Ian Edwards

Ian Edwards is Chairman of the AgBio Advisory Group in AusBiotech, Australia’s biotechnology organisation. He is currently Managing Director of Edstar Genetics Pty Ltd., and is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia.

He obtained his BSc (Hons) and MSc degrees from the University of London, and his PhD degree from North Dakota State University (NDSU) in 1973. He was made a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America in 1994, and in 2003 he was awarded the Doctor of Science degree from NDSU for his contributions to genetic research, including the development of spring wheat varieties that occupied a major portion of the US Spring wheat acreage in the early to mid- 1990’s.

During his 40-year career he has participated in the development of 28 wheat cultivars, and he received the NDSU Alumni Achievement Award in 2000. Dr Edwards moved to Perth in 1998 to establish Grain Biotech Australia (a wheat breeding and biotechnology company) after 22 years with Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc in Des Moines, Iowa, where he was Worldwide Director of Field Crops Research. He served on the Commonwealth Government Biotechnology Consultative Group (BIOCOG-1999/2000) and is currently a director of two Perth-based biotech start-up companies.