Dr Ansa van Vuuren obtained her post graduate qualifications from the University of the Free State in Plant Breeding and a Senior Management qualification from the University of Pretoria. She has expansive practical experience in a wide variety of crops and in various scientific disciplines that includes conventional plant breeding, crop protection, conducting field trials and development of research protocols.

Her management experience includes the operational management of a tissue culture laboratory, managing plant breeding and research teams and more recently the management of the campus for Plant Health and Protection at the Agricultural Research Council for 8 years. She has served on various advisory and steering committees relating to strategic research infrastructure development governmental initiatives and was appointed as Managing Director for the Potato Certification Service of South Africa in 2024.