Tim was appointed as Technical Manager for Seed Certification in March 2019. He has responsibility for all species but with an emphasis on Herbage, Oilseeds and Pulses.
Tim joined NIAB in March 2018 as a Technician in DUS testing and seed certification. Prior to that Tim had more than 30 years’ experience in the agricultural industry and studied Agriculture at Harper Adams Agricultural Collage.
James is a group leader working on trait genetics at NIAB. After completing a PhD and post-doctoral position at the John Innes Center, he has worked at NIAB as a Programme Leader since 2013. His research focuses on the application of plant molecular genetics, genomics, to investigate the genetic control of yield, yield components, disease resistance and quality traits in cereal crops, with particular focus on wheat and multi-founder advanced generation inter-cross (MAGIC) populations.
Crop improvement, host-pathogen interactions, pathogenomics and the evolution of virulence, downy mildew species
Panacea: Pathogenomics for Enhancing Food Security in Africa; Duration: August 2018-December 2019; Partners: NIAB (lead), National Crop Resources Research Institute, Uganda; Funding: BBSRC-GCRF
(CP184) Downy mildew and Late blight Control: Duration: January 2019-December 2021; Partners: NIAB, JHI (Lead), ADAS, Stockbridge Technology Centre, UoWorcester; Funding: AHDB
Matt works as part of the transformation team at NIAB and is interested in all things related to plant nutrition. This includes how elements are taken up from the soil, how they are sensed and finally transported through the plant to help create the wide variety of phenotypes important to agriculture today.
Sandra is responsible for the delivery of large scale pathology field trials and specialised glasshouse and growth room tests. Trials are designed to test the performance of varieties in relation to disease resistance. She works with fungi, bacteria viruses and some nematodes, and the data obtained feeds into National and Recommended List resistance ratings. She also works with the agrochemical industry providing tests for product efficacy using a range of techniques to create infection and provide data for registration.
Host-pathogen interactions, pathogenomics
Title: Panacea: Pathogenomics for enhancing food security in Africa
Duration: August 2018-September 2019
Partners: NIAB (lead), National Crop Resources Research Institute, Uganda
Funding: BBSRC-GCRF
Title: (CP184) Downy mildew and late blight control
Duration: January 2019-December 2021
Partners: NIAB, JHI (Lead), ADAS, Stockbridge Technology Centre, UoWorcester
Funding: AHDB
I am interested in understanding how plants integrate and respond to different environmental conditions such as nutrient availability and the presence of neighbour (e.g. blackgrass). My research aims to provide useful information for the development of crop varieties that can produce high yield with lower herbicide and fertiliser inputs.
Emma leads the Crop Transformation Group at NIAB and is responsible for the development and progression of both academic research projects and contract services for external customers. Our main focus is the transformation of wheat, where we have expanded the range of germplasm which can be utilised to include UK elite varieties and durum wheats.
Dr Richard Harrison was appointed as the Director of Cambridge Crop Research in May 2019.
Robert works as part of the phenotyping group within the Genetics and Pre-breeding department at NIAB. Robert obtained a PhD. in molecular biology and phenotyping from the University of Nottingham and Rothamsted Research. Following his PhD Robert worked for a year as part of Malcolm Hawkesford’s group at Rothamsted focusing on remote sensing methods to analyse grain quality and the nitrogen content of milled wheat grain and straw.
