Meet the expert presenters who are bringing innovative and industry-leading content to the AgChem Summit program.
These speakers are discussing topics such as: Revolutionizing Agriculture with Innovations in Digital Technology, Regulatory Challenges and Industry Updates, Ag Innovations and Disruptive Technologies, Product Testing & Specialty Crops, Improving the Agricultural Industry with Advancements in Technology, and Applying Innovation and Emerging Technologies to Business.
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Keith has more than 20 years of private sector and government experience in environmental law related to chemical substances regulation, biopesticides, and genetically engineered organisms. He is a former Director of the Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division (BPPD) in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP). Prior to becoming Director of BPPD, Keith served in EPA's Office of General Counsel (OGC), first as a staff attorney, then as an Assistant General Counsel where he supervised attorneys providing legal counsel to programs in EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Pesticide Programs, and the Office of Research and Development.
Keith's practice focuses on the regulation of chemical substances, including agricultural chemical products, microbial products of biotechnology; and genetically engineered agricultural products that are regulated by EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Keith counsels and advises his clients using his breadth of knowledge on a variety of statutes, including the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Plant Protection Act, and the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard.
I have been with Syngenta going on 6 years now in our Application Technology group based in Greensboro, North Carolina. My background has always been in agriculture, growing up on a commercial row crop farm in Southeastern NC, I am able to bring a different perspective to our diverse group within Product Technology & Engineering at Syngenta. I received my undergrad and graduate degrees in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from North Carolina State University. I am currently the Global Lead on Drone Application Technology for Syngenta, supporting this new application method globally with a strong focus in APAC and China specifically. I have a research interest in precision application, including drone applications, see and spray systems as well as prescription based applications.
Paul came to Wabash College as an assistant professor of chemistry in the summer of 2016, after completing his PhD at Purdue University. His laboratory’s primary focus is the use of second harmonic generation microscopy to probe active ingredient crystallinity in agrochemical formulations, seeking to help develop the next generation of efficacious and sustainable products. Paul teaches analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, and recently led an immersion course on the chemistry of wine. In his free time he enjoys fly fishing, rock climbing, music, and cooking.
Barney Debnam is the Global Agriculture Strategy Lead at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington. Barney has spent the past 25+ years building agtech startups and growing global agribusinesses. Beyond experiences in the late 90’s agtech 1.0, Barney has contributed to digital solutions at GROWMARK/FS, Deere & Co and DuPont. During his time at DuPont he worked with Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Research and IT. Barney was Global CIO for DuPont Crop Protection and Pioneer Hi-Bred International just prior to the formation of Corteva AgriScience.
Barney graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Biological Systems Engineering then went on the study agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University. Barney grew up in a 4-H farming family in Kent County Maryland, which his father and brother continue to operate today.
Why is Barney at Microsoft? Few, if any, industries can match Agriculture when it comes to mission alignment with Microsoft, opportunity to apply innovation to the betterment of society and with the potential to empower agribusinesses to achieve more.
Dr. Lane has been at Battelle for the past 12 years. He possesses a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.S. from the University of Delaware and has specific experience with atmospheric processes, such as coagulation, condensation, evaporation, wet and dry deposition, as well as spray drift and volatility from pesticide applications. Dr. Lane has experience with both CMAQ and CAMx, which are both atmospheric transport models that are used to predict the atmospheric concentration of many contaminants.
Dr. Lane also has characterized many spray systems (nozzles, booms, etc.) using phase Doppler anemometry/interferometry, laser diffraction, and/or particle image velocimetry instrumentation. Additionally, Dr. Lane has helped construct large wind tunnels and environmental chambers at Battelle, where spray drift and volatility testing is performed.
Over the past 25 years, Volker has held a number of leadership roles in Regulatory Science and Food Safety R&D in the agricultural solutions industry and more recently in environmental and life science laboratory service businesses. He has a wealth of international, operational, business development and technology-related experience, developing and growing science and technology solution-based companies, teams, and laboratories in the life sciences marketplace. Most recently, he and his Avazyme team have been a strong supporter and testing partner for the fast-emerging Industrial Hemp industry in North Carolina and from coast to coast.
Prior to starting his own companies, Volker was President of Smithers Viscient, a mid-size contract research organization focused on global environmental testing and business development and operations across agrochemical, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Volker was responsible for Business Process Optimization, acquisition of companies in the US, Europe, and Japan, and their subsequent integration in the existing Smithers’ business.
In 2014 Volker founded Avazyme, Inc. a contract research solution provider, offering state-of-the-art laboratory testing, product development, and expert consulting services to the agriculture and food, beverage, nutraceutical, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries.
Dr. Jerry J. Baron is the Executive Director of the IR-4 Project, a cooperative program in the United States of the state agricultural experimental stations, US Department of Agriculture, growers/commodity organizations, the crop protection industry and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The IR-4 Project is national in scope and it conducts research at 28 field research farms and 5 analytical laboratories to facilitate the registration of conventional chemical pesticides and biopesticides on specialty crops and specialty uses. As Executive Director, Dr. Baron is responsible for the day to day operations of the IR-4 Project with an operation budget of approximately $18 million US dollars and 125 full time scientists.
Dr. Baron has served as the IR-4 Project's Executive Director since September 2006. He started with IR-4 in January, 1986 as IR-4's coordinator of weed science research. From 2000 to 2002, Dr. Baron split his duties with the IR-4 Project and the administration of the IR-4 Project's host institution, Rutgers University. During this period he was Associate Executive Dean of Cook College, Rutgers University. Dr. Baron returned full time to the IR-4 Project in July 2002 when he was named Associate Director in 2002.
In 1998, Dr. Baron co-authored the second edition of Food and Feed Crops of the United States along with G.M. Markle and B.A. Schneider. Dr. Baron has authored nearly one hundred peer reviewed journal articles and several book chapters.
Joshua Haslun is an Analyst on the Agro Innovation team at Lux Research. In this role he monitors and evaluates emerging and innovative agricultural technologies from sectors including crop genetic improvement, precision agriculture, and soil microbiome management to drive future innovations, while navigating challenging regulatory frameworks.
Joshua has extensive experience across numerous scientific disciplines including quantitative genomics and transcriptomics, immunology, isotope systematics, and microbial ecology. Prior to joining Lux, Joshua was a Research Associate for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at Michigan State University, where he developed methods to apportion nitrogen losses among diverse soil microbial processes, fostering soil microbiome management methods to improve biofuel feedstock production.
Joshua obtained a dual-degree Ph.D. in Integrative Biology and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior from Michigan State University and has contributed more than 13 publications to top peer-reviewed journals on diverse subjects. He also holds a B.S. in Biology from Siena College, and an M.S. in Biology specializing in Marine Science from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi.
Michael Ott is the founder and CEO of Rantizo, an agricultural tech company based in Iowa City and the first company legally using drones to spray for agriculture in multiple states.
Before Rantizo, Ott worked in corporate venture capital backed by Monsanto, Novozymes and Bunge and invented a patented technology that delivers tiny amounts of nitrogen on a rice seed as it grows. Ott has a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Iowa and nearly two decades of experience in finance. He is an author on five patent applications and has raised over $150 million in investment over the course of his career.
He resides in Iowa City with his wife Anne, two sons Ryan and Quincy, and daughter Rosalie.
Dr. Hannah Burrack is a professor & extension specialist in the Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University where she has worked since 2007. She leads the Specialty Crop IPM laboratory where she develops biology based strategies to improve pest and pollinator management in berries, grapes, tobacco, industrial hemp and other crops. She is particularly interested in the biology of invasive species and enjoys solving insect problems with extension agents and growers.
Matt is the CEO of Landus Cooperative. Prior, he joined Land O’Lakes, Inc. in 2015 with the merger of the United Suppliers and Land O’Lakes crop inputs businesses. He serves as senior vice president of Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN, a business unit formed in 2016, and provides leadership in aligning environmental sustainability efforts across the enterprise.
With 21 years in the agriculture industry, Matt’s experience spans retail, wholesale and manufacturing functions in the crop inputs business. He was responsible for developing the sustainability business while at United Suppliers. Prior to joining United Suppliers, Matt held various sales, marketing and management positions at American Cyanamid, BASF, Rosen’s Inc. and Helena Chemical Company.
Matt graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in agricultural business from Iowa State University. His passion for agriculture developed on his family’s farm and has only deepened after spending years in the industry.
Michael Goodis is the Director of the Registration Division of the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is responsible for managing the registration program for all conventional pesticides to be used in the U.S. to ensure their compliance safety regulations.
Jacob Parnell has been working as a scientist at Novozymes for the past 5 years on unlocking technology in the rhizosphere for corn and soy. Jacob attended Brigham Young University and received his doctorate from Michigan State University’s Center for Microbial Ecology. He did a post-doc and later joined the faculty at Utah State University as a research assistant professor.
In 2011, he accepted the position of staff scientist at the National Ecological Observatory Network in Boulder, Colorado, where he helped to design the scientific strategy for long-term monitoring of soil microbial processes.
Bio Coming Soon
Guðbjörg joined the Atmonia team in 2018, then focusing on business development and was apponted CEO of the company in 2019. Atmonia is an early stage company from Iceland, developing a sustainable and distributed ammonia production, that uses only air, water and electricity as feedstock.
She has a passion for sustainable development and finding solutions for our future. She has previously worked in multiple sectors ranging from manufacturing to banking, concentrating on business- and product development.
Guðbjörg has a MSc in Production Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.
Jay Byrne is president of v-Fluence, a strategic communication and research agency. Jay has more than 25 years of experience in public affairs, crisis and issues management. He has held senior communications positions in industry and government including the Clinton White House and U.S. Agency for International Development. He’s advised dozens of multinational organizations on crisis communications, issues management and science advocacy.
Ranveer Chandra is the Chief Scientist at Microsoft Azure Global. His research has shipped in multiple Microsoft products, including Windows, Visual Studio, XBOX, and Azure. Ranveer is leading the FarmBeats, battery research, and TV white space research projects at Microsoft. His work on FarmBeats was featured by Bill Gates on GatesNotes, and he has been invited to present his research on FarmBeats to the Secretary of Agriculture, and on TV White Spaces to the FCC Chairman.
Ranveer has published over 90 research papers, and has over 100 patents that have been granted by the USPTO. He has won several awards, including best paper awards, and the MIT Technology Review’s Top Innovators Under 35. Ranveer has an undergraduate degree from IIT Kharagpur, India and a PhD from Cornell University.
Dr. Helga Dögg Flosadóttir, the CEO and co-founder of Atmonia. She also holds the position as the manager of basic research at the Chemical Analysis department of the ICI. Helga Dögg wrote her PhD in physical chemistry at the University of Iceland and in collaboration with Der Freie Universität Berlin.
Dr. Martin is a Research Agricultural Engineer with the USDA-ARS Aerial Application Technology Research Unit in College Station, Texas where he has served for 16 years. Prior to his tenure with ARS, he directed the aerial application extension program in Louisiana for 10 years, working one-on-one with aerial applicators as an Operation SAFE Analyst and Extension Educator.
Currently, he conducts variable rate, UAS and electrostatic aerial application research. He is an active member of several professional societies, serves on several technical committees and has authored numerous refereed publications.
Hilde brings over 20 years of research and development experience in drug discovery & development, including antibody fragment (protein) discovery and early development, as well as technology development, and is inventor of more than 20 patent applications.
Prior to joining Biotalys in 2018, Hilde served as Innovation Manager of the Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO) at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, aimed at integrating vaccine and microbiological research.
Before that, Hilde worked at Ablynx (now part of Sanofi) where she held several senior positions, translating drug development projects from discovery up to Phase II clinical trials. She also played a key role in landmark deals for the Company. She started her career at the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) as Principal Investigator of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Immunology with focus on immunology and translational research in vaccine development and antibody-based technologies, including biomedical applications of single domain antibody fragments.
Hilde obtained her PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium.
