Dr
Bas Bouman, currently Head of the Crop and Environmental Sciences
Division at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), has been named
Director of the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP)—the CGIAR research
program for rice—effective 1 September 2012.
GRiSP
streamlines current rice research for development activities of CGIAR and
aligns them with more than 900 rice research and development partners
worldwide. It operates under the overall leadership of IRRI, which also
oversees the activities in Asia.
The
Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) is leading the GRiSP work in Africa and the
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in the Latin America &
Caribbean region. The Agricultural Research Centre for InternationalDevelopment (CIRAD), the
Research Institute for Development (IRD) and the Japan International ResearchCenter for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) are playing a strategic role in
GRiSP.
Dr
Bouman was selected through an open, competitive recruitment process that
included an extensive global search. He has a strong background in agricultural
research for development, a proven record of strategic thinking and research
leadership, and demonstrated experience in managing interdisciplinary teams and
large research programs.
Dr
Bouman will take over from Dr Achim Dobermann, who has held the role of GRiSP
Director since GRiSP was launched in November 2010, in addition to being IRRI's
Deputy Director General for Research.
