Speakers ABIM 2023

Christiane Abreu de Oliveira Paiva - Researcher, EMBRAPA

Christiane holds a PhD in Plant-Microorganism Interaction from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, a Master's degree in Ecology, Conservation and Management of Wildlife (sub area Microorganism-Plant Interaction) from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (2001) and a degree in Agronomy from the Federal University of Vicosa (1994). She is currently Researcher "A" at Embrapa Maize and Sorghum, in the area of Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry. She was the curator of the Multifunctional Microorganisms Collection at Embrapa Maize and Sorghum for 8 years. She has experience in the area of teaching and management, as an undergraduate teacher (10 years) and master's degree (2014) and as coordinator of the Environmental Engineering course at UniFEMM. Member of CONFERT (Executive Secretariat of the National Council of Fertilizers and Plant Nutrition) in the Technical Chamber of Emerging Fertilizer Chains, Special Secretariat for Strategic Affairs, Office of the President. She works in national and international research and technological development projects as coordinator and team member of the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation/MarketPlace, Macroprograma Embrapa Milho e Sorghum, Fapemig, INCT/CNPq and UniFEMM, private partners, in the following themes: development of inoculants for phosphorus (BiomaPHOS, Solubphos, OMSUGO ECO, OMSUGO P), biofertilizers, bioproducts for nutrients and biological control of diseases, phosphate solubilizing and mineralizing microorganisms, endophytes, growth promoting microorganisms, biological control of plant diseases, mycorrhizal fungi, microbiological mechanisms of nutritional efficiency for phosphorus, microorganism collections, soil biochemistry and plant-soil-microorganism interaction.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 2: Biocontrol and biostimulants - programmes for sustainable agriculture
SolubPhos - Inoculant as a support for phosphorus fertilization

Alberto Acedo - Co-founder, and Chief Science officer, Biome Makers

Dr. Alberto Acedo is a self-described genomic dreamer, DNA passionate & worldwide biotech entrepreneur and the scientific soul of Biome Makers ‘technology. He holds a PhD in Genetic Medicine and Biomedical Applications, specializing in NGS sequencing and machine learning. Alberto is a TEDx speaker, European Commission Expert, and GLOSOLAN (FAO) member. He is recognized as a young AgTech visionary by MIT Technology Review and AgFunder among others. Before co-founding Biome Makers with Adrián Ferrero, Alberto gained his experience as a researcher in genetics at the University of León (Spain), where he became an honorary associate. He accumulated more than 5 years of research experience on human genetics at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Spanish National Research Council. Alberto has been able to put into practice his theoretical research and technical knowledge through real services of genetic analysis developed in the company AC-Gen Reading Life.

Alberto holds tens of patents and has authored over 20+ scientific reports. He has extensive experience facilitating hundreds of research projects ongoing in collaboration with different institutions worldwide. Alberto is also leading the Fields4Ever initiative, a global soil health restoration initiative. Fields4ever currently consists of 210+ projects over 4 continents, supporting farmers, agronomists, and research institutions with the ongoing development of sustainable and respectful agriculture, ensuring quality soil and food for generations to come.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 2: Biocontrol and biostimulants - programmes for sustainable agriculture
AI - The Global effort to achieve Sustainable Agriculture

Angela Ailloni - Vice President of Business Development, Ginkgo Bioworks

Angela has worked in Food, Agriculture & Sustainability at Nestle and Land O’Lakes. She has 20+ years of experience in Business Development & Strategy. With a BS from MIT & MBA from Cornell University, she leads the Ginkgo Bioworks Agriculture BD Team.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 4: Digital solutions for biocontrol
De-risking and Accelerating Innovation in Ag Biologicals

Jeremy Belzunces - Technical Project Manager, IBMA Global

Jeremy demonstrates nine years’ experience in the diplomatic and agro-food consultancy areas. Jeremy worked for six years as a Policy Advisor in EU Agricultural Affairs for the Agricultural Department of the diplomatic Mission of Israel to the EU. He advised the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and a range of governmental and industry bodies on the development of EU agro-policies and the EU sanitary and phytosanitary framework.
Jeremy acted for six years as national Delegate to the OECD Committee for Agriculture and two associated OECD working parties: the joint working party on agriculture and trade (JWPAT), and the working party on agricultural policies and markets (APM). This experience gave him a good understanding of international and national agricultural policy matters.
Before joining IBMA, he ran an independent consultancy for three years advising companies and consultancies on EU agro-food policies and EU import requirements.
Prior to his assignments in the diplomatic and business area, Jeremy participated to an EU research program on plant protection products operated by the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE).
He holds a master degree in International Business, a master degree in Business management and The Prince2 project management certification. Jeremy speaks French, English and has notions of Italian.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 4: Digital solutions for biocontrol
Chair of the session

Regina Burger - Division Manager, AGROLINE Bioprotect - fenaco Genossenschaft

Bioprotect:
- Building up a rearing of Ephestia kuehniella and Trichogramma brassicae
- Studies on Diapause of Trichogramma brassicae in partnership with AGROSCOPE Zürich-Reckenholz
- Market building for Trichogramma brassicae in Switzerland and Germany
- Development of Ostrinia-Monitoring together with authorities
- Development of new carrier systems/mechanization of production
- Development of distribution of various beneficial insects, traps, fungi, pollination with wild bees, plant strengthener, plant extracts
- Development of drone deployment for spreading Trichogramma carriers in corn fields; pilot logistics; flight planning tools
- Use of beneficials in Storage rooms
- Working on digital monitoring systems for various fruit-, field-and vegetable pests.
- Application for permits for PPP from FOAG
- Patenting and trademarks

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 4: Digital solutions for biocontrol
Use of digital tools in releasing trichogramma brassicae in cornfields

David Calvert - Director, iFormulate Limited

Dr David Calvert is co-founder and director of iFormulate Ltd. David has over 25 years experience of developing new products and services for the chemical-using industries including pharmaceuticals, inks, coatings, agrochemicals and FMCG to name but a few. More recently he has worked on a number of projects related to the formulation of biocontrol products.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 5: Formulation of biocontrol
Chair of the session

José Carvalho, EMEA Regulatory Lead, Certis Biologicals

José Carvalho holds a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the Humboldt University in Berlin and a Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Porto University, with a focus on microbiology, antibiotics resistance and immunology. Previous to joining the industry, Jose worked for the Portuguese Water Institute, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the German Federal Institute for Material Science and Testing (BAM) in analytical methods, publishing 11 peer-reviewed articles and 3 book chapters. Since 2020, José works for Certis Biologicals and prior to that in several regulatory and business positions within the crop protection industry. He is currently the Chair of the Microbial Professional Group at IBMA.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 2: Biocontrol and biostimulants - programmes for sustainable agriculture
Chair of the session

Sarah Croonenborghs - Senior Project Scientist, ARCHE Consulting

Sarah Croonenborghs graduated as Master of Bioscience Engineering with a specialization in plant protection in 2006 at the Catholic University of Leuven, where she also obtained a PhD in Bioscience Engineering in 2011, which aimed to link the functional anatomy of tropical plants to their physiology.
Working as a Registration Manager in the agrochemical industry for over 7 years, she gained a valuable regulatory and technical expertise in the broad field of plant protection products. In 2019 Sarah joined ARCHE Consulting as a Senior Project Scientist. She mainly focuses on risk assessments and dossier preparation for plant protection products and biocides.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 4: Digital solutions for biocontrol
Automated sustainability screening of natural substances used for biocontrol

Ignacio de Alfonso - Global Scientific and Technical Manager, Rovensa Next

Ignacio de Alfonso is a scientist known for his contributions in the fields of Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture. Throughout his career he has held various roles, mostly focused on biocontrol and biostimulation. Currently he is the Global Scientific and Technical Manager at Rovensa Next.
Ignacio’s career in Agricultural R&D started more than 20 years ago, involving positions related to management and research in different companies. He has been responsible for the successful development of several biocontrol commercial products that are currently in the market.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 1: Innovation in biocontrol
Facilitating the transition to biologicals in crop protection

Arnold de Maere - Manager, Minagro

Arnold De Maere is a bioengineer with a strong focus on driving innovation in sustainable agriculture.
With expertise in specialty fertilizers and agrochemical co-formulants, he has a deep understanding of market constraints and building strategic partnerships.
As the founder of Minagro, Arnold is at the forefront of pioneering green coformulants to maximize impact of agrochemical applications. Committed to pushing boundaries and revolutionizing the industry, he is dedicated to shaping a sustainable future for agriculture through new biobased technologies.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 5: Formulation of biocontrol
Green Chemistry and the development of co-formulants to maximize the impact of agro formulations
Case study on safer in-can preservation for water-based formulations

Domenico Deserio - Policy Officer, European Commission - DG SANTE

Domenico Deserio is a Policy Officer in the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission (DG SANTE). He is responsible for policies related to micro-organisms used as active substances in plant protection products. Within the EU Biopesticide Working Group, he is currently working on the amendment of Regulations concerning placing on the market of microbiological active substances and plant protection products. He holds a Master of Biotechnology from the University of Bari (Italy), and completed his thesis on food microbiology. Moreover, he achieved an advanced postgraduate Master by Research of Agricultural Science at the University of Adelaide (Australia), carrying out his research on plant genomics and plant pathology.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Workshop 1: Registration best practice
Moderator of the session

Aoife Dillon - Principal Scientist - Crop Protection, Fera Science Ltd.

Dr Aoife Dillon joined Fera in 2021 as the Principal Scientist for Crop Protection, having spent 25 years in the AgChem industry (multinationals and SMEs) working to develop, register and promote the adoption of sustainable crop inputs (biopesticides and biostimulants). Fera is a UK based expert scientific services business delivering world leading support to public and commercial sectors to address the most demanding UN Sustainable Development Goals for benefit of humankind and our planet. Aoife has managed bio-input R+D programmes across Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 6: Agricultural policy enabling biocontrol from around the world
IPM in the UK – a changing landscape

Hugues Dumas - President / Founding Executive Director, SYNOVIVO Consulting

Hugues Dumas is an Engineer in Agriculture (Unilasalle) with an Executive Master's degree in Management and Business Development (Edhec). He has over 20 years' experience in Agriculture and Biotechnologies. Initially involved in the Seed Industry, he went on to work in the speciality crop nutrition & biosolutions industry. He has held a number of operational positions, culminating in CEO and BU management responsibilities (Limagrain Group, Rovensa Next -Tradecorp, SDP- and Olmix).

With his background and expertise in the 3 following pillars: 1/Corporate Organisation, 2/Market Vision and 3/People Focus, in 2019 he created SYNOVIVO Consulting, an international executive search and recruitment agency specialising in Agriculture, Agro-Industry and Biotechnologies in the EMEA and ASIA zones. This consultancy draws on in-depth knowledge of the businesses and markets in which a large proportion of its clients are involved in biocontrol.

Today, Hugues DUMAS is a recognised consultant in the high added-value agricultural products sector, working for investment funds on company valuations and providing HR solutions in line with the reality of the maturing biosolutions market. Member of various inter-professional syndicates in France and abroad, he is also a dynamic entrepreneur, co-founder of a start-up in the Seed Priming sector and an administrator of 2 innovative companies.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 6: Agricultural policy enabling biocontrol from around the world
HR & Biocontrol Mature Expectations in Immature Market

Sandro Frati - Product Development Manager, Janssen PMP

Sandro Frati is the Senior Product Development Manager at Janssen PMP, a division of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, one of the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Janssen PMP specializes in the development and commercialization of technologies for postharvest treatment of fruit and vegetables. In his role, Sandro works on the technical positioning of new products in the pipeline and evaluates the commercial conditions compared with competitors. Sandro holds a PhD in Agricultural Entomology from the University of Bologna (Italy) and his main experience lies in the development of biological crop protection products for different uses.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 6: Agricultural policy enabling biocontrol from around the world
Opportunities and challenges for biocontrol in post-harvest

Sumit Ganguly - Researcher, Borregaard

Sumit Ganguly obtained his PhD in Inorganic and Material Chemistry from University of Tromsø, Norway in 2017. He has worked as a researcher in synthetic chemistry and analytical chemistry at University of Tromsø and at NTNU in Norway. He was working as a post-doctoral researcher in biopolymer chemistry at University of Stavanger, Norway for the last two year. Presently he is working as a researcher at Borregaard Biorefinery in Norway. His research interests include developing lignin-based products to provide aids in different agricultural applications, especially as co-formulants in biological formulations.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 5: Formulation of biocontrol
Lignin-based co-formulants in biocontrol formulations

Jérôme Gonthier - Technical Development Account Manager Agriculture Solutions, Stepan Europe S.A.S.

Holding a Master's degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Major Formulation, from CPE Lyon (France), Jérôme Gonthier started his career in The Netherlands as R&D Project Manager, first at Diversey and then, at Croda. After 12 years in Amsterdam, he joined Stepan Company in 2021 as Technical Development Account Manager. As part of the Stepan Agricultural Solutions´ European team, Jérôme effectively collaborates across both the technical and commercial teams within the organization. He is the main contact for agricultural customers in Europe, dedicated to providing them with the most suitable performance solutions to address their challenges. Thanks to his extensive knowledge of agricultural products he offers valuable knowledge in formulation design of both biological and conventional actives. Jerôme recognizes the strong and growing interest in biological formulations and is committed to offer cutting-edge solutions for customers’ unmet needs. Dedicated biological research efforts enable Jérôme and Stepan to stay at the forefront of agricultural advancements and offer sustainable solutions to their valued customers, supporting them in facing the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 5: Formulation of biocontrol
Unlocking the Power of Your Biological Active Ingredients Through Formulation Technology

Katharina Grundler Groterhorst - Application Development LATAM – BU Care Chemicals – Crop Solutions, Clariant

Katharina studied biochemistry at the Technical University of Munich and continued her education by defending her thesis and obtaining her doctorate at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. She gained deep knowledge in biomolecular assays analyzing signaling pathways in blood cells. At a postdoc position in Campinas, Brasil, she first came in contact with Brazilian agriculture and soon started working at a multinational chemical company, Clariant. In her 5 years of working for the agricultural business, she became passionate about crop solutions. A great interest of hers is biologicals: joining microbiologists and chemists to find the best possible solutions for the future of agriculture.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 5: Formulation of biocontrol
Selecting formulation components and tank mixtures for optimum performance

Roma Gwynn, Rationale - Biopesticide Strategists, Vice president IBMA Global

Roma Gwynn is a bioprotectant specialist working for over 35 years; initially as a research scientist then for biocontrol companies and now an independent specialist working internationally. She has an MSc in Technology for Crop Protection and a PhD in Biological Control both from Reading University. Roma has taken a lead role in the development of many new biocontrol technologies (semio-chemicals, botanicals and microbials). Her expertise is in facilitating the process of getting biopesticide products into the hands of farmers by streamlining bio-discovery, product development, registration and marketing.
Roma has been an expert for regulation of biocontrol agents (OECD, EU, FAO/WHO). She is an independent board member for UK AHDB Horticulture, a board member of IAPPS and Vice-President of IBMA. Roma is involved with farmer projects including Crop Health North, AHDB SCEPTRE and AMBER projects. She was editor of the BCPC ‘The Manual of Biocontrol Agents’. Roma was awarded Associateship of The Royal Agriculture Show Societies and Fellowship of RSA (Royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce).

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 3: Regulatory environment
Chair of the session

Inge Hanssen - R&D manager, DCM

Inge Hanssen is research and development manager at DCM, a Belgian company which develops, produces and distributes sustainable plant care products, ranging from organic fertilizers and substrates to biostimulants and biocontrol products. DCM has a strong focus on circularity and sustainability and develops products for both the professional and the consumer market. The company is part of Group De Ceuster (GroupDC), a Belgian family-owned group of companies. Inge obtained her Master's degree in Bio-engineering at KULeuven (Belgium) in 2001 and holds a PhD from Wageningen University in plant virology (2010). In 2001 she started working as a phytopathologist at the Scientia Terrae research institute, also part of GroupDC, where she coordinated the research program ‘phytopathology and biological control’. In this role, she launched a plant virology research division within the institute because of emerging viral disease problems in horticultural crops. Her PhD research on Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) in tomato formed the basis for the development of the biocontrol product PMV®-01, a vaccine developed by DCM to protect tomato crops against damage caused by PepMV. Since 2014, she coordinates the research and product development at DCM as R&D Manager. She was chair of IBMA Belgium from 2015 until 2019.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 1: Innovation in biocontrol
Bacteriophage-based biocontrol of Erwinia Amylovara

Anna Higley - Business Development Specialist, Croda Europe Ltd

I studied chemistry and international business at the University of Leeds in the UK. After completing my degree I started working at Croda, where I have been for the past 7 years. I have spent the majority of this time working within the Crop Protection, European technical team where I have held several laboratory-based roles. Two significant areas I have focused on over the years have been development of showcase formulations (mainly ODs and SCs) and designing methods to screen for adjuvant performance on the bench.

More recently, I have been leading Croda’s biological projects within Europe, specifically around microorganism delivery. Whilst this has primarily been focused around formulation design and the maintenance of microbe viability, we are now looking into the intrinsic challenges formulating with a microbe presents and how we might be able to also improve microbe viability through formulation. Considerations around improving shelf-life, providing protection from external stresses such as UV and giving overall improved efficacy of microorganism-based formulations in the field are areas we are now looking into at Croda.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 5: Formulation of biocontrol
Reducing development time of microbial formulations using chassis systems

Imke Hutter - Management - Head of R&D, IPR & Registration, INOQ

As biologist I work in an SME since 1995. INOQ develops microbial biostimulants based on the symbiosis of mycorrhiza fungi with plants. I am passionate about bridging the gap between research and industry and bringing research results into products and application. But working in the industrial sector means that you have to consider not only market trends, but also politics and law. I am responsible for registration of our products according to the EU fertilizer regulation. With the new fertilizer regulation 2019/1009 I started to work in the standardization committees of Germany, DIN "Biostimulanzien für die pflanzliche Anwendung" and European CEN TC 455 "Plant Biostimulants and Agricultural Micro-Organisms". With European colleagues we develop standardization methods for novel biostimulants to enable a standardized CE registration process for better consumer awareness.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 2: Biocontrol and biostimulants - programmes for sustainable agriculture
Biostimulants and EU legislation – the track to your CE marked product

Christian Huyghe - Scientific Director of Agriculture, INRAE

Doctor in Plant genetics from the University of Rennes and Director of Research in "Plant Genetics and Improvement" at INRA, now INRAE, Christian Huyghe conducted research programs on the genetic improvement of the seed yield of a protein crop, the lupin, on the genetic improvement of the digestibility and seed production of alfalfa and on the analysis of the genetic changes in temporary grasslands and the underlying mechanisms.

He published more than 80 scientific articles and wrote some 20 scientific and dissemination books.

He was head of the INRAE’s Research Unit in Genetics of Forage Plants in Lusignan from 2001 to 2007 and then President of the INRA Poitou-Charentes center from 2008 to 2010.
He is currently Scientific Director of Agriculture at INRAE, where he is in charge of issues related to the evolution of production systems towards multi-performance, partnerships with technical institutes and cooperatives and the general issue of innovation in agriculture, including through participatory approaches. Genetics, crop protection and pesticide issues are high in his agenda. He contributes to the coordination of the French Priority Research Program "Cropping and Protecting Differently" and chairs the European Research Alliance ‘Towards a chemical pesticide-free agriculture’ as well as the COST Action T0P-Agri-Network dedicated to the pesticide reduction objective. He is also involved in plant variety issues. He has been Chairman of the CTPS’s Scientific Committee, covering all plant and forest species, since June 2009. He was also Chairman of GIP GEVES’s administrative Board during 11 years. In the regulatory domain, he also chairs the independent evaluation commission for CEPPs (Certificates of Economy of Plant Protection Products), a key element of the French Ecophyto 2+ system.

At the national level, he has been President of the Acta COST (Scientific and Technical Steering Committee), a structure that coordinates the network of Agricultural Technical Institutes, since 2011 and chairs the French public – private consortium on biocontrol.

At the European level, he is a member of the Scientific Council of the Public-Private Partnership program entitled BBI-JU (Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking), which, in 2022, became the Partnership CBE (Circular Bio-based Europe).

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Keynote and panel discussion
Keynote speaker
Pesticide-free European Agriculture in 2050

Leen Jansen - Senior project Scientist, ARCHE Consulting

Leen Jansen graduated as Master of Science in Engineering (Biochemistry) at Hogeschool Gent in 2004, followed by a Master degree in Molecular Biotechnology at Ghent University in 2006. In 2011 she obtained her PhD in the field of plant biotechnology at the VIB (Ghent University) and continued in plant research as a post-doc at the same institute.

She started working as a project scientist for ARCHE Consulting in 2015. She has experience with the regulation of biocides, plant protection products and plant nutrition products (fertilizers and biostimulants). Her focus is on environmental exposure assessment and ecotoxicological risk assessment.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 3: Regulatory environment
Regulatory requirements for biocontrol and biostimulants compared

Emma Jenner - Strategic Planning and Operations Manager, CABI

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Workshop 3: CABI BioProtection Portal - making biocontrol accessible to growers
Moderator of the Workshop

Nina Jenkins - CTO, ConidioTec LLC

Nina has worked in the biocontrol industry for over 30 years. She started her research career at CABI Bioscience as part of the team that developed the Metarhizium-based biopesticide, Green Muscle for locust and grasshopper control in Africa. As Program Manager, Jenkins oversaw the transfer of the publicly funded Green Muscle technology to private industry. Since moving on from CABI, Nina has worked in Australia and the US. Her research has primarily focused on the development of fungal biopesticides. She has published extensively, covering a range of insect targets including mosquitoes, houseflies, Asian longhorn beetles, and spotted lanternflies.

Most recently, Nina has driven the development and successful commercialization of Aprehend, a fungal biopesticide for controlling and preventing bed bugs. Aprehend was first registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2017, and subsequently by the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) in 2020. Aprehend has since become the go-to product for professional pest managers throughout the US and Canada. Nina is the co-founder and CTO of ConidioTec LLC, which holds the exclusive license for the technology developed in her research lab at Penn State University.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 1: Innovation in biocontrol
Out of Agriculture and into the Home: Development and commercialization of Aprehend®, a fungal biopesticide for the control and revention of bed bugs

Haïssam Jijakli - Professor in Plant Pathology (University of Liège) and co-founder of APEO company

Professor and Responsible of Integrated and Urban Plant Pathology Laboratory (University of Liège), Haïssam Jijakli is developing for 32 years biocontrol methods based on micro-organisms to protect plants against fungal pathogens and weeds. Since the beginning of his career, he participated or coordinated more than 80 projects in Belgium and abroad (e.a. 15 European projects). He has to his credit more than 120 refereed articles and 10 patents. Thanks to these results and fruitful collaborations, his laboratory has acquired an international recognition in biocontrol using fundamental and practical approaches.

His concern is also to create a strong link between the academic and industrial worlds in order to implement new techniques which are economically, environmentally and socially affordable for the agricultural sector. Then Haïssam Jijakli has also founded 4 spin-offs. The first spin off was created in 2003 and was involved in the development of a biopesticide based on a yeast against postharvest diseases of fruits. That yeast, Candida oleophila strain O is now registered at EU and US level under the tradename of NEXY by Agrauxin (Lesaffre).

His last spin off, APEO, was created in 2021 and is dedicated to the development of herbicides based on essential oils. APEO’s missions are to find, develop, formulate, register and “go-to-market” (B to B to C) of innovative products respectful of the environment and human health. Additional APEO values consist in putting Science at the heart of its activities and Agronomy at the center of the Professional Agriculture sector. Then, APEO is developing a portfolio of Biological herbicides and fungicides based on Natural Essential Oils for use in Home & Garden and Professional Agriculture.

Based on 12 years of research, APEO’s first product is a RTU non-selective herbicide for Home & Garden market. All the ingredients (including adjuvants) are fully biobased. The active ingredient and related product are under registration process in US and Europe. Based on such positive results, APEO is now developing concentrated formulations for Professional uses. After leading the company as CEO, Haïssam Jijakli is now responsible of the R&D department as CSO.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 1: Innovation in biocontrol
Agronomical Plant Extracts & Essential Oils

Diana Karime Londoño - Global Technical Lead Bio-Insecticides, BASF

Diana Joined BASF in 2013 to work in R&D Bio-insecticides and is currently the Global Technical Bioinsecticide lead. She has worked in the bioinsecticide discovery and development for more than 25 years with a multidisciplinary education that includes Microbiology (BS), Entomology (PhD) and Environmental Toxicology (Minor). All of these made her understand both microorganisms and pests very well. Her government, academic and industry experience in discovery, development, and global technical management of bio-insecticides; together with the scouting experience made her understand the past, present, and future in the area.

Before BASF, Diana worked in Michigan State University with RNAi and NGS and prior to this, she worked in the USDA Forest Service at Michigan, developing bio-insecticides to control invasive pests. She had also the opportunity to work as independent consultant for Phyllom Bioproducts developing bioinsecticides based on Bacillus thuringiensis. During her time in Colombia, she worked in a hybrid company (government/private) with the development and the scaling up production of Bio-insecticides based in Beauveria bassiana and Bacillus thuringiensis; and the scaling up production of huma rabies vaccine.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 1: Innovation in biocontrol
Phasmarhabditis californica (Nemaslug 2.0) as New Beneficial Nematode Speciesfor Slug Control

Jae Su Kim - Professor at Dept of Agricultural Biology, Jeonbuk National University, South Korea

Jae Su acquired B.Sc. in plant protection at Seoul National University, Korea, and M.S. & Ph.D. in insect pathology, where he studied integration of Bt cry gene into AcMNPV and biological control of whitefly using Beauveria bassiana and Isaria fumosorosea.

Jae Su worked at agrochemical company, FarmHannong, Korea and commercialized microbial pesticides, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WP, B. vallismortis WP, SC & GR, B. thuringiensis WP & SC and Lecanicillium attenuatum SC. In 2008 he left the company and joined Bruce Parker’s lab at University of Vermont, USA working as a postdoctoral associate, during which time his research involved development of entomopathogenic fungi to manage western flower thrips. He came back to Korea and stayed at Seoul National University as a senior researcher and was involved in molecular cloning of insect genes into B. bassiana to improve fungal virulence. In 2012, he joined Jeonbuk National University, Korea as an assistant professor and now being positioned as a full professor. In the university he has been working on entomopathogenic fungi for pest management. He was awarded first prize in the field of teaching in 2017 at the University. In 2018 he received a national medal from the president of Korea for successful industrialization of B. bassiana ERL836 GR product to control thrips in agriculture, which was collaborated with FarmHannong. In 2020 he has been appointed as an associate dean of College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University and leaders of Brain Korea 21 program and NRF Basic Research.

Jae Su has had big interest in development and application of microbial insecticides, particularly entomopathogenic fungi, as well as investigation of fungal mode of action at molecular levels using RNA-sequencing. He has been working on management of western flower thrips and melon thrips using a soil-application technology targeting their pupal stage. His main interesting targets are thrips, whitefly, two-spotted spider mite, nematode, and other sucking pests. Another interest is the solid and liquid cultures to improve the shelf life of fungal products in a practical standpoint. To overcome possible conflicts of commercial isolates in B. bassiana, he has been working on fungal diversity at genome and metabolite levels. He is doing international research jointly with Taiwan (Dr. Yu Shin Nai), USA (Dr. Bruce Parker) and Thailand (Dr. Patcharin Krutmuang), which are supported by Korean funding.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 1: Innovation in biocontrol
Successful R&D and Marketing Strategy for Beauveria bassiana ERL836 GR and WP for thrips management

Ulli Kuhlmann - Executive Director, Global Operations, CABI

Ulrich (Ulli) has worked for CAB International (CABI) for the past 25 years. He is an experienced executive manager overseeing the management and operation of an international intergovernmental not-for-profit organization at its eleven centres across Asia (4), Africa (3), Europe (2) and the Americas (2). Within this role, Ulli is responsible for fostering collaborations between the centres and international partners, and developing new opportunities to improve agricultural production, alleviate poverty and enhance food safety and food security. He is the professional lead for science within the organization, responsible for overseeing the strategic direction and delivery of CABI’s scientific programme. Ulli has a thorough understanding in the development and application of biological-based pest management approaches and passioned about promoting the awareness and uptake of bioprotection solutions globally.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Workshop 3: CABI BioProtection Portal - making biocontrol accessible to growers
Moderator of the Workshop

Eric Liégeois - Senior Policy Officer, European Commission - DG SANTE

Eric Liégeois was graduated Chemical Engineer for Agricultural Industries, from the University of Gembloux (Belgium) in 1990.

After first experiences as researcher, civil servant and manager in various positions in the Belgian Federal Administration, he joined the European Commission in 2002, first as seconded national expert at DG Environment where he was in charge of the Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides and then, as from 2007 as official in the Chemicals Unit at DG GROW.

At DG GROW Eric was revising the Fertilising Products Regulation proposal and also worked on the Plastics Strategy. He was leading a team in charge of Fertilisers, Detergents, Plant Protection Products, Biocides, Waste recycling and Plastics.

Since April 2018 he joined DG SANTE in the team in charge of the authorisation of plant protection products where he is among in charge of the biopesticides, low-risk products and risk reduction activities.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 3: Regulatory environment
Update on EU developments on biological control

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Workshop 1: Registration best practice
Moderator of the workshop

Jeanne Millan-Bernal - Senior Consultant in Regulatory Affairs, ERM

Jeanne joined ERM in 2022 as a Regulatory Affairs Consultant in the Sustainable Product & Supply Chain team, working as project manager on active substance and products dossiers, particularly focused on biologicals. She is also coordinating ERM’s IUCLID program.

Before joining ERM, Jeanne was a Regulatory Affairs Consultant for two years. Prior to this, she was a study director for 12 years at a leading CRO, in charge of dermal absorption and residues studies.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Workshop 2: IUCLID Registration
Moderator of the workshop

Céline Orizet - Research & Innovation Engineer, Solvay

Céline has been working at Solvay for 22 years in Research and Innovation for different markets such as water treatment and oil & gas, Home & personal Care and Agrochemical . She has experience in formulations of surfactants and polymers and acquired extensive robotics experience. Today, she is in charge of developing new technologies and formulations solutions for biopesticides to tackle modern complex agricultural challenges.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 5: Formulation of biocontrol
Formulation Makes the Difference: Optimized biological formulation strategies with Solvay's co-formulant toolbox

Piyatida (Tung) Pukclai - Regional Sales & Regulatory Policy Manager (Asia-Pacific), knoell

Piyatida (Tung) Pukclai (Ph.D. Agricultural Sciences, Bioresource Science for Manufacturing) is an Asia-Pacific Regional Sales & Regulatory Policy Manager of Knoell, an independent service provider for Regulatory Affairs and Product Registration over 25 years. With her regional team, she is looking after new regulatory policies and guidance development in different Asia countries, focusing on regulatory frameworks impacting agricultural productivity: plant protection products for chemical and non-chemical solutions. She has been active as a speaker in various international conferences and workshops. Additionally, lead business development activities for the Asia-Pacific region including client interactions, and project managements.

She is specialize in Plant Pathology and Biological Control that are reduce the chemical using in agriculture, determine the efficiency of plants or microorganisms and improve them to be the biological control agents for farmer as well as assessment of allelopathic potential of selected plants and the possibility of using allelochemicals bio-herbicides for weed management.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 3: Regulatory environment
Biocontrol Legislation in some selected Asia countries

Matthew Pye - Biologicals Subject Matter Expert, FMC Corporation

Matthew Pye grew up in a family-owned biological control business founded in the 1980s. Here he learned all the aspects of producing, formulating, and selling entomopathogenic nematodes in a time long before the use of biologicals was commonplace. As a teenager, Matthew introduced many people to the concepts of biological control and integrated pest management at tradeshows. He learned firsthand the importance of educating growers on the nuances of using biologicals. This early foundation stayed with him through all of his education and career pursuits. Matthew earned a doctorate in Plant Pathology from UC Davis shortly before joining FMC in 2013. For the last 10 years he has been involved in the development of many of FMC’s biological and synthetic fungicide products. In his current role as Biological subject matter expert, Matthew leads efforts within the United States to educate and equip FMC’s sales force and customers in the successful deployment of FMC’s biological products in both organic and conventional markets. Matthew believes that continued biological education and demonstration will drive grower acceptance and adoption of biologicals into the traditionally difficult domain of row crop agriculture.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 2: Biocontrol and biostimulants - programmes for sustainable agriculture
At-Plant Biopesticides in Conventional Row Crop Agriculture

Alain Querrioux, Chair - CEO Andermatt France, Treasurer IBMA Global

Alain Querrioux is a French-born agronomist, who has been active in the agricultural sector for the past 35 years. He assumed several technical, commercial and management positions covering a wide spectrum of agricultural and regulatory environments around the globe. In the late 90’s, his deeply rooted commitment to alternative solutions triggered his decision to fully dedicate his energy to the development of Biocontrol. He joined pure-players and witnessed the early development of the industry in pioneering times, and now enjoys the excitement of its booming development. Innovation has always been a key driver in Alain’s professional live, together with the aim to let farmers benefit performing, healthy and cost-effective alternative solutions to protect their crops. Over the years, Alain has developed an excellent knowledge of our industry, of its history, markets and main stakeholders. In 2014, Alain co-founded the French branch of the Andermatt group, which he has successfully been running and developing sofar. In the meantime, he has been active in IBMA governance, as a Council and Board member of the French association. In January 2023, he joined IBMA Global Board as Treasurer.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 1: Innovation in biocontrol
Chair of the session

Alain Querrioux, Chair - CEO Andermatt France, Treasurer IBMA Global

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 1: Innovation in biocontrol
Chair of the session

Paul Rous - Managing Director, Regenerate Ventures

Paul is a Head of Ventures at Regenerate Asset Management, the UK's first dedicated Agtech fund, investing in sustainable agriculture, from soil to nutrition. He has over a decade of experience in venture capital, innovation, and agriculture. He founded two venture capital funds, Fuel Ventures and Blackfinch Ventures, and launched the UK's first agritech accelerator, Shake Climate Change.

As a Consultant at Cognizant, he leads the digital agriculture roadmap to help develop solutions and capabilities to enhance customer experience and drive business growth. He holds an MBA from Imperial College London, where he received the Dean's Award for sustainable business, an APM qualification in project management, and a membership of the Institute of Agricultural Management. Paul lives on the family farm in Suffolk, UK and has been responsible for diversification projects.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Workshop 4: Investment - Understanding how investors think to develop a successful raise
Secrets of a successful raise process: Understanding how investors think to develop a successful raise for your company
Moderator of the workshop

Jonathan Shoham - Consulting Analyst, S&P Global Commodity Insights

Having obtained a PhD in Environmental Economics, Jonathan worked for Syngenta and legacy companies in a variety of technical and commercial roles for 32 years, latterly as Head of Business Intelligence. For the last 12 years Jonathan has worked as a consultant for clients in the public, private, academic and NGO sectors on a range of projects spanning the agricultural supply chain. During this time, he has authored over 20 published papers and reports, most recently on the ‘hot topics’ of biologicals and digital farming. In his current role as Consulting Analyst for IHS Markit Jonathan has returned to his crop protection and seeds roots.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 4: Digital solutions for biocontrol
Digital farming and biologicals

Anne Steenbergh - Policy officer, Dutch board for the authorisation of plant protection products and biocides (Ctgb)

Anne Steenbergh is a microbial ecologist. She obtained her PhD working on microbial communities in marine sediments (Utrecht University & Netherlands Institute of Ecology). Six years ago she joined Ctgb (the Dutch Board for the Authorisation of Plant Protection Products and Biocides); first as an assessor and currently as policy officer. In these capacities she has worked on both biopesticides and conventional pesticides. As a member of the Ctgb GreenTEAM she enjoys working on any challenges related to the assessment of biopesticides.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Workshop 1: Registration best practice
Moderator of the workshop

Paul Streater - COO, AgBioScout

Paul is the Chief Operating Officer at AgBioScout a global scouting and advisory company in the field of agricultural innovation and technology. He is responsible for managing capital-raising activities and the development of the investor network pipeline for our global clients. Paul has over 25 years of Corporate Development and M&A global experience across Deloitte, BP, Castrol, Hilti, and Brown Forman. More recently, Paul has been supporting Agritech companies to raise capital and supporting investors to manage investments in the agriculture technology sector.

Joanna Sullivan - Founder and CEO, Conscience Consulting

Joanna is founder and CEO of Conscience Consulting, the trailblazer systems change agency in Brussels, which since 2008 advises European and global institutions, business and civil society on building bridges for inclusive sustainable societies, through advocacy campaigns and strategic communication.
Joanna is passionate about connecting likeminded progressive leaders in business, NGOs, think tanks and institutions, to build coalitions for good and foster resilience against the uncertainty and complexity of global challenges.
As Professor of Climate Diplomacy at the European Institute in Nice, author and speaker on sustainability engagement, moderator of Green Deal, SDG and ESG debates and workshops, and mentor to GenZ activists, Joanna shares decades of experience in policy development, collaboration pathways and sustainability leadership on climate and energy, consumer, trade and environment, and food and agriculture systems change.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Keynote and panel discussion
Chair of the keynote and panel discussion

Lucius Tamm - CEO, ABIM AG

Dr. Lucius Tamm holds a degree in agricultural engineering from ETH Zurich and has more than 25 years plant pathology R&D experience working on cereals, potatoes, grapevine and horticultural crops. Lucius has published > 100 papers and book chapters and been a partner or coordinated in EU projects since 2001. He is also guest lecturer at several universities. Until May 2023, he was Head of Department of Crop Sciences at the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). He led FiBL’s R&D activities for the development of crop protection solutions and has also been involved in the development of improved registration procedures for novel plant protection products.

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 6: Agricultural policy enabling biocontrol from around the world
Chair of the session

Mark Trimmer - Managing Partner, DunhamTrimmer LLC

Mark Trimmer, Ph.D., has more than 35 years of experience in research, product development, registration, technical service, and technology licensing in the crop protection industry. Early in his career, Mark led international product development at American Cyanamid. Following the acquisition of Cyanamid by BASF, Mark continued as leader of new technology acquisitions for the agriculture division. In 2006, Mark established Trimmer Consulting providing new technology assessment, R&D strategy, regulatory, and product development services to companies in the global agricultural chemical and biological markets. Mark co-founded DunhamTrimmer in 2011 with William Dunham to provide independent market research and strategic consulting for the global biopesticide, biostimulant, and biofertilizer markets. Mark’s training is in agronomy, plant physiology, and plant pathology and he provides the primary technical inputs on all DunhamTrimmer projects. Mark currently leads the Membership Committee and serves on the Board of Directors as Board Chair for the Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA).

Wednesday, 25 October 2023, Session 6: Agricultural policy enabling biocontrol from around the world
Biocontrol in the Big Picture: The Trends Shaping Our Industry

Ibrahim Tunc - International Commercial Manager, Commercial Delegate for Southeastern Spain, MAFA BIOSCIENCE

Ibrahim (Ibra) Tunc was born in 1994, making him 28 years old, in Istanbul, Turkey. He currently resides and works in southeastern Spain, specifically in Murcia. While pursuing his studies in the Chemical Engineering program at Istanbul Technical University (Istanbul Teknik Universitesi), he participated in two significant Erasmus+ projects. First, as an Erasmus+ exchange student at Valencia University (Universitat de Valencia), and second, as an Erasmus+ intern at Cartagena Technical University (Universidad Politecnica de Cartagena).

During this period, he contributed to a project titled "Brines Denitrification Using Woodchips Bioreactors in the Campo de Cartagena," which was authored by Carolina Díaz García in collaboration with José Álvarez Rogel and Juan José Martínez Sánchez in 2018. Their team received the "Best Water Reuse Paper" award at the AEDyR (Asociación Española de Desalación y Reutilización) XII International Congress, held from October 23rd to 25th, 2018.

Presently, Ibrahim is a valuable member of the MAFA BIOSCIENCE team, where he holds dual roles as the International Commercial Manager and Commercial Delegate for Southeastern Spain. In these capacities, he actively engages in microbiology research, specializing in biopesticides, biocontrol, and biostimulants, with a strong focus on their field applications and end-user experiences.

In summary, Ibrahim Tunc is a versatile and multilingual business development engineer with a strong interdisciplinary background. He specializes in eco/bio/organic farming, contributing significantly to the sustainable agriculture sector.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 2: Biocontrol and biostimulants - programmes for sustainable agriculture
Unleashing the Power of Pseudomonas chlororaphis ST9: Transforming Agriculture Sustainably with Bio Stimulation and Biological Control

Jacobijn van Etten - Project manager, Dutch board for the authorisation of plant protection products and biocides (Ctgb)

Jacobijn van Etten is an all-round expert in the area of sustainable use of natural resources. She is a Wageningen University graduate with a degree in land and water management and her previous employers include an NGO, an international research institute, local government and consultancy. Currently Jacobijn is project manager and GreenTEAM coordinator at Ctgb (the Dutch Board for the Authorisation of Plant Protection Products and Biocides). She has extensive experience with biocontrol dossiers for both substances and products. Jacobijn likes the challenges of innovative dossiers and seeks to be supportive to the green ambitions of notifiers.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Workshop 1: Registration best practice
Moderator of the workshop

Herman Van Mellaert - President IBMA Global and Director Strategic Alliances, Biobest NV

Herman is the Director Strategic Alliances at Biobest Group NV, with headquarters in Belgium. Biobest, originally a pioneer in bumblebee pollination and in invertebrate biocontrol agents, is now active worldwide with a complete range of solutions for biological control.

Herman holds a Ph.D. from the University of Leuven in insect physiology. He was Researcher, then Business Development Manager and subsequently founding CEO in the plant biotechnology industry. He also worked at the EU Council Secretariat (Agriculture) and at the European Commission (DG Research and Development). After several years as a consultant and interim Manager in the Life Sciences industry (with assignments in biotechnology, biological control, food ingredients, manufacturing of biomolecules,…) he became Director Business Development and subsequently Director Strategic Alliances at Biobest Group NV since 2013.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Keynote and panel discussion
Panellist

Martin Wohlfarter - Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Koppert

A passionate agriculturist with fifteen years’ global experience in sustainable pest management. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics and Marketing from the University of Stellenbosch, Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Development and Agrarian Reform from the University of the Western Cape and a MBA from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. As Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Martin is responsible for global macro product registrations at Koppert B.V. and actively engaged in policy matters, through various ministries of agriculture. He is vice chair of the IBMA Macro Professional Group, Rotating Chair of the IBMA Pollinators Group, and Chair of Artemis Beneficials and Pollinator Group in the Netherland.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023, Session 3: Regulatory environment
EU study on the IBCA Industry vs Regulators - Challenges and Opportunities