Nigel Halford's Biography

Nigel Halford, Programme Leader, Rothamsted Research

Professor Nigel Halford is a Research Leader at Rothamsted Research, the UK’s oldest crop and agricultural research centre. Professor Halford obtained his first degree from the University of Liverpool in 1983 and a Masters degree from University College London in 1984. He studied the genes encoding a family of wheat seed proteins for his PhD while at Rothamsted in the 1980s, then spent 11 years at Long Ashton Research Station near Bristol before returning to Rothamsted in 2002. He is the author of more than 100 scientific papers and has written or edited books on ‘Genetically Modified Crops’, ‘Plant Biotechnology’ and ‘Energy Crops’. His work concerns the genetics of metabolic regulation in crop plants, how plant metabolism is affected by environmental stresses such as heat and drought and how it can be manipulated to improve crop yield and food safety. Professor Halford is a Visiting Professor at Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Special Professor at the University of Nottingham.