Jerome Konecsni - Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Chair – ABIC Foundation
Mr.   Konecsni, Director General of the Plant Biotechnology Institute (PBI) of the National Research Council, is actively engaged in the biotech industry. His extensive management experience and involvement in the biotech community has created many long-lasting, collaborative relationships, alliances, and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining PBI, Jerome was the President and CEO of Genome Prairie and the Vice President of Corporate Development at the Saskatchewan biotech firm, Bioriginal Food & Science Corp.

As CEO of Genome Prairie, he re-located the corporation from Calgary to Saskatchewan and set up a branch office in Manitoba. At Bioriginal, he was responsible for the research activities, the management of Bioriginal’s intellectual property portfolio and had additional responsibilities in research, product development, marketing, quality, and human resources. His previous experience includes the position of Vice President of Agricultural Biotechnology and Vice President of Corporate Services at the Saskatchewan Research Council. Jerome possesses a diverse background and a broad range of expertise in marketing, public relations, business development, human resource management, and general administration. He received his post-secondary education at the University of Saskatchewan where he obtained his BA (Honours), BEd and MA degrees.

Wilf Keller – Saskatoon, SK, Canada
As President and CEO, Wilf Keller oversees
Ag-West Bio’s mandate to support the growth and development of a vibrant agriculture-based bioeconomy in Saskatchewan.

Wilf was born in Melville, Saskatchewan. He attended the University of Saskatchewan, receiving a doctoral degree with specialization in Crop Science in 1972. He studied as a postdoctoral scientist in the Max-Planck Institut für Biologie, in Tubingen, Germany. Wilf was employed as a Research Scientist with the Research Branch of Agriculture Canada in Ottawa from 1973-89. During this period he pursued research on cell genetics of selected Canadian crops and he contributed to the establishment of a plant biotechnology research program which he chaired from 1980-89. In 1990, he accepted a position with the Plant Biotechnology Institute (PBI) of the National Research Council of Canada in Saskatoon and served as Group Leader for canola biotechnology research and Head of the Transgenic Plant Centre until 1999 when he assumed the position of Research Director. In July 2007, Wilf assumed the role of Acting Director General, PBI for a period of one year.

Wilf has been actively involved in the development and application of biotechnologies for the genetic modification of crops, particularly canola. He has collaborated with numerous government, university and industry groups and has provided training for researchers in plant biotechnology. He has led major research initiatives on the application of genomics in canola improvement, the development of industrial bioproducts from vegetable oils, and production of bioactive natural products in plants for enhanced human health and quality of life. He has given many presentations and lectures on aspects of biotechnology including public awareness and public education aspects of this emerging field.
 

Roger Kemble - Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
Dr. Kemble is President of Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. (SBI), Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.  SBI is part of Syngenta AG, the leading global agribusiness company.  Within the parent company, Dr.Kemble fulfills the role of Global Head of Crop Genetics Research. Following a PhD from King's College, University of London, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge, Dr. Kemble moved to North America with ensuing tenures at University of Florida, Kansas State University, Allelix Inc. (in Canada) and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., prior to joining Syngenta in 2002.

Malcolm D. Devine - Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Malcolm Devine is Principal at bioQED Strategic Consultants Ltd., a boutique consultancy specializing in strategic, R&D and business planning in the agriculture and ag biotechnology spaces.

Dr. Devine has an extensive background in agricultural R&D and business development, in both the public and private sectors. From 2006 to early 2010 he served as Vice President, Agricultural Crops with Performance Plants Inc., a Canadian plant biotechnology company focused on developing novel, high-value traits for crops. Dr. Devine was responsible for demonstrating technology proof of concept in crops and for licensing PPI’s IP to seed companies internationally. Prior to joining Performance Plants, Dr.Devine served two years (2004-2006) as Research Director at the National Research Council Plant Biotechnology Institute in Saskatoon.

From 1998-2004, Dr.Devine held a series of positions with AgrEvo Canada Inc, Aventis CropScience Inc. and Bayer BioScience NV. He managed the Canadian biotechnology research group for AgrEvo and Aventis CropScience from 1998-2001, and from 2001-2004 was based in Gent, Belgium, serving as Head of Technology Identification, Assessment and Acquisition for BioScience division of Aventis CropScience, and later Bayer CropScience. This group was responsible for coordinating technology evaluation, licensing agreements and collaborations in support of BioScience research.

From 1987 to 1998 Dr.Devine held a faculty position in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan, and served as Department Head from 1994-1998.

Dr.Devine holds a B.Sc. from Glasgow University (Scotland), and graduate degrees in Crop Science from the University of Guelph.

Art Froehlich – Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Mr. Froehlich is a Partner in AdFarm, one of North Americas largest Agriculture Communications Companies. AdFarm, with offices in Calgary AB, Winnipeg MB, Guelph ON, Fargo ND, and Kansas City, MO works with many world leading agricultural organizations providing marketing, communications, business planning and consulting services. In addition to his role at AdFarm, Mr. Froehlich is the Chair of Genome Alberta and the Alberta Agricultural Research Institute. Mr. Froehlich also sits on the Boards of many Private and Public sector organizations including Prince Rupert Grain, Canterra Seeds, ATB Financial, Alberta Science and Research Authority, Science Alberta Foundation, Alberta Life Science Institute and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. Mr.   Froehlich was also Co-Chair of the ABIC 2007 Conference held in Calgary.

Mr. Froehlich holds a B.Sc. (Agriculture) from the University of Saskatchewan and an Executive MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. His professional career has included Sr. Executive positions with Hoechst Canada Inc., Alberta Wheat Pool and Westcan Malting. He has mentored young Entrepreneurs in the Business Development Bank of Canada “Young Entrepreneurs Program” and continues to mentor young Agrologists for the Alberta Institute of Agrologists. Mr.   Froehlich is still active in primary agriculture raising registered Red Angus cattle, grains and oilseeds on his farm in Saskatchewan.

Peter Welters - Cologne, Germany
Dr. Welters is CEO of Phytowelt GreenTechnologies GmbH, a fusion of GreenTec and Phytowelt, located in Nettetal (head office) and Cologne (R&D). The company offers laboratory and know-how services in agbiotech, e.g. somatic hybridization, tissue culture, marker technologies, contract studies and project coordination. After studying chemistry, biochemistry and food chemistry in Germany, Peter spent four years at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, there obtaining his Diploma and PhD. He worked in Jeff Schell’s group on promoter control in legume/rhizobia nitrogen-fixing symbioses. After three years at the University of California, San Diego, in the laboratories of Maarten Chrispeels and Scott EMr., researching protein transport regulation in plants and yeasts, he was chosen as head of the Production of Pharmaceutical Proteins in Plants project in Rouen, France. Dr.Welters' innovative ideas led to the foundation of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, which became Phytowelt GmbH in 1998. Four years later, he became CEO of GreenTec GmbH, a spin-off company of the Max Planck Institute, founded by Schell, Klaus Hahlbrock, Frederico Salamini, and Heinz Saedler. Phytowelt GreenTechnologies GmbH then was founded in January 2006.

Brigitte Weston - Durham, NC, USA
Dr. Weston is the Global Development Manager, Herbicide Tolerant Oilseeds and Wheat, for BASF Plant Science L.L.C. Brigitte joined BASF Plant Science in this capacity in October 2005.
Dr.Weston was formerly with Bayer Crop Science, Inc. in the position of Global Development Manager, Canola and OSR. Brigitte earned her PhD from the University of Saskatchewan and her M.Sc. and B.Sc. from Carleton University in Ottawa. Prior to moving into her previous position with Bayer Crop Science in 2002, she worked as the Elite Event Coordinator, Canola/OSR for Plant Genetic SysteMs. / Aventis CropScience based in Belgium (1997 - 2002). From 1991 until 1997, Brigitte was a research associate for AgrEvo Canada and Hoechst Canada in Saskatoon and participated in the development of Liberty Link canola, the first GM-canola crop registered in North America. At BASF, Brigitte coordinates global development activities for new herbicide tolerant traits in canola / OSR, sunflower and wheat until regulatory approval is attained and until the trait is technically released to BASF’s marketing organization.  

Clive James
In 1990, Dr. James founded ISAAA, a not-for-profit charitable organization, established to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and the acquisition and transfer of crop biotechnology applications from the industrial countries, for the benefit of resource-poor farmers in the developing world. The mission of ISAAA is to alleviate hunger and poverty in the developing countries.

An agricultural scientist, Dr. James received his formal training in the UK with a first degree in agriculture from the University of Wales, followed by a PhD from Cambridge University. Prior to his association with ISAAA he was Deputy Director General at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, where he worked with the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who was the founding patron of ISAAA. The last twenty-five years have been spent living and/or working in the developing countries of Asia, Latin America, and Africa and devoted to agricultural research & development issues, and crop biotechnology. He has served, as Senior Agricultural Adviser to the Canadian Bilateral Aid Agency (CIDA), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and has consulted for many international development agencies including United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and many international philanthropic foundations, including the Rockefeller and Hitachi Foundations.

Dr. James has published internationally-recognized Annual Reviews on the Global Status of GM crops, and their contribution to global food, feed, fiber, and fuel security, since 1996 when GM crops were first commercialized.

Jennifer Thomson- South Africa
Co-Chair ABIC 2011, Johannesburg, South Africa
September 6 - 9
Jennifer has a BSc in Zoology from the University of Cape Town (UCT), an MA in Genetics from Cambridge University and a PhD in Microbiology from Rhodes University, South Africa. After a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard, she was a Lecturer and Assoc. Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand and then started and ran the Laboratory for Molecular and Cell Biology for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. She was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Microbiology at UCT in 1988, a position she held for 12 years. She won the L’Oreal/UNESCO prize for Women in Science for Africa in 2004 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Sorbonne University, Paris in 2005. Her main research interests are the development of maize resistant to the African endemic Maize streak virus and tolerant to drought. She has published two books on the subject of Genetically Modified Organisms: Genes for Africa and Seeds for the Future. She is currently Emeritus Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UCT.
 

Diran Makinde - South Africa
Co-Chair ABIC 2011, Johannesburg, South Africa
September 6 – 9
Diran Makinde is the Director, NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (A Program of African Union) African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He is the immediate past Director of the NEPAD West African Biosciences Network in Dakar, Senegal. He earned the degrees of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a PhD in Veterinary Physiology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and a postgraduate Diploma in Neurophysiology from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Prior to his current appointment, he was in academia from 1978-2007 with teaching experience from the universities of Ibadan (Nigeria), Zimbabwe and Venda (South Africa) where he served as Dean, School of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (1997-2001). His research interests reside in the field of gastrointestinal physiology of monogastrics which brought him into the area of biosafety. He is well published and was a C-rated scientist as evaluated (1998) by the South Africa National Research Foundation. He is a member, from inception, and former President and Board of Director, AfricaBio, a non-profit making biotechnology stakeholders association based in South Africa and was in-charge of biosafety regulatory issues.

NZ BIO - New Zealand
Chair ABIC 2012, Rotorua, New Zealand
September 2 -6, 2012
Michelle joined NZ BIO from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's investment team where she specialized in attracting foreign investment into New Zealand's Biotechnology and Food & Beverage sectors. She has worked with major multinational corporations, international biotechnology companies and venture capital funds to attract investment and partnerships into New Zealand companies.

Michelle’s experience includes working as a scientist to identify potential drug targets for the common fungal pathogen Candida albicans. She has also worked in environmental consultancy in Auckland and lectured in environmental engineering at Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT).

Within government she has worked at the Health Research Council on the creation of cross-government research initiatives to address a range of human health and environmental issues. She has held a range of positions within NZTE and worked in Auckland, London and New York. Michelle has an Honours degree in Biochemistry from the University of Otago where she was awarded the Proudfoot Scholarship in Experimental Science and the Edson Prize in Biochemistry. She holds a PhD in Protein Biochemistry from Massey University.

Rick Smith – Calgary, AB, Canada
Co-Chair ABIC 2013, Calgary, AB, Canada
September 15 – 18
Rick Smith is Chairman of the Board of SemBioSys Genetics Inc. (TSX:SBS); Director of Commercial Solutions Inc. (TSX:CSA), Co-Chair of BioAlberta and Director of AVAC Ltd. He has significant senior management experience in the life sciences area, including human pharmaceuticals, animal health and plant sciences with Eli Lilly and Company, as well as several commercialization initiatives in plant biotechnology. He retired at the end of 2005 as President and CEO of Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc.,
a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company.