James Carrington

James Carrington is President of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and leads the Center in delivering on its mission is to improve the human condition through plant science. With nearly 250 employees, the Danforth Center is the largest independent plant science institute in the world.Since joining the Danforth Center in 2011, Jim has focused the Center’s scientific enterprise around high technology, big data, and computation for the purpose of addressing the needs to feed and power a growing, changing world, while also preserving the environment and vital natural resources. Through attracting interactive teams of scientists and development of unique platforms to discover underlying principles about how plants work, the Danforth Center under Jim’s leadership aims to develop more productive, sustainable crops, and to partner with organizations that are best positioned to solve problems where they exist around the world.Jim is one of the most highly cited plant scientists in the world. He is recognized for his research on gene silencing, small RNA, and virus-host interactions. His work in the small RNA field has focused on mechanisms through which plants and other organisms use non-coding RNA to control growth and development and to defend against viruses. He is applying this knowledge to improve productivity of food security crops.