糖心原创

Contact

• workRoom A04 Gateway
  Sutton Bonington Campus
  Sutton Bonington
  Leicestershire
  LE12 5RD
  UK
• Hugh.Williamson@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

I am a social scientist, trained in anthropology and now working more broadly across the interdisciplinary field of science and technology studies (STS). My work investigates the relationship between data, knowledge and practice in the biosciences (especially plant and animal science) and agriculture. I use qualitative research methods to understand the social and practical dimensions of science, policy making and technology development, and to engage stakeholders such as farmers and the public in these processes.

I am currently Research Fellow on the project BIOFRAME, funded through the European Partnership for Animal Health and Welfare (EUPAHW), where we are collaborating with farmers and partners across Europe to co-create biosecurity approaches for non-intensive farming systems. In the UK, our research focuses on the beef cattle sector.

I am particularly interested in the use of digital technologies and data in the biosciences and farming. My previous work has explored topics including: how we can design digital technologies for diverse communities in animal farming, such as agroecological farmers; how we can ethically and equitably govern data sharing in the plant and animal sciences; and how we can effectively manage data for reliable and responsible use in AI.

I am based in the Centre for Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine. I have previously worked as a researcher at the University of Exeter (2019-2024) and Technical University of Munich (2024-2025).

Expertise Summary

• Sociological studies of scientific practice
• Public and stakeholder engagement and co-creation
• Responsible research and innovation
• Data governance
• Rural sociology and anthropology

Teaching Summary

I am not currently teaching, but I have previously designed and taught a range of topics related to qualitative social research, agriculture and data studies on courses including the BSc Business and… read more

Research Summary

I am currently working on the EUPAHW project BIOFRAME. This project aims to co-create biosecurity guidance for non-intensive animal farms (i.e. mostly outdoor-raised animals) by working closely with… read more

Recent Publications

• WILLIAMSON, HUGH F., 2025. Agriculture and Human Values. 42(1), 601-602
• WILLIAMSON, H. F. and HARTLEY, S., 2025. animal. 19(11), 101683
• WILLIAMSON, HUGH F. and HARTLEY, SARAH, 2024. Sociologia Ruralis. 64(4), 662-684
• LEONELLI, SABINA and WILLIAMSON, HUGH F., 2023. . In: WILLIAMSON, HUGH F. and LEONELLI, SABINA, eds., Towards Responsible Plant Data Linkage: Data Challenges for Agricultural Research and Development Springer International Publishing. 1-24

• View all publications

I am not currently teaching, but I have previously designed and taught a range of topics related to qualitative social research, agriculture and data studies on courses including the BSc Business and Management, MA Food Studies and MRes Social Research (University of Exeter); MSc AI and Society, MA Science and Technology Studies and MA Responsibility in Science, Engineering and Technology (Technical University of Munich); and BA Human, Social and Political Sciences (University of Cambridge).

Current Research

I am currently working on the project . This project aims to co-create biosecurity guidance for non-intensive animal farms (i.e. mostly outdoor-raised animals) by working closely with farmers to determine their needs and priorities regarding disease prevention and control. The project involves qualitative research with farmers to identify these needs and priorities, which will be used to inform the development of guidance that will then be tested over an extended period on several participating farms. BIOFRAME is formed of a consortium of researchers from across Europe. The British strand of the project will focus on biosecurity on beef cattle farms.

Past Research

I have previously worked on several research projects based at the University of Exeter, where I held affiliations to the Centre for the 糖心原创 of the Life Sciences (Egenis), the Centre for Rural Policy Research (CRPR), the Centre for Responsible Innovation and the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (IDSAI).

From 2019 to 2022 I was Research Fellow on the Alan Turing Institute-funded project , which investigated conditions for responsible and reliable sharing of plant science data. From 2022 to 2024 I was Research Fellow and co-lead on the project , funded by EPSRC via DIGIT Lab. This project engaged diverse stakeholders in British farming to understand their views on digitalisation in animal farming, and I also conducted empirical research on data sharing and governance practices in the British sheep sector to identify emerging challenges and needs for animal data governance.

• WILLIAMSON, HUGH F., 2025. Agriculture and Human Values. 42(1), 601-602
• WILLIAMSON, H. F. and HARTLEY, S., 2025. animal. 19(11), 101683
• WILLIAMSON, HUGH F. and HARTLEY, SARAH, 2024. Sociologia Ruralis. 64(4), 662-684
• LEONELLI, SABINA and WILLIAMSON, HUGH F., 2023. . In: WILLIAMSON, HUGH F. and LEONELLI, SABINA, eds., Towards Responsible Plant Data Linkage: Data Challenges for Agricultural Research and Development Springer International Publishing. 1-24
• WILLIAMSON, HF, BRETTSCHNEIDER, J, CACCAMO, M, DAVEY, RP, GOBLE, C, KERSEY, PJ, MAY, S, MORRIS, RJ, OSTLER, R, PRIDMORE, T, RAWLINGS, C, STUDHOLME, D, TSAFTARIS, SA and LEONELLI, S, 2023. F1000Research. 10(324),
• WILLIAMSON, HUGH F. and LEONELLI, SABINA, 2023. . In: WILLIAMSON, HUGH F. and LEONELLI, SABINA, eds., Towards Responsible Plant Data Linkage: Data Challenges for Agricultural Research and Development Springer International Publishing. 301-317
• WILLIAMSON, H. F. and LEONELLI, S, eds., 2023. Springer.
• WILLIAMSON, HUGH F. and LEONELLI, SABINA, 2022. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. 95, 167-176
• FEDIRKO, TARAS, SAMANANI, FARHAN and WILLIAMSON, HUGH F., 2021. Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale. 29(2), 373-386