CURRICULUM VITAE
Personal details
Name
Timothy Paul ROBINSON
Date of birth
July 15, 1964
Position
Livestock Information Officer,
Livestock Information, Sector Analysis and Policy Branch (AGAL),
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
Nationality
British
Contact address
FAO (AGAL)
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome, Italy
Qualifications
PhD - University of Reading (1991)
MA (2.1) - University of Oxford
Pure and Applied Biology (1988)
Tel:
Fax:
email:
+ 39 06 57051
+ 39 06 57055749
tim.robinson@fao.org
Current position
I am currently working as part of a team of professional officers within FAO’s Livestock Information, Sector Analysis
and Policy Branch, on a DFID-funded project: the “Pro-poor Livestock Policy Initiative”. Details of the Initiative can
be found at our web site: http://www.fao.org/ag/pplpi.html. The Initiative takes a policy and institutional approach to
developing the livestock sector in ways that are more conducive to poverty alleviation and to securing the livelihoods of
the world’s livestock-dependent poor. The Initiative comprises a central facility at FAO headquarters in Rome, and five
regional hubs.
The central facility builds on FAO’s comparative advantage as an intergovernmental organization with a global mandate
for guiding national and international policy towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In
addition, the central facility guides, co-ordinates and provides technical support to the Initiative’s regional activities.
The core functions of the central facility include: Information management and dissemination; decision support tools
and harmonization of methodological approaches; cross-regional assessment of key issues; informing policy debates;
and forming coalitions for change.
The regional hubs are an essential part of the initiative, providing a link between the concerns of poor livestock keepers
in the selected regions and the central facility. The principal roles of the hubs are: stakeholder engagement and
identification of issues; knowledge sharing; capacity building; and negotiation and fostering the policy dialogue.
I have two roles within the project. First, is a cross-cutting role as the responsible officer for information management,
analysis and dissemination, including the development and use of tools for policy analysis and development. My
second role is as the coordinator of the projects’ activities in the Horn of Africa. In the Horn of Africa we have now
secured EC funding (US$ 6.7m) for the “IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative”.
In the broader context of FAO’s Livestock Information, Sector Analysis and Policy Branch I am also responsible for the
development of global livestock information systems. In this context I organise the team of staff and consultants that
are currently working on global livestock distribution maps and on the global mapping of agricultural production
systems.
Professional experience
Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome, January 2005 to date – (P4). Budget holder and Chief Technical Adviser
(a.i.). EC-funded “IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative”.
Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome, July 2002 to date – (P4). Livestock Information Officer. DFID-funded
“Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative”.
International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, March 1999 to June 2002 – Scientist. Decision Support Modeller.
IFAD-funded project to develop decision support tools for trypanosomiasis control in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda.
University of Oxford, July 1998 to 1999 – Zoology Research Fellow (RSII). Action leader for Data Management on the
EU-funded ‘Integrated control of pathogenic trypanosomes and their vectors’.
University of Oxford, April 1998 to March 1999 – Zoology Research Fellow (RSII). Epidemiologist, systems analyst
and GIS specialist to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) - funded ‘Independent Scientific Group
Advising on Cattle TB’.
University of Oxford, October 1997 to November 2000 – Research Fellow, Linacre College. This research fellowship
involved advising a number of postgraduate research students.
University of Oxford, April 1996 to March 1999 – Zoology Research Fellow (RSII). Principal Investigator on the
Department For International Development (DFID) - funded Animal Health Programme project R6558: “Control of
Tsetse and Trypanosomosis: Adaptive Research in Support of the Use of Geographic Information Systems and
Remotely Sensed Data to Assist with Strategic Planning”.
Natural Resources Institute (NRI), February 1992 to March 1996 – Higher Scientific Officer (HSO). Tsetse Ecologist
on the Insect Pest Management Initiative (IPMI) Tsetse Project in Zambia. The job involved training, management of
tsetse surveys and control operations, and research into the use of GIS and remotely sensed data for decision support:
modelling tsetse habitat and prioritising areas for control.
University of Reading, October 1988 to December 1991 – PhD research: “Modelling the seasonal distribution of habitat
suitability for armyworm population development in East Africa using GIS and remote sensing techniques”. Two six
month field visits were made to Kenya, based at the Regional Armyworm Project of the Desert Locust Control
Organisation for East Africa (DLCO-EA).
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), September 1986 to August 1987 –
Research at ICRISAT (India), in conjunction with the Tropical Development and Research Institute (TDRI, now NRI),
under a Cecil Pilkington Scholarship from the University of Oxford. Research involved: a) pesticide trials for termite
control on groundnuts, b) radar and optical studies on migration patterns of Heliothis armigera, c) research into the
chemical basis for host plant resistance in groundnut strains to Spodoptera litura, and d) research into the effects of soil
moisture on surface foraging by termite species.
Consultancies
Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories / Kenya Medical Research Institute (WTRLL/KEMRI) – Systems analysis,
database design and construction: MoH/KEMRI Antinatal Clinic Survey. April 2002.
DEFRA, UK – Exploratory study to model the distribution and spread of bovine tuberculosis, in UK and the rest of
Europe, using multi-temporal satellite imagery (subcontracted by ERGO). July 2001 – June 2002.
Department for International Development, UK. Consultation on analysis of Landsat ETM satellite data in relation to
sleeping sickness outbreaks in South East Uganda. May 2001- June 2002.
Department for International Development, UK. Global poverty mapping for livestock research (subcontracted by
ILRI). April – June, 2001.
European Union, Kenya – Development of course module on database design and information management for the
FITCA Regional GIS course (subcontracted by ILRI). July 2001.
International Fund for Agricultural Development, Kenya. Consultation on questionnaire design and database
management of household survey, and on development of risk maps of East Coast Fever in Kenya. December 2000 –
March 2001.
International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations, C&-RAF-5.047-001, Tanzania. ‘IAEA/FAO Regional
Training Course on The Sterile Insect Technique as a Component for Integrated Area Wide Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis
Management: Disease and Vector Integrated Database (DAVID)’. March/April 2000.
International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations, ETH/5/102-02, Ethiopia/UK. ‘Tsetse control/eradication in
the Southern Region of Ethiopia: data identification, collection, management and analysis using geographic information
systems.’ April, 1998 – date.
International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations, 100 5180 5410 D300321 AFRICA 97CL9153, Zanzibar
Island, ‘Analysis and management of serological trypanosomiasis survey data from Zanzibar Island.’
November/December, 1997.
Regional Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Control Programme (RTTCP) for Southern Africa, 6ACP/RPR/468, Harare/UK.
‘Programme Manager: development of an integrated tsetse and trypanosomiasis database.’ April – July, 1997.
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, TCP/SAF/4551 (A), South Africa. ‘International expert in
GIS and information system development.’ August, 1996.
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, GCP/RAF/322/EC, Zimbabwe. ‘International computer
programmer.’ March/April, 1996.
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, TCP/MOZ/4555 (A), Mozambique. ‘Consultant in
geographic information systems.’ February/March, 1996.
Publications
Journal articles
Robinson, T., Emwanu, T. and Rogers, D. (2007) Environmental approaches to poverty mapping: an example from
Uganda. Information Development (in press).
Epprecht, M., Heinimann, A., Minot, N., Müller, D. and Robinson, T. (2007) From Statistical Data to Spatial
Knowledge – Informing Decision Making in Vietnam. Information Development (in press).
Symeonakis, E., Robinson, T. and Drake, N. (2006) GIS and multiple-criteria evaluation for the optimisation of tsetse
fly eradication programmes. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 124, 89-103.
Thornton, P., Robinson, T., Kruska, R., Jones, P., McDermott, J., Kristjanson, P. and Reid, R (2006) Cattle
trypanosomiasis in Africa to 2030. Infectious Diseases: preparing for the future, T8.8. Foresight: Office of
Science and Innovation.
Odiit, M., Bessell, P.R., Fevre, E.M., Robinson, T., Kinoti, K., Coleman, P.G., Welburn, S.C., McDermott, J. and
Woolhouse, M.E.J. (2005) Using remote sensing and geographic information systems to identify villages at
high risk for rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Uganda. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine
and Hygiene 100, 354-362.
Thornton, P.K., Kruska, R.L., Henninger, N., Kristjanson, P.M., Reid, R.S. and Robinson, T.P. (2003) Locating poor
livestock keepers at the global level for research and development targeting. Land Use Policy 20, 311-322.
Wint, G.R.W., Robinson, T.P., Bourn, D.M., Durr, P.A., Hay, S.I., Randolph, S.E. and Rogers, D.J. (2002)
Mapping bovine tuberculosis in Great Britain using environmental data. Trends in Microbiology 10, 441-444.
Robinson, T.P., Harris, R.S. Hopkins, J.S. and Williams, B.G. (2002) An example of decision support for
trypanosomiasis control using a geographic information system in eastern Zambia. International Journal of
Geographical Information Science 16, 345-360.
Guyatt, H.L, Corlett, S.H., Robinson, T.P., Ochola, S.A. and Snow, R.W. (2002) Malaria prevention in highland Kenya:
indoor-residual house-spraying versus insecticide-treated bednets. International Medicine and Tropical Health
7, 298-303.
Randolph, T.F., Kristjanson, P.M., Omamo, W.S., Odero, A.N., Thornton, P.K., Reid, R.S., Robinson, T.P. and Ryan,
J.G. (2001) A framework for priority setting in international livestock research. Research Evaluation 10, 142160.
Machila, N., Sinyangwe, L., Mubanga, J., Hopkins, J.S., Robinson, T. and Eisler, M.C. (2001) Antibody-ELISA
Seroprevalence of Bovine Trypanosomosis in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Preventive Veterinary
Medicine 49, 249-257.
Guyatt, H.L. and Robinson, T.P. (2001) Fahrenheit-based Forecasts for Falciparum may be False. Trends in
Parasitology 17, 61-62.
Robinson, T.P. (2000) Spatial statistics and geographic information systems in epidemiology and public health.
Advances in Parasitology 47, 81-128.
Warnes, M.L., Van den Bossche, P., Robinson, T.P., Mudenge, D., Chihiya, J, Shereni, W. & Chadenga, V. (1999)
Evaluation of insecticide-treated cattle as a barrier to tsetse re-invasion. Medical and Veterinary Entomology
13, 177-184.
Robinson, T.P. (1998) Geographic information systems and the selection of priority areas for control of tsetsetransmitted trypanosomiasis in Africa. Parasitology Today 14, 457-461.
Robinson, T.P., Rogers, D.J. and Williams, B. (1997) Univariate analysis of tsetse habitat in the common fly belt of
Southern Africa using climate and remotely sensed vegetation data. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 11,
223-234.
Robinson, T.P., Rogers, D.J. and Williams, B. (1997) Mapping tsetse habitat suitability in the common fly belt of
Southern Africa using multivariate analysis of climate and remotely sensed vegetation data. Medical and
Veterinary Entomology 11, 235-245.
Robinson, T.P. (1996) Spatial and temporal accuracy of coarse resolution products of NOAA-AVHRR NDVI data.
International Journal of Remote Sensing 17, 2303-2321.
Books and book chapters
Wint, W. and Robinson, T. (2007) Gridded Livestock of the World, 2007. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organisation of
the United Nations (in press).
Thornton, P, 1 Robinson, T., Kruska, R., Jones, P. McDermott, J. and Reid, R. (2005) Cattle Trypanosomiasis in Africa
to 2030. Foresight project: Detection of Infectious Diseases.
Rogers, D.J. and Robinson, T.P. (2004) Tsetse Distribution. In: The Trypanosomiaises. (I. Maudlin, P. Holmes and M.
Miles, eds.) pp 624. Wallingford: CABI Publishing.
McDermott, J.J., Kristjanson, P.M., Kruska, R.L., Reid, R.S. Robinson, T.P. Coleman, P.G. Jones, P.G. and Thornton,
P.K. (2001) Effects of climate, human population and socio-economic changes on tsetse-transmitted
trypanosomiasis to 2050. In: World Class Parasites. Volume 1, The African Trypanosomes. (R. Seed and S.
Black, eds.) pp 192. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Kruger, O., Webster, J.P., Packer, M.J., Robinson, T.P., Ndamba, J. and Woolhouse, M.E.J. (2001) Genetic analysis of
the population structure of two sympatric freshwater snails Bulinus globosus and Biomphalaria pfeifferi from
the Zimbabwean highveld incorporating satellite remotely-sensed data. In: Medical and Veterinary Malacology
in Africa. (H. Madsen, C.C. Appleton and M. Chimbari, eds.) pp. 169-182. DBL publications.
Robinson, T.P. (2000) Spatial statistics and geographical information systems in epidemiology and public health. In:
Remote sensing and geographical information systems in epidemiology (S.I. Hay, S.E. Randolph and D.J.
Rogers, eds.) pp 81-128. London: Academic Press.
Robinson, T.P. (1995) Geographic information systems (GIS) and remotely sensed data for determining the seasonal
distribution of habitats of migrant insect pests. In: Insect Migration: Tracking resources through space and
time (V.A. Drake and A.G. Gatehouse, eds.) pp. 335-352. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Publications submitted or in preparation
Robinson, T. P., Thorne, P. J. and Thornton, P.K. (in prep) EXTRAPOLATE: A decision support tool to screen propoor livestock policies. Under revision for Agricultural Systems
Pfeiffer, D. and Robinson, T.P. (Eds) (in prep) Spatial Analysis in Epidemiology: Concepts and Applications. Contract
with Oxford University Press for publication in September 2005.
Gerber, P. and Robinson, T.P. (in prep) Decision support for livestock policies.
Conference papers
Robinson, T.P., Franceschini, G. and Wint, W. (2006) FAO's Global Livestock Information System. Proceedings of the
Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale (IZS) / Office International des Epizooties (OIE) GIS conference Abruzzo, Italy, 8 - 11 October 2006.
Shaw, A., Torr, S., Waiswa, C. and Robinson, T. (2006) Comparable costings of alternatives for dealing with tsetse:
Estimates for Uganda. Proceedings of the the 11th International Congress of Parasitology (ICOPA XI),
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), Glasgow Scotland UK. 6-11 August 2006.
Thornton, P.K., Thorne, P.J., Quiros1, C., Sheikh, D., Kruska, R.L., Robinson, T.P., Dijkman, J.T. and Herrero, M.
(2005) Using a decision support tool to screen for pro-poor policies: Application of EXTRAPOLATE to
smallholder dairy systems in East Africa. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the British Society of
Animal Science, 4-6 April, 2005. University of York.
McDermott, J.J., Kristjanson, P.M., Kruska, R.L., Reid, R.S., Robinson, T.P., Coleman, P.G. and Thornton, P.K. (2002)
Future climate, human population and socio-economic changes and their likely effects on tsetse and
trypanosomosis control in sub-Saharan Africa. Proceedings of the XXVI meeting of the International Scientific
Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control (ISCTRC). Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 1 to 5 October
2001, OAU/ISCTRC, Nairobi.
Robinson, T.P. (2001) DAVID: A disease and vector integrated database. European Union Concerted Action
Workshop, Harare, Zimbabwe, June 21-24, 1999. ICPTV Newsletter No 3, July 2001, Pp 12-13.
Robinson, T.P. and Hopkins, J. (2001) Decision support for trypanosomiasis. European Union Concerted Action
Workshop, Harare, Zimbabwe, June 21-24, 1999. ICPTV Newsletter No 3, July 2001, Pp 14-15.
Robinson, T.P., Harris, R.S. Hopkins, J.S. and Williams, B.G. (1999) Decision support for trypanosomiasis control: An
example, using a geographic information system in eastern Zambia. Proceedings of the XXV Meeting of the
International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control (ISCTRC). Mombasa, Kenya, 27
September to 1 October, 1999, OAU/ISCTRC, Nairobi.
Robinson, T.P. and Hopkins, J.S. (1999) Managing livestock disease data: the Disease And Vector Integrated Database
(DAVID). Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Society of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventative
Medicine. Bristol, UK, 24-26 March, 1999.
Robinson, T.P., Hopkins, J.S., Blackwell, D. and Van Den Bossche P. (1997) The Disease And Vector Integrated
Database (DAVID): A geographical information management system for tsetse, trypanosomiasis and livestock
field data. Proceedings of the XXIV Meeting of the International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis
Research and Control (ISCTRC). Maputo, Mozambique, 29 September to 3 October, 1997, OAU/ISCTRC,
Nairobi.
Robinson, T.P. (1997) Practical applications of geographic information systems in tsetse and trypanosomiasis control.
International Symposium on Diagnostics and Control of Livestock Diseases using Nuclear and Related
Techniques “Towards Disease Control in the 21st Century. IAEA/FAO, Vienna, Austria, 7 to 11 April, 1997.
Robinson, T.P. (1993) GIS as a management tool in tsetse and trypanosomiasis control. Proceedings of the XXII
Meeting of the International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control (ISCTRC).
Kampala, Uganda, 25-29 October, 1993, OAU/ISCTRC, Nairobi.
Robinson, T.P. (1992) Remote sensing and Geographic Information systems (GIS) for determining the seasonal
distribution of habitats of migrant insects. Proceedings of the XIX International Congress of Entomology.
Beijing , China, June 28 to July 4, 1992.