Helen Hambly

Education 

• BA University of Toronto
• MES York University
• PhD York University

Bio Summary 

Dr. Hambly joined SEDRD - Capacity Development and Extension in August 2003. She has more than 30+ years of experience in international agricultural research and development programs in Africa, North Africa and Latin America. She came to the University of Guelph after 8 years as a research and training officer with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Dr. Hambly has also worked with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the non-governmental sector in Canada.

Dr. Hambly's current work primarily focuses on knowledge mobilization, information technology and telecommunications in agricultural innovation systems. She is engaged with the assessment of a major AI-enabled capacity development and extension project in Canada known as WELL-E. Since 2006, she is the project leader for the Regional and Rural Broadband project advocating for a national agricultural broadband strategy. Dr. Hambly is regularly engaged in various analyses of agricultural knowledge transitions. Dr. Hambly designed and implemented research on a wide range of communication, media and intellectual asset projects in agriculture. Her publications often focus on capacity strengthening to address socio-technical issues in agricultural research and innovation.

Dr. Hambly has extensive experience in governance structures including serving as Chair of the International Potato Center (CIP), and previously, as the Chair of the Independent Steering Committee of the RTB CGIAR Research Program. In the area of agricultural communication, she was the Vice-President of Farm Radio International and Vice-Chair of Journalists for Human Rights.