# Tina Barsby

Tina Lorraine Barsby is a plant geneticist working in the UK. She primarily works in the agriculture sector and is currently the CEO of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB). Her most notable work has been in global food security. She was appointed an OBE in the 2018 New Year Honours List for services to agricultural science and biotechnology.

## Education

Barsby achieved a first degree in Agricultural Botany at the University of Wales, Bangor. She then completed a PhD at the University of Nottingham and spent a post-doctoral period at Kansas State University.

## Work

After her post-doctoral period at Kansas State University, Barsby worked at the biopharmaceutical company Allelix Inc, Ontario, Canada for several years before returning to the UK in 1989.
She joined the seed company Nickerson UK (now part of the Groupe Limagrain) where she remained for 18 years doing academic work along with her commercial research, until joining NIAB in 2006. Barsby was appointed Chief Executive and Director of NIAB in September 2008, becoming the first female Chief Executive in the institute's 90-year history.
Barsby was the principal investigator for the BBSRC-funded Cambridge-India network for translational research in nitrogen, and co-investigator for a research project examining grass peas and their potential for sustainable sustenance for stressful environments. She has also coordinated work to develop "superwheat" and other new crops and methods of farming, with environmental impact a particular focus.

## OBE

Barsby was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours List for services to UK Agricultural Science and Biotechnology, and was praised for her scientific achievements. On receiving this award, she stated:
   “I think this honour only serves to underline the importance of this national initiative to ensure good standards of production across the UK supply chain from farm to retail shelf.”

## Councils

Barsby is a member of the Agri-Food Technology Council. She has had a long and close association with BBSRC for at least fifteen years, having served as Chair of BBSRC Responsive Mode Committee B, and as a member of the strategic advisory and peer review panels.
In 2018, Barsby was appointed to a Cambridgeshire business board as an advisor on enterprise partnership.

## Sources

* ↑ jg533@cam.ac.uk. "Tina Barsby appointed an OBE in 2018 New Year Honours List — Cambridge Global Food Security". Retrieved 2020-04-28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
* ↑ "Dr Tina Barsby CEO". www.niab.com. National Institute of Agricultural Botany. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
* ↑ Podesta, James. "MP Lucy Frazer gets lowdown on National Institute of Agricultural Botany's expansion plans". Ely Standard. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
* ↑ "Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)". bbsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
* ↑ Hill, Chris. "£16.9m funding boost for new Cambridge Centre for Crop Science (3CS), to be developed by the University of Cambridge and NIAB". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
* ↑ Dean, Lauren (2 January 2018). "Agriculture experts recognised in Queen's New Year Honours list". Farmers Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
* ↑ "3 January 2018 - BBSRC congratulates members of the bioscience community who are recognised in the New Year's Honours list 2018". bbsrc.ukri.org. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
* ↑ Elliott, Chris (29 December 2017). "New Year Honours for Cambridge's own stars". Cambridge News. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
* ↑ Elworthy, John. "Eight men - and one woman - win appointment to newly created Cambridgeshire business board to spearhead growth". Ely Standard. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
* ↑ Grinnell, Paul (10 October 2018). "Engineering leaders from Peterborough are chosen to help power region's growth". www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2019.