Genebank Leaders
Genebank Leaders
Dave Ellis, Ph.D
Head of Genebank, Program Leader, Conserving Biodiversity for the Future
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.
With a PhD in Botany from the University of Montana, USA, Dave’s research interests have spanned plant development, medicinal compounds in plants (taxol), plant molecular biology (modification of plant cell walls, control of plant reproduction, genomics), plant and insect ecology, cryobiology and conservation of plant genetic resources and diversity. His expertise in heading programs for the conservation of plant and microbial genetic resources and running genebanks brought him to CIP in 2012.
Noelle A. Barkley, Ph.D
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.
With a PhD in Botany from the University of Montana, USA, Dave’s research interests have spanned plant development, medicinal compounds in plants (taxol), plant molecular biology (modification of plant cell walls, control of plant reproduction, genomics), plant and insect ecology, cryobiology and conservation of plant genetic resources and diversity. His expertise in heading programs for the conservation of plant and microbial genetic resources and running genebanks brought him to CIP in 2012.
Genebank Management
Nataly E. Franco
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Backing up of accessions in two places is one of the performance indicators used by the Global Crop Diversity Trust for assessing quality standards for the genebank CRP. The purpose of safety duplication is to maintain a copy of each accession in the same condition and form as the active collection at secondary sites so that if something were to cause a disruption of operations at the primary site, the collections are not in jeopardy. CIP collections are now backed-up in Huancayo (Perú) for a national back-up and internationally at EMBRAPA-Brazil (in vitro potato), CIAT-Colombia ( in vitro sweetpotato) and Svalbard-Norway (seed accessions) to protect the global in trust collections held at CIP from epidemics, disasters, social unrest or wars that might irreplaceably wipe out these collections. Actually, we storage 97% of CIP’ collection at Huancayo-Perú, 95% of Potato collection is backed-up at EMBRAPA-Brazil and 7388 accession backed up in Svalbard.
Rosario Falcon Meza
Acquisition and Distribution Specialist
Rosario Falcon Meza, biologist with an experience in the areas of Plant Physiology, Potato seed production, transfer of technology in potato seed. Since 2008, is a Quality Manager for the ISO/IEC 17025 accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), also is in charge as specialist in Acquisition and Distribution of CIP Germplasm with 6 years of experience on this area.
The duties at the office include the documentation needed for the acquisition and distribution of genetic resources maintenance at CIP. These activities need to cover the national and international requirements as availability of the germplasm, important permit and phytosanitary certificates.
Noelle A. Barkley, Ph.D
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.
Noelle A. Barkley, Ph.D
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.
Noelle A. Barkley, Ph.D
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.
Noelle A. Barkley, Ph.D
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.
Noelle A. Barkley, Ph.D
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.
Noelle A. Barkley, Ph.D
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.
Noelle A. Barkley, Ph.D
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.
Noelle A. Barkley, Ph.D
Manager of Genetic Resources Conservation
Dr. David Ellis has been involved in the preservation of plant genetic resources for decades, with experience in academia, private industry and the public sector. Dave is currently charged with overseeing the maintenance of the global in-trust collections of potato, sweetpotato and Andean root and tuber crops in the CIP Genebank, in Lima, Peru.