New Year Honour for University of Lincoln professor

Professor Simon Pearson, founding Director of the University of Lincoln’s Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT), has been awarded an MBE in the 2026 New Year Honours for services to Agricultural Innovation and Education.

Nominated by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Professor Pearson receives the honour in recognition of his work in agri-tech research, innovation and sustainability in UK farming.

Established in 2016 at the university’s Riseholme Campus, LIAT’s working farm and specialist facilities bring together experts in artificial intelligence, robotics, engineering, crop science, environmental sustainability, food manufacturing, and supply chains.

Under Professor Pearson’s leadership, LIAT has become one of the UK’s leading centres for agri-food research and innovation and a national exemplar for how universities can support productivity and resilience in agriculture.

The Institute was central to the University of Lincoln being awarded the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2023 - the highest national honour in UK higher education - for work supporting the success and sustainability of the UK’s food and farming industries.

Professor Pearson has overseen a series of landmark achievements in recent years which have strengthened the University’s and the region’s standing in agricultural innovation. 

These include opening a £2.2 million Glasshouse R&D facility powered by ground source heating to support climate-smart food production, and securing £5 million from UK Research and Innovation to develop a globally recognised agri-tech innovation cluster with the Universities of Cambridge and East Anglia. He also led the UK Government’s Independent Review of Automation and Robotics in Horticulture, which provided key recommendations to support sector-wide innovation as part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy. The plan cited Lincoln and LIAT as a “leading agri-tech innovation institution”.

LIAT and the University also recently won a national Green Gown Award for the Reverse Coal project - an innovative collaboration with colleagues from the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Pollybell Farm in South Yorkshire - which sees a complete reversal of the traditional approach to fossil fuels, using nature and technology together to remove carbon from the atmosphere instead of releasing it.

Professor Pearson said: “I am extremely grateful and proud to win this award. My journey started in Lincolnshire as the son of a farming family and continues at the University of Lincoln. The agricultural industry is, and has always been, driven by innovation. 

“We are now trying to accelerate this by bringing to bear science from at least 50 different disciplines, creating new technologies for the next generation of farmers, not least robotics and the use of artificial intelligence. I hope these technologies benefit not only famers but also consumers and help underpin food security for all.”

Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln, Professor Neal Juster, added: “Simon’s leadership and vision have transformed the role our university plays in the future of food and farming in the UK. This MBE reflects not just his individual excellence but our shared ambition to make Lincolnshire a national hub for agri-food innovation.

“Simon’s work exemplifies the impact of world-class research applied in partnership with industry, government and our communities and we are delighted and proud to see him rewarded with this well-deserved honour.”

The university has launched Robocrops, a new YouTube series that showcases how Simon and the team at LIAT are using automation, robotics, and AI to transform the way the food is growm, harvested, and sustained. The first episode is available to watch here.