top of page

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.

Charles Gentry 2_edited.jpg
Charles Gentry
Barn4 Manager & NIAB Digital Account Manager
About Tadd

Tadd's role within NIAB is assistant Barn4 manager and New Business Analyst. He supports the Ventures Team with discovering new business opportunities and day-to-day Barn4 management and engagement.

​

Tadd has a BSc (Hons) in Applied Farm Management and a Master's degree in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Policy from the Royal Agricultural University. He is currently on the MDS Graduate Scheme working towards his Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification, Operations and Departmental Manager, accredited by the Chartered Management Institute.

Tadd.jpg
Tadd Robson
Assistant Barn4 Manager
& New business analyst 
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. 

MJG-photo.jpg
Michael Gifford
NIAB Director of Commercialisation
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). 

Juno McKee.JPG
Juno McKee
Director of NIAB Ventures
bottom of page