Prof. David Harris RIP

Prof. David Harris, one of the giants of the study of the origins of agriculture, died during the holiday period. He was Professor Emeritus of Human Environment at the Institute of Archaeology (UCL) and a former director of the institute (1989-1996). Dorian Fuller, a friend and colleague at the institute, has an informative and touching piece about Prof. Harris on his blog. The comments there, and on my re-posting of Dr Fuller’s piece (see below), are ample evidence of Prof. Harris’ impact and legacy.

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Nibbles: Potato journeys, European collections, European bees, Wheat breeding, Mountains, Forest restoration, Tall trees, Symbioses, Guanaco reintroduction, Plant genomes, Improving GBIF, 2 sides of beef

  • The European encounter with the potato. A Google Earth tour by Jorge L. Alonso, and really rather fun. In Spanish.
  • The European encounter with virtual germplasm collections. AEGIS takes another step.
  • The European encounter with the honeybee. Bad news for the latter.
  • The European encounter with wheat. Its promiscuity will save us. Wheat’s, that is, not Europe’s. No, wait…
  • Nope, mountains will save us. Including Europe’s?
  • We should be doing reforestation in discrete patches, not huge swathes. Even on mountains, I suppose.
  • But if you want those trees to grow really tall, your options are limited.
  • No harm in adding a few fungi though. On the contrary…
  • And maybe a few guanacos?
  • Well we must have at least one genome piece in Nibbles, mustn’t we? Turns out plants are good models for everything else, including us.
  • And one database hell piece too, natch. Some thoughts on improving GBIF. Could be applied to Genesys too, I fear.
  • Meat: One side, and the other.

Nibbles: Pig evolution, Genomics field guide, Genome editing, Chilean agroecology training, Oxford Farming Conferences, Grape variety database, Food prices database, Amazonian history, Debunking tomatoes, INFOODS NUS list, Coptic gardens, Aid agencies map

The catching up continues:

Nibbles: Information, Domestication, Cats, Conference, Gunpowder gardening, Policy advice, Potatoes, Ancient vineyards, New UG99, Bovine emissions, Cacao ants, Palaeo-diet, Bloody quinoa, Tokyo’s honey, Urban biodiversity, Ilex, Conifers