About

CABI’s science centre at Egham was established in 1992, but 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 thousands of farmers in countries across the world. Much of the team’s current work is for national government departments, in particular Defra and DfID.

The centre 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 70 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 75 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, poly tunnels and two level 2 quarantine suites with eight climate controlled chambers, mean 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 sales and deposit, environmental and industrial investigation, 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 28,000 living micro-organisms.

The centre collaborates extensively with both public and private sector organizations, NGOs, universities, governments and many more, in order to work in the most effective and sustainable way.