Plant Genetic Conservation

Nigel Maxted is Professor of Plant Genetic Conservation in the School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK. He works on conservation planning and implementation, and has published over 350 scientific papers and book chapters and twenty-four books. He is Chair of the IUCN SSC Crop Wild Relative Specialist Group, UK Plant Genetic Resources Committee, and European Cooperative Programme for PGR In Situ Working Group. He is also the International Scientific Advisor for Bioversity International. Danny Hunter is Senior Scientist at Bioversity International, Rome, Italy. He works on conservation and sustainable use of crop and tree genetic resources and their role in linking sustainable agriculture, environment, health and nutrition. He has twenty-five years' experience working with partners and family farmers in over thirty countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, South and South East Asia, Central Asia and the Pacific. Rodomiro Ortiz is Chair Professor of Genetics and Plant Breeding at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Alnarp, Sweden. He has written over 800 publications and was the leader of a multidisciplinary team working on a plantain and banana improvement project that CGIAR awarded the 1994 King Baudouin Award to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for. He was also Co-Principal Investigator for a SLU/ICARDA-led project that won the 2017 Olam Prize for Innovation in Food Security.