The Gibson Institute for Land Food and Environment is involved in major research projects funded by UK Research Councils (ESRC, NERC and MRC), EU Framework Programs among others. We are working with research partners in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and many European Countries. Our highly appraised research into Environmental Economics Methods provides the basis for our economic modeling and policy expertise in the following areas:

Agricultural and Food Economics and Marketing

The Institute leads a research program in the recent major Queen’s initiative the Institute for Global Food Security and was a partner  in the £2million DEL funder centre in Queens for Assured Safe and Traceable Food (ASSET)  and partner in the euro 3 million  EU Framework 7 (STARTEC) Programme for Safe Tasty and Nutritious, Advanced Ready to Eat Foods for Healthy and Vulnerable Consumers as well as  the 1 million euro EU INTERREG IVA  Programme, Improving People’s Lives through Social Farming in the Cross Border Region of Ireland and Northern Ireland. An ESRC Research Fellowship was received from the £1.6million ESRC funded Sustainable Practices Research Group in Manchester University.   

Economics of Food Choices, Obesity, Physical Activity and Public Health

The Gibson Institute is a partner in the £8.5 million ESRC/MRC led UK Combined Research Councils Centre of Excellence for Public Health in Northern Ireland headed by Professor Frank Kee, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queens. The Institute is researching Food Choices and obesity and is also a partner in The Obesity and Diabetes Project funded by the Department for Employment and Learning and in the £0.8 million Medical Research Council (MRC) PARC project into Physical Activity and Rejuvenation of the Connswater. 

Biodiversity, Agri-environmental Policy and Environmental Economics

The Institute is a partner in Quercus the ecological research centre within the School of Biological Sciences.  Through its' Natural Heritage Research Partnership Quercus provides ecological research for the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).  In a recently completed INTERREG IIIA project the Gibson Institute were partners in the Lough Melvin Catchment Management Plan and has recently been named as partner in the £3.3million Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) project, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Flows Across Coastal Margins as well as the £2.6million EU INTERREG IVA CIRB project, Controlling Priority Invasive Species and Restoring Natural Biodiversity

Economics of Renewable Energy Production and Consumption

One full time and one part time member of staff in the Gibson Institute are funded by Queens through the ISW initiative, which bring together Queen’s research in these areas across all faculties.  The Gibson Institute is involved in this research area with the University of Maryland USA and was a partner in the in the recently completed euro 11m EU 7th Framework EXIOPOL Project and the euro 5m EU 7th Framework PLUREL project. The Institute is involved as a major partner in some of the important research initiatives of the university where staff members provide economic research input.