Tina Barsby was appointed Honorary Professor of Agricultural Botany in October 2021.

She has extensive scientific experience in biotechnology and crop development, especially in wheat and oilseed rape. She is internationally recognised for scientific achievements in plant biology and has experience of operating in a global private sector organization. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. She is familiar with fiscal and financial procedures, and is experienced in HR, site management and project management.

She was Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), Cambridge between 2008 and 2021. NIAB is a pioneering plant science organisation that is based at the heart of the Cambridge science, technology and university communities and the UK agricultural industry. Tina has significant experience in the agricultural crop sector, having worked for the French farmer-owned Group Limagrain for 18 years prior to her time at NIAB.

Tina has a first degree in Agricultural Botany from the University of Wales at Bangor, and a PhD from the University of Nottingham. She spent a postdoctoral period at Kansas State University, and worked at Allelix Inc, Ontario, Canada for several years before returning to the UK in 1989.

She was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year Honours List for services to agricultural science and biotechnology.