Jason Barnes is from the College of Science and Engineering and is one of the recipients for the 2025 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence and was supervised by Professor Kirstin Ross, Professor Harriet Whiley and Professor Jim Smith.
Jason’s thesis was titled “Food safety inspection: A treatise”
We invited Jason to share insights to what his research was about, what winning the award means and advice to current students.
What is your research about?
The impact of foodborne illness is a significant challenge for global public health. It is responsible for a substantial loss of lives and livelihoods. Food safety inspections are a key health protection measure employed by governments worldwide to reduce the impact of foodborne illness. Despite the prevalent application of food safety inspections in the regulation of food businesses, there are significant gaps in the understanding of food safety inspection practices, leaving health protection systems vulnerable and subject to assumption and uncertainty. This research bridges these gaps in understanding by defining food safety inspection, capturing a detailed description of current practices, and examining their effectiveness. This newly established knowledge was then used to develop a robust, evidence informed model to guide and strengthen inspection practices. This work is significant as it provides vital guidance to food safety regulators and will assist them to save lives and livelihoods.
What does winning this award mean?
I am deeply humbled to receive this award; however, this award is not my award. It belongs to the community around me who supported and contributed to the research. This award provides an opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable guidance and support I have received from my supervisors and my family. It also recognises the generous contributions of research participants and the partners organisations who facilitated this participation along with the dissemination of findings. I am proud to share this success with everyone who has been a part of the research journey and made this thesis possible
What led you to undertake a PhD? What inspired or motivated you?
In my former role as Coordinator of Environmental Health in a local government, I came to realise the distinct need for research and evidence to inform the regulatory practices that my staff and I would undertake every day. While environmental health practitioners are supported with a healthy body of literature on toxicological profiles and exposure measurement, there is very little evidence informed guidance available to environmental health practitioners on how to best perform their roles to protect public health. A PhD was my opportunity to take the first steps in bridging this gap in knowledge, start a conversation about the value of this type of research amongst the environmental health community, and contribute to overcoming the divide that has emerged in our industry between practitioners and academia
What was the topic of your PhD and why is it important to you?
Foodborne illness is a leading cause of death and disability globally and correspondingly, food safety inspections form a major component of the role of environmental health practitioners. This made food safety inspection practices a prime subject to examine and build practice guidance because it was likely to yield the greatest impact and value for both the regulatory industry and the wider global community.
What has been one of the most enjoyable parts of the journey?
I have really enjoyed my PhD journey. It has provided me with a continuous source of intellectual stimulus and opportunity for learning and discovery about the world and myself. It has allowed me to feel like I am making a small but meaningful contribution to society and it has helped me develop some important personal and professional skills.
What has been one of the hardest parts of the journey?
When I began my PhD, I was warned that it can be a very lonely path to follow. I am ever grateful to my family for their enduring support throughout my studies, with a special thanks to my beautiful border collie Tilly for her companionship. Tilly sat beside me for the hundred of hours it took to complete my research and was sure to take me for a walk when I needed to restore clarity of mind.
What advice would you give to current or prospective PhD students?
I hope anyone considering a PhD realises that it can be a really enjoyable and rewarding challenge. There are lots of horror stories of PhDs gone wrong that can be rather discouraging and while the risk of this happening cannot be eliminated, some careful thought and proactive measures can help reduce the risk of this becoming your experience. Look around to find the right model and provider that best meets your needs, find supervisors that can give you the support you need, think deeply and think often about the architecture of your research, and be stubborn. If there’s something I’ve learnt about a PhD is that while some of it is about intellect, most of it is about getting back up when you stumble, working for progress not perfection, and remembering the best way out of hard times is hard work.