Andy sits on the Diagnostics in Bacteriology panel of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO), on behalf of Defra, and has participated on expert working groups for Clavibacter michiganensis and Dickeya/Pectobacterium spp.
He has represented the UK as a national expert on audit missions for the European Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), and is a member of the European Association of Phytobacteriologists. As curator of one of the largest and most comprehensive international collections of plant pathogenic bacteria, the NCPPB, – a founder collection of the United Kingdom Biological Resource Centres Network (UKBRCN) – he has a wide-ranging and detailed knowledge of all significant bacterial diseases of plants and the legislation around them.
Employing his experience and expertise, Andy provides plant bacteriology training to post-graduate students, to bacteriologists overseas, and to the UK Plant Health and Seed Inspectorate.