Staff

Prof Ji Zhou (周济) is Head of the Data Sciences Department at NIAB. He is an expert in multi-scale plant and crop phenotyping, computer vision (CV) based trait analysis, IoT sensing, and artificial intelligence (AI) modelling. By combining phenotyping, genotyping and environmental data, Ji and his group are developing open-source hardware and software to address yield, quality, and disease related challenges for UK’s key agricultural and horticultural crops such as wheat, Brassica, strawberry, and orchard fruits.

Responsibilities

Michael joined NIAB as Director of Commercialisation in March 2019. His role is to develop revenue streams based on the research and intellectual property being developed within NIAB. Within this he manages much of the SME engagement, is active in developing spin-out opportunities and is leading the development of Barn4, a new agri-tech incubator on NIAB’s campus in Cambridge.

Vanessa joined NIAB in May 2019 as the Technical Manager responsible for DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability) Testing of Cereals (barley, oats and wheat) on behalf of APHA for National Listing (NL) and Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR).

Vanessa has a background in plant pathology and, prior to joining NIAB, her main research focus was the development of genetic strategies for the control of foliar and root diseases in wheat.

Responsibilities

Alex Talibudeen is the Technical Manager responsible for DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability) Testing of Winter Oilseed Rape, Fodder Rape, Field Bean, and Fodder Kale on behalf of APHA for National Listing (NL) and Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR).

Alex Joined NIAB in July 2010 and has since been involved with the delivery of Agricultural and Ornamental species DUS testing and Seed Certification. During this time, Alex has also specialised in the use of image analysis phenotyping for DUS purposes.

Tim joined NIAB in March 2018, with more than 30 years’ experience in the agricultural industry, and was appointed as Technical Manager for Seed Certification in March 2019. He has responsibility for administration, control plots and seed crop inspections for all agricultural crop species. He also manages certification under the OECD seed schemes in England and Wales.

Research interests

Michelle specialises in the minimisation of pesticide use in fruit horticulture, improving pollination in fruit crops and incorporating modern fruit growing practices with Integrated Pest Management. The former includes research on improving pest monitoring by developing semiochemical manipulation of insects, optimising the use of biological control agents and enhancing and fostering local landscape ecology to provide the ecosystem service of pest control.

Part of the communications team based in Cambridge, Kevin manages NIAB's social media channels, multi-media output, including videos and photography, and manages the content for NIAB's websites. He also writes and edits marketing marterials and can often be found at helping at NIAB's events.

Having worked in the scientific charity sector for 15 years, his experience covers copywiting and editing for both digital platforms and print, digital content production and science communications.

Research interests

James is a Group Leader working on trait genetics at NIAB. After completing a PhD and post-doctoral position at the John Innes Centre, he has worked at NIAB as a Group 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.