We are pleased to announce the 2022 agenda! This event featured expert presentations from USDA, AWS, SC Ventures LLC, BPS Agriculture LLC, Delta Analytical Corporation, Ingevity, Syngenta Group Ventures, and many more!
Diane Allemang is Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for FMC. She joined FMC in 2015 with the Cheminova acquisition. At Cheminova, she was Executive Vice President for North America. Ms. Allemang was with Cheminova for 14 years in various commercial and regulatory roles at the global and regional levels. Prior to that, she was a Vice President with the consulting firm of Jellinek, Schwartz & Connolly, Inc., where she managed the firm’s pesticide practice and advised clients on pesticide regulatory matters.
Ms. Allemang served as Chair of the CropLife America Board of Directors from 2015-2017, the first woman to do so in the association’s 80-year history.
She holds a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University.
Bio coming soon!
With over 25 years of research management experience, Bob leads Vestaron’s molecular biology and chemistry development teams. Management positions in Fortune 500 companies (Pfizer), academic appointments (Columbia, Michigan) and start-ups add to the leadership and technical experience he brings to Vestaron’s Research and Development success.
Bio coming soon!
Dr. Yebin Zhao currently works as Head of Science at Agoro. Yebin is responsible for carbon smart faring practices implementation and development. Yebin joined Yara as Director, Global Corn Solutions where he took charge of corn marketing solutions to drive premium product sales growth. Yebin had previously been the Chief Agronomist/Senior Account Manager with CF Industries since March 2013. With CF, Dr. Zhao had worked actively with NGOs and governmental agencies in improving global nutrient use efficiency; he also successfully managed nitrogen fertilizer sales in over 10 states in the US. Prior to joining CF Industries, he was an Agronomist at Enviro-Ag Engineering, where he took charge of large dairy farmers soil fertility and nutrient management planning. Dr. Zhao received his B.S. in Soil Sciences at Shandong Agricultural University in 2000; he earned his M.S. in Plant Science at South China Agricultural University in 2003 and Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Georgia in 2008.
John Appel is President and Board Member of BPS Agriculture, a diversified agricultural technology holding company. During John’s tenure, BPS Agriculture has formed 3 subsidiaries, recruited its leadership team and strategic advisory board, launched 5 commercial products, generated first revenue, and is currently working on scaling through multiple partnerships.
John’s international career has spanned multiple growth-focused roles in the chemicals and agriculture industries. Prior to overseeing the growth and development of the BPS Agriculture suite of start-ups, John held commercial leadership positions at Exacto and Syngenta where he helped shape their respective strategic agendas and consistently delivered double-digit revenue and profitability growth. While at Syngenta, John participated in the company’s selective international leadership program, embracing opportunities to work in Switzerland and overseeing a product portfolio in Africa and the Middle East. John’s prior experience also includes roles at chemical companies such as Ashland and Avantor.
John is a Member of the Board of Advisors at agtech startup, Mariposa Technology. In addition, John is an active volunteer at his church and serves on the Board of the Directors for United Planet and the Advisory Board for MicroLoan Foundation. He holds a BA in Chemistry and MBA from Lehigh University and currently resides in Naples, FL with his wife and 3 children.
Allie White graduated from Clemson University in 2013 with a BS in Chemical Engineering and has been working for Ingevity ever since. The majority of her career has been as an engineer at Ingevity’s production facility in Charleston, SC. In 2018, she joined the Ingevity agrochemical commercial team where she has been able to apply her technical background.
Bio coming soon!
Melissa Johnson is the leader of Product Science & Technology at Corteva Agriscience. Her team is responsible for development, scale-up, launch and support of innovative formulated products and packaging to meet the needs of crop protection markets globally. She has over 20 years of research and leadership experience in formulations and formulation ingredients across industries, including Agriculture, Coatings, Personal Care, Consumer & Industrial Products and Microbial Control. Melissa leads several teams across Corteva R&D in the development and implementation of goals and metrics for sustainable innovation. She is a current member of the Board of Directors for the Council for Agricultural Science & Technology (CAST) and is on the organizing board for the AgChem conference. Melissa holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University.
John Reich joined the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) in February 2016, as a Scientific Program Director. John joined FFAR because he strongly believes that advancements in agriculture will be key to maintaining our quality of life, and that the right investments at opportune moments will provide us with the necessary tools to overcome future challenges in agriculture. At FFAR, John works on building partnerships between the public and private sectors that targets pre-competitive research to advance agriculture science including FFAR’s first multi-stakeholder consortium, the Crops of the Future, creating a model for FFAR consortia, and his most recently announced consortium, the Precision Indoor Plants Collaborative. John continuously works on developing partnerships and programs that catalyze new areas of research and build on current investments to benefit the public.
Trained as a biomedical scientist, John applies his background in genetics, molecular biology, and biochemistry to broad range of topics that support food security, health, and economic opportunities through scientific advancement.
Bio coming soon!
Thimmaiah (Tim) is a Senior Analyst at Lux and contributes to the Emerging Ecosystems in Agrifood and Health covering agriculture innovation. In this role, he will be focusing on the impact of agriculture innovation across the food system including circular economy, regenerative agriculture, food waste, and food loss. Tim has also contributed towards disruptive innovations, the development of national organic standards, assurance systems, waste management, policy interventions, and building partnerships.
