Before he began his academic career, Invited Assistant Professor Dr. Mark Gibson worked in the food and beverage industry for more than 20 years in various roles including: chef, consultancy and as a front of house manager. After so many years in the industry Mark had a change of direction and undertook both his Master's and his Ph.D. in Food Management, Environmental Sustainability and Food Security at Manchester Metropolitan University (United Kingdom). He is currently employed at the Institute for Tourism Studies in Macao, SAR, China. In his role as programme Coordinator Dr. Gibson lectures students in areas of food production and preparation in the Institute's popular Culinary Arts Management degree programme.

Simultaneously, Dr. Gibson and his team continue to develop two new post-graduate Master's degrees; one in Food and Beverage Management, the other in Gastronomy. His work also expands into research surround food, security and gastronomy issues. Mark also sits on several academic bodies from the CTC through to the Pedagogic council as well as the coordinator's panel. Some notable publications include several books, papers and articles about food and the many surrounding issues. As well as writing books and articles, Dr. Gibson is also an associate editor and reviewer for several food-related journals. He also helped with 'Foodsource'.

A research and policy unit based in the Social Sciences Division of the University of Oxford, Environmental Change Institute. Amid all this Mark continues to write books on the broad subjects of food and food related material whilst acting on an ad-hoc basis as a consultant for the United Nations.