Meet the Team
About Charles
Charles is the manager of Barn4 and leads day-to-day member engagement. He has worked at NIAB for over 10 years and has experience across a range of NIAB’s activities.
Charles started life at NIAB on the trials team, and more recently he has become a member of the NIAB Ventures team, as well as led NIAB’s digital modelling activities. As a part of the model development activity, Charles has transitioned a number of NIAB’s crop management models into automated digital formats.
About Alex
Alex's role within NIAB is split between the Ventures Team where she assists with analysing new business opportunities and supporting Barn4, as well as collaborating with the agronomy team on regenerative agriculture projects.
Alex has a BSc (Hons) in Geography (1st Class) and a master's degree (distinction) in Environment and Development from Lancaster University. She is currently on the MDS Graduate Scheme working towards her Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification, Operations and Departmental Manager, accredited by the Chartered Management Institute.
About Michael
Within Michael’s role as NIAB Director of Commercialisation, he helps to lead the development of Barn4, and he manages much of NIAB’s SME engagement. A key part of his role is to develop revenue streams based on the research and intellectual property emerging from within NIAB.
Michael is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, with C-suite experience across a range of sectors including law, engineering, agrochemicals, medical systems, software and infrastructure technology. His focus has been working on fast-growing tech-firms, where he uses strong strategic and commercial instincts, backed-up by a solid technical background.
Michael has a PhD in Physics from Cambridge University and an MBA from HEC Paris.
About Juno
Juno currently provides leadership for NIAB’s innovation and commercialisation activities – including Barn4 – as Director of NIAB ventures. She has over 20 years of experience leading and managing applied research, technical services, knowledge exchange and product development for agri-business. Juno also serves on the Advisory Board of the British Crop Production Council and on the Executive Management Team of Agrimetrics – the UK Agri-Tech Centre for data science, analytics, and modelling in the agrifood sector.
Juno has a first degree in plant biology and a PhD from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. She also has an MBA from the Open University Business School and is a 2003 Nuffield Farming Scholar (UK wheat breeding and supply chains).
