Dr Alison Bentley

Dr Alison Bentley is the Deputy Director (Science) in CSIRO Agriculture and Food, based at Black Mountain in Canberra, Australia. Prior to taking on the Deputy Director role, Alison was Deputy Director of the Agrifood Innovation Institute and a Research Group Leader at the Australian National University. Her scientific background is in genetics and plant breeding spanning fundamental understanding of plant processes through to the development of field- and farm-level decision support tools. She has primarily worked on major staple cereal grain crops and has experience in a range of research environments in Australia, the UK and Mexico.

Prior to her return to Australia in 2024, Alison was Director of the Global Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico and prior to that Director of Genetics and Breeding at NIAB in Cambridge, UK focused on translation of fundamental scientific breakthroughs into tangible impacts for the agrifood sector. In 2023 she was a Bayer Visiting School in the Plant Breeding Center at The University of Minnesota, USA. She has a doctorate in agricultural science and PhD in agriculture from The University of Sydney, Australia.

In the wider community, she created and leads the Women in Crop Science network, developed to boost connections, increase visibility, and foster greater gender equity. She strongly believes in the importance of speaking up to highlight the urgency of addressing global food security challenges, and in creating more inclusive and equitable working environments. She has been awarded the 2023 Borlaug CAST Communication Award and the 2024 Genetics Society JBS Haldane Medal. She is part of the 2025-26 cohort of Superstars of STEM.