Julian Smith

Julian has a career in plant health and external affairs, focused on national biosecurity, crop protection and seed systems. In joining Rothamsted in 2021, he provides leadership on science strategy, alongside engagement with UK and overseas governments, academia, foundations and industry. In obtaining a degree (Agri Bot) and PhD (Rhizobia on faba beans) at Aberystwyth University, Julian joined CAB International (CABI) in 1992, addressing crop losses caused by pests and diseases of developing nations. Spanning the delivery and management of overseas field and laboratory projects, he also managed CABI's UK molecular biology laboratory and led on crop GM biosafety. His early research led to the first contained-use GM crop technology approvals for Kenya and South Africa. Julian’s career has increasingly focused on plant pest risk assessment and biosecurity, and capacity strengthening of African nations. In moving to Fera Science Ltd in 2005, then Central Science Laboratory, he has furthered this cause under numerous initiatives of seed health and transborder trade. He has worked extensively on Banana Xanthomonas Wilt, Cassava Brown Streak Disease, Cassava Mosaic Disease and Maize Lethal Necrosis. In 2015 he authored a position paper on ‘Africa’s preparedness for plant pests and diseases under climate change’ that informed the UNFCCC Paris Climate Change Conference.