Board of Directors

Julia Sibiya

University of KwaZulu-Natal 238 Mazisi Kunene Rd, Glenwood, Durban, 4041, South Africa

Julia Sibiya is an Associate Professor of Plant Breeding in the School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences (SAEES), University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and Academic Leader for the Production Sciences Cluster (Agricultural Plant Sciences, Plant Pathology and Animal Science). She is one of the founding members of the African Plant Breeders Association (APBA) where she currently serves as the Vice President. She is also an ex-officio member of the working group on Plant Genetic Resources Management (PGRM-WG) of the African Seed and Biotechnology Partnership Platform (African Union).

Juliahas coordinated many projects in plant breeding including management of the Improved MSc in Cultivar Development for Africa (IMCDA), funded by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which focused on training industry-ready,middle level,graduates from Africa jointly with Iowa State University (ISU) (Plant Breeding E-Learning in Africa (PBEA)), Makerere University (Uganda) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana).

She is also the local coordinator of the EU-funded Mobreed (Mobility for Breeders in Africa) under the Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme in partnership with 4 other African Universities and Montpellier SupAgro in France; focusing on enhancing training andresearch mobility for underutilized crops breeding in Africa. She is an alumnus of the African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) in South Africa, and the UC Davis African Plant Breeding Academy. Julia holds a BSc. Honours Crop Science, University of Zimbabwe; M.S (Plant Pathology), The Ohio State University and PhD (Plant Breeding), University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

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