Ottoline Leyser

Ottoline Leyser is Professor of Plant Development and Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Her research uses the control of shoot branching in Arabidopsis. 

She has a long-term interest in inclusiveness and engagement in science. This includes ongoing work on understanding research culture, which started with a project she chaired for the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. She is actively engaged in science policy. For example, she currently chairs the Royal Society’s Science Policy Expert Advisory Committee and serves on the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology.

In 2017 she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to plant science, science in society and equality and diversity in science.