Fair Trade Nation Lecture 2021 Slavery and Fair Trade From unfair to fair trade: Exploring Scotland’s trading past, present and future. Sign up for this event About the speaker Geoff Palmer was born in Jamaica. He came to London as an immigrant in 1955. After various difficulties, he worked and attended evening classes to improve his qualifications. He subsequently entered Leicester, Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Universities where he gained BSc, PhD and DSc degrees respectively. He worked at the Brewing Research Foundation on cereals and malted barley. He invented the barley abrasion process, pioneered the use of the Scanning Electron Microscope in the study of cereals in malting and was the first European to receive the American Society of Brewing Chemists award for research. Professor Palmer was also involved in the setting up of the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University. He has visited Africa and Asia to help with the development of the sorghum crop. Sir Geoff is the author of many scientific papers and has published books on grain science and the history of slavery in the West Indies. He serves on the boards of various charitable organisations. He is the Freeman of Midlothian and the Honorary Consul of Jamaica in Scotland. Professor Palmer was awarded the OBE in 2003 and a Knighthood in 2014 for his contributions to science, charity and human rights. Recently, Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Government and the University of Edinburgh have invited Sir Geoff to chair committees dealing with slavery, colonialism and race. He has also worked with Glasgow and Heriot-Watt Universities on similar subjects. The Scottish Fair Trade Forum www.scottishfairtradeforum.org.uk Tel: 0141 353 5611 Email: [email protected] Registered Scottish Charity: SCO39883 Registered company: SC337384 .