JBS Haldane Lecture 2024 Prof Alison Bentley

The Genetics Society is delighted to announce Prof Alison Bentley as the winner of the 2024 JBS Haldane award.

Alison Bentley is an applied crop scientist working in genetics and plant breeding spanning fundamental understanding of plant processes through to the development of field- and farm-level decision support tools. She primarily worked on wheat as a major staple food crop in a range of research environments in Australia, the UK and Mexico. Most recently Alison was Director of the Global Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico and prior to that Director of Genetics and Breeding at NIAB in Cambridge, UK. She is currently a Bayer Visiting School in the Plant Breeding Center at The University of Minnesota, USA. In the wider community, she created and leads the Women in Crop Science network (www.womenincropscience.org), developed to boost connections, increase visibility, and foster greater gender equity. Alison strongly believes in the importance of speaking up to highlight the urgency of addressing global food security challenges, and in creating more inclusive and equitable working environments.