AERU AGRICULTURE & ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH UNIT
 

Software, website and database development

AERU have been developing software systems for the agricultural and horticultural industries for over two decades and have built up a track record in the production of user-friendly decision support and other tools. Starting with our award winning Environmental Management for Agriculture (EMA) system, which enabled farmers to adopt a scientifically sound approach to environmental management based on ISO 14001, the unit has been at the forefront of allowing farmers, land managers and policy makers to take full advantage of the IT revolution in the day-to-day and longer term strategic decision making activities. The tools and services developed include those used for calculating greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration; ecosystem services; biodiversity impacts; pesticide risk assessments; nutrient management; organic conversion; and energy efficiency.

Skills and services encompass the following:

  • Development of standalone Windows applications (using MS Visual Basic)
  • Development of websites (using static HTML and content management systems)
  • Development of databases (using MS Access) and integration with external databases
  • Development of interactive spreadsheets (MS Excel)

Projects

Publications

  • Tzilivakis, J., Green, A., Warner, D.J and Lewis, K.A. (2020) Identification of approaches and measures in action programmes under Directive 91/676/EEC. Final report. Report prepared for Directorate-General Environment, European Commission, for project ENV.D.1/SER/2018/0017 by the Agriculture and Environment Research Unit (AERU), University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
  • Lewis, K.A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2019). Wild bee toxicity data for pesticide risk assessments. Data, 4(3): 98. DOI
  • Tzilivakis, J., Warner, D.J. & Holland, J.M. (2019). Developing practical techniques for quantitative assessment of ecosystem services on farmland. Ecological Indicators, 106: 105514. DOI
  • Lewis, K.A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2017). Review of the published exposure data to pesticides for residents and bystanders, and for environmental risk assessment: Final report. EFSA supporting publication 2017:EN-1204, 101 pp. DOI
  • Tzilivakis, J. and Warner, D. (2017). Adapting the EFA Calculator software to integrate the outputs from the QuESSA project. Report for EU 7th Framework Programme Project No 311879.
  • Green, A., Lewis, K.A., Tzilivakis, J. & Warner D.J. (2017). Agricultural climate change mitigation: carbon calculators as a guide for decision making. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 15(6): 645-661. DOI
  • Lewis, K. & Tzilivakis, J. (2017). Development of a data set of pesticide dissipation rates in/on various plant matrices for the Pesticide Properties DataBase (PPDB). Data, 2(3), 28. DOI
  • Lewis, K.A., Tzilivakis, J., Warner, D. & Green, A. (2016). An international database for pesticide risk assessments and management. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 22(4): 1050-1064. DOI
  • Tzilivakis, J., Green, A., Lewis, K.A. & Warner, D.J (2014). Identifying integrated options for agricultural climate change mitigation. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 6(2): 192-211. DOI
  • Green, A., Warner, D.J., Tzilivakis, J., & Lewis, K.A. (2014). A Comparison of Carbon Accounting Tools and an Evaluation of Their Potential for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation. In: M. Hassouna & N. Guingand (Eds.), Emission of Gas and Dust from Livestock. (pp. 237-240). RMT Élevage et Environnement, Le Rheu, France.
  • Tzilivakis, J., Lewis, K.A., Green, A., Warner, D.J., Stedman, A. & Naseby, D. (2013). Review of substances/agents that have direct beneficial effect on the environment: Mode of action and assessment of efficacy. EFSA Supporting Publication 2013:EN-440. European Food Safety Authority, Parma, Italy.
  • Lewis, K.A., Tzilivakis, J. & Green, A. (2013). Agricultural carbon calculators - choosing the right one. Presented at 'Producing More for Less', Birmingham, UK, 16-17 January 2013.
  • Lewis, K.A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2013). The Waitrose Pesticide Load Indicator. Waitrose Annual Technical Conference for the Fresh Produce Supply base, 13 November 2013.
  • Tzilivakis, J., Lewis, K., Green, A., Warner, D., Fialkiewicz, W., Olearczyk, D., Bordet, C. & Langevin, B. (2013). Optimal Design of Climate Change Policies Through the EU's Rural Development Policy: Final Report to the European Commission. European Commission, Brussels.
  • Lewis, K.A., Green, A., Warner, D.J. & Tzilivakis, J. (2012). Carbon accounting tools: are they fit for purpose in the context of arable cropping. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 11(2): 159-175. DOI
  • Tzilivakis, J. (2011). The climate change mitigation potential of an EU farm: towards a farm-based integrated assessment. European Commission meeting of agri-environment correspondents, Brussels, Belgium, 18 March 2011.
  • Lewis, K. & Green, A. (2011). The Pesticide Properties DataBase. Chemistry International, 33(3): 30-31.
  • Tzilivakis, J., Lewis, K.A., Green, A. & Warner, D.J. (2011). A Novel Technique for Identifying Environmental Outcomes from Agricultural Practices. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 29(1): 2-10. DOI
  • Tzilivakis, J., Lewis, K.A., Green, A. & Warner, D.J. (2010). The Climate Change Mitigation Potential of an EU Farm: Towards a Farm-Based Integrated Assessment: Final Report for EC Project ENV.B.1/ETU/2009/0052. European Commission, Brussels.
  • Warner, D.J., Lewis, K.A., Tzilivakis, J. & Green, A. (2010). Integrated Management Options for Agricultural Climate Change Mitigation (IMPACCT). Proceedings of ‘The Dundee Conference Crop Protection in Northern Britain 2010’, University of Dundee, 23 – 24 February 2010.
  • Dubus, I., Azimonti, G., Bach, M., Barriuso, E., Bidoglio, G., Bouraoui, F., Centofanti, T., Coquet, Y., Feisel, B., Fialkiewicz, W., Fowler, H., Galimberti, F., Grizzetti, B., Højberg, A., Hollis, J., Jarvis, N., Kajewski, I., Kjær, J., Krasnicki, S., Lewis, K., Lobnik, F., Lolos, P., Moeys, J., Nolan, T., Rasmussen, P., Réal, B., Reichenberger, S., Šinkovec, M., Stenemo, F., Suhadolic, M., Surdyk, N., Tzilivakis, J., Vaudour, T., Avoulidou-Theodorou, E., Windhorst, E. & Wurm, D. (2009). The FOOTPRINT Software Tools: Pesticide Risk Assessment and Management in the EU at different spatial scales. Presented at CEMEPE & SECOTOX June 2009, Mykonos, Greece.
  • Tzilivakis, J., Green, A. & Lewis, K.A. (2009). The FOOT-FS software system: An overview. Presented at the FOOTPRINT Final Conference, Giessen, Germany, 18-19 March 2009.
  • Green, A., Lewis, K.A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2009). Pesticide Properties Database: An overview. Presented at the FOOTPRINT Final Conference, Giessen, Germany, 18-19 March 2009.
  • Lewis, K.A., Green, A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2009). Pesticide Properties Database: Usage and Uptake. Presented at the FOOTPRINT Final Conference, Giessen, Germany, 18-19 March 2009.
  • Lewis, K.A., Green, A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2009). The Pesticide Properties DataBase: Beyond FOOTPRINT. Presented at the FOOTPRINT Final Conference, Giessen, Germany, 18-19 March 2009.
  • Körner, O., Warner, D., Tzilivakis, J., Eveleens, B. and Heuvelink, E. (2008). Decision Support for Optimising Energy Consumption in European Greenhouses. Acta Hort. (ISHS), 801: 803-810
  • Warner, D.J., Tzilivakis, J., Korner, O., Eveleens, B., Heuvelink, E. and Lewis, K.A. (2008) GREENERGY - Energy optimisation in European greenhouses: D16: Core SME greenhouse growers final energy consumption data. European Commission, Brussels.
  • Warner, D.J., Tzilivakis, J., Korner, O., Eveleens, B., Heuvelink, E. and Lewis, K.A. (2008) GREENERGY - Energy optimisation in European greenhouses: D6/D7/D8: Reference Greenhouse, Core Calculation Module and Graphical User Interface for the Energy Auditing Tool (EAT). Final Version. European Commission, Brussels.
  • Warner, D.J., Tzilivakis, J., Korner, O., Eveleens, B., Heuvelink, E. and Lewis, K.A. (2008) GREENERGY - Energy optimisation in European greenhouses: D9: Delivery of the Energy Auditing Tool (EAT). European Commission, Brussels.
  • Tzilivakis, J. & Lewis, K.A. (2007). The Agricultural Document Library (ADLib) and its applications. Proceedings of the European Federation for IT in Agriculture (EFITA) conference 2-5 July 2007, Glasgow.
  • Lewis, K., Green A. & Tzilivakis J. (2007). A Pesticide database holding fate and ecological values. Report DL24 of the FP6 EU-funded FOOTPRINT project, 28p.
  • Tzilivakis, J. & Lewis, K.A. (2007). The Beta version of FOOT-FS. Report DL26 of the FP6 EU-funded FOOTPRINT project, 28p.
  • Lewis, K., Green, A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2007). Development of an improved pesticide properties database for risk assessment applications. EFITA/WCCA Conference Glasgow, July 2007.
  • Green, A., Lewis, K.A., Tzilivakis, J. Dubus, I.G. & Coles, A. (2007). FOOTPRINT - Creating tools for Pesticide Risk Assessment and Management in Europe. Poster presented at Voluntary Initiative Meeting, SCI York.
  • Dubus, I., Azimonti, G., Bach, M., Barriuso, E., Bidoglio, G., Bouraoui, F., Fialkiewicz, W., Fowler, H., François, O., Højberg, A., Hollis, J., Jarvis, N., Kajewski, I., Kjær, J., Lewis, K., Lobnik, F., Lolos, P., Réal, B., Reichenberger, S., Stenemo, F., Suhadolc, M. & Vavoulidou-Theodorou. E. (2006). Developing functional tools for pesticide risk assessment and management at various scales in Europe: the EU project FOOTPRINT. SCI Conference. Pesticide Behaviour in Soils, Water and Air. Warwick.
  • Lewis, K.A. & Green. A. (2004). Managing on-farm environmental impact using EMA. Proceedings of Crop Protection in Northern Britain. 24-25 February 2004, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK. Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Scotland, UK
  • Brown, C.D., Hart, A., Lewis, K.A. & Dubus, I.G. (2003). p-EMA (I): simulating the environmental fate of pesticides for a farm-level risk assessment system. Agronomie 23, 67-74.
  • Hart, A., Brown, C.D., Lewis, K.A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2003). p-EMA (II): evaluating ecological risks of pesticides for a farm-level risk assessment system. Agronomie 23, 75-84.
  • Lewis, K.A., Brown, C.D., Hart, A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2003). p-EMA (III): overview and application of a software system designed to assess the environmental risk of agricultural pesticides. Agronomie 23, 85-96.
  • Padel, S., Tzilivakis, J., Measures, M., Stockdale, E. & Watson, C. (2002). Development of software to plan conversion to organic production (OrgPlan). Proceedings of COR Colloquium of Organic Researchers, Aberystwyth, 26-28 March 2002.
  • Tzilivakis, J. & Lewis, K.A. (2001). The development of software to support planning conversion to organic agriculture. Proceedings of the Third European Conference of the European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment (vol. 1). June 18-20, 2001, Montpellier, France: 119-123.
  • Lewis, K.A. & Tzilivakis, J. (2000). The role of the EMA software in integrated crop management and its commercial uptake. Pest Management Science 56, 969-973.
  • Lewis, K.A. & Bardon, K.S. (1998). A computer based informal environmental management system for agriculture. Journal of Environmental Modelling and Software 13, 123-127.
  • Lewis, K.A., Tzilivakis, J., Skinner, J.A. & Bardon, K.S. (1997). Environmental best practice advisory system for agriculture. EFITA Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 1997.
  • Lewis, K.A., Newbold, M.J. & Bardon, K.S. (1996). A decision support system for environmental management of agriculture: An eco-rating system for pesticide use. Poster Session on Food Sustainability. Conference Proceedings Eco-Informa '96, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, November 1996.
  • Tucker, P., Lewis, K.A. & Skinner, J.A. (1995). Environmental Management in Agriculture: An Expert System Approach. Eco-Management and Auditing Journal 3(1), 9-13.

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