow es una red de colaboradores nueva, flexible y creciente, coordinada desde la Universidad de Lancaster, la Universidad de Leeds, el Colegio de Postgraduados Chapingo, el Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Unidad Integral Oaxaca, y la Universidad Nacional de México.
Partners
Gabriela Toledo-Ortiz, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University. Gabriela is a plant molecular photobiologist, interested in the environmental regulation of plant metabolism, with emphasis in the regulation if isoprenoids and carotenoids by light and temperature. She is interested in the research potential of ancestral tomatoes to understand and address climate change effects on tomato nutritional content, and recognises the importance of protecting these unique resources. Gabriela coordinates the nascent network shaping Tomatoes for Tomorrow.
Víctor González-Hernández, Colegio de Postgraduados (COLPOS), Chapingo-México. Victor and his research group have extensive expertise in the agronomic and physiological characterization of Mexico’s tomatoes. He is the coordinator of the COLPOS- Mexican National Tomato ex-situ seed bank, which includes more than 600 varieties of ancestral tomato.
José Luis Chávez-Servia, Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional (CIIDIR-IPN) Unidad Oaxaca. José Luis leads the group with the most extensive expertise in agronomic and genetic characterization of Oaxacan tomatoes.
Jacob Phelps, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University. Jacob is a conservation scientist with a particular interest in plants and environmental policy. He advises on in-situ conservation approaches, transdisciplinary research design and programme development for Tomatoes for Tomorrow.
Christine Bosch, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds. Christine is an expert in diet and health, secondary plant metabolites, molecular nutrition and functional food. She is supporting nutritional analyses of fruits within “Tomatoes for Tomorrow”.
Lisa Marshall, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds. Lisa is an expert on food chemistry and the effects of processing on the composition and health benefits of food. Lisa is an expert in the biochemical analyses of secondary metabolites and antioxidants. Working in close collaboration with the Bosch group.
Iván Ramírez Ramírez, Colegio de Postgraduados (COLPOS), Chapingo-México. Iván is a biochemist and molecular geneticist. He manages the COLPOS tomato germplasm bank. He works to characterise Mexico’s tomato agrodiversity.
Patricia Leon, Institute of Biotechnology, Universidad Nacional de Mexico. Patricia is a Professor in plant biochemist and molecular biology, specialized in chloroplast biology and the regulation of key plant metabolic pathways such as plastid isoprenoids. She addresses in joint work with Dr. Toledo-Ortiz, the mechanisms of environmental regulation of plant isoprenoids that are the upstream intermediaries for the production of antioxidants and vitamins of isoprenoid origin (carotenoids, tocopherols).
Nicacio Cruz Huerta, Colegio de Postgraduados (COLPOS), Chapingo-México. Nicacio is an expert in plant physiology and horticulture of tomatoes and peppers. He works to characterise Mexico’s tomato agrodiversity within the COLPOL collection.
Geovanni Martinez, Oaxaca Ethnobotanical Garden. Geovani is a field researcher and photographer. He has collaborated with Lancaster University to identify ancestral tomato varieties in Oaxaca necessitating further study, and photo-documenting Tomatoes for Tomorrow work across Oaxaca.
Collaborators
Silvia Gómez, La Milpa y Otras Cosas. Silvia is the Coordinator of the farming cooperative. She is actively involved in the recovery and protection of Mexico’s ancestral cultivars and in the organic production of tomatoes in Mexico’s Central Valleys.
Benjamin Neimark, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University. Ben is Senior Lecturer in International Development and Assoc. Director for Engagement at the Pentland Centre on Sustainable Business. He focuses on sustainable rural development, with interest in small-holder production of high-value agricultural commodity chains.
Pablo Rojas, Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México (UACM). Pablo is an agronomist who supports ‘La Milpa y Otras cosas’ farming cooperative. He coordinates with local farmers the recovery and re-introduction of native tomatoes in Mexico City.
Cristina Barros-Valero, Christina is a writer and researcher of the history of Mexican Cuisine and an active disseminator of the cultural value of Mexican Cuisine. Chevalier de la Académie Culinaire de France, her work supported the declaration of Mexican Cuisine as UNESCO World Heritage.
Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, Restaurant Azul. Ricardo is a renowned Chef and Author of the “Mexican Food Encyclopedia”, whose work involves the recovery and documentation of Mexico’s ancestral culinary traditions.
Juana Amaya & Ovidio Perez Amaya, Mi Tierra Linda Restaurant, Zimatlán-Oaxaca. Chef Amaya is a culinary leader, recognised for her work promoting and preserving Oaxaca’s ancestral cooking traditions in her native Zimatlan. Chef Amaya is recognized by the New York Times as one of Mexico’s top-chefs.
Celia Florián, Restaurant Las Quince Letras, Oaxaca. Celia is a leading Chef who coordinates the largest group of women focused on traditional cooking in the state of Oaxaca. She organizes the annual Oaxaca Food Festival.
Ruben Langle, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS)-Oaxaca. Ruben is a researcher focused on the anthropology and anthropological Cartography of the State of Oaxaca.
Alejandro de Avila, Oaxaca Ethnobotanical Garden. Alejandro is Founding Director of the Oaxaca Ethnobotanical Garden and has published widely on traditional knowledge of plants.