About

CABI’s centre at Silwood Park, Imperial’s ecology campus in Berkshire near Ascot, was established in 2025 following a move from CABI’s previous centre in Egham. However, CABI has had a scientific base in the UK since its very beginning. Over the years, its work has supported hundreds of CABI projects and reached hundreds of thousands of farmers in countries across the world. Much of the team’s work is for national government departments, in particular Defra and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

The centre, managed by Dr Julien Godwin, CABI’s Regional Director for the UK, operates across the globe providing support on a range of topics, including invasive species, pests and diseases, knowledge management and commodities. Its scope is extensive – it carries out around 100 projects each year, which range from working to identify nematodes that are new to science in Chile, to seeking natural enemies for Europe and North America’s most invasive weeds.

With over 50 staff, a growing team of scientists carries out applied scientific research to find safe and sustainable solutions to problems in agriculture and the environment. An array of labs, glasshouses, polytunnels and two level 2 quarantine suites with ten climate-controlled chambers, means the centre is perfectly equipped to work with almost any organism in the world, in ideal conditions.

The centre is also home to CABI’s Microbial services team. The team’s specialist staff provide microbial expertise, with particular emphasis on agricultural and biotechnological applications. Services provided include microbial identification, culture supply and deposit, diagnostic and advisory service, contract research and provision of publications and training. The team’s work is supported by the Genetic Resource collection on site, which holds cultures of over 30,000 living micro-organisms.

The centre collaborates extensively with both public and private sector organizations, NGOs, universities, governments and many more.

Corporate office

CABI’s corporate office is home to over 100 staff working in Publishing, Sales and Customer Service, IT, Marketing, Finance, Project Development and Digital Development.