Biography

Bettina Heider is a Genetic Resources Specialist at the International Potato Center (CIP) based in Lima, Peru. Bettina holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Science from the University of Hohenheim, Germany. With over twenty-five years of experience, Bettina has been committed to improving food security and livelihoods of smallholder farmers by investigating more sustainable and climate-resilient farming practices, leveraging plant and socio-cultural diversity in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. She leads the “Uses” work package of the Genebank Initiative, focusing on enhancing the accessibility and utilization of genebank collections and their associated data. Her current research focuses on genetic resources conservation, trait discovery, seed systems, climate change adaptation, and data management.