Chris Urch

I did my first degree at Cambridge reading natural sciences and chemistry.  I stayed at Cambridge to complete my PhD on organic synthesis with Professor Ian Fleming and then moved to the United States to undertake post-doctoral research, again on organic synthesis, with Professor Barry Trost.  On returning to this country I started work for ICI Agrochemicals where I remained for 16 years as it became Zeneca and eventually Syngenta.  During this time, I worked on both fungicide and insecticide research, principally sterol biosynthesis inhibitors and acetylcholine receptor agonists respectively.

After leaving Syngenta I joined Amura, a start-up company in Cambridge.  Amura was developing antibiotics and in particular a β-lactamase inhibitor.  I stayed with Amura for three years and then joined Glycoform for six years, a spin-out from the University of Oxford, where I was the Research Director.  Glycoform researched various ways of improving pharmaceuticals by the use of sugars.

After leaving Glycoform I worked as a consultant, increasingly for Redag Crop Protection who are researching novel agrochemicals.  Four years ago, I joined them full time as Head of Chemistry.

Jeroen Meeussen

Jeroen Meeussen is a plant pathologist by training. On 1st September 2015 he started work as coordinator for the EU Minor Uses Coordination Facility.  From October 2010 until July 2015 Jeroen Meeussen has been working in Brussels for the European Commission (DG SANTE) on pesticide issues, including ‘minor uses’ and biopesticides. Before that he worked as the EU coordinator for plant protection products for the Dutch Board for the Authorisation of Plant Protection Products and Biocides (Ctgb). Since 2005 Jeroen chairs the Expert Group on Biopesticides (EGBP) as part of the Pesticide Programme of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Allister Phillips

Allister Phillips is one of the founding partners of AgbioInvestor and heads the company’s seed and trait division. Since its foundation in 2017, AgbioInvestor has grown to rapidly establish itself as the leading source of news and analysis for the global crop protection and seeds & traits industries.

Allister began his career with Phillips McDougall, initially as a senior analyst specialising in the global seeds & traits industries, and later as the company’s associate director where he led the company’s overall seed & traits data and analytical effort.  More recently, Allister has moved to form AgbioInvestor, a new company that draws on considerable industry expertise and knowledge to guide professionals operating in the crop protection and seeds & traits industries in their understanding of market fundamentals and trends in the global traded seed industry.

You can reach AgbioInvestor through its website agbioinvestor.com.

Dr. Fideline Tchuenbou-Magaia

Dr Fideline Tchuenbou-Magaia is a senior lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. She has more than 10 year experience in formulation engineering with focus on encapsulation and controlled release of molecules. Dr Tchuenbou-Magaia has developed controlled release formulations with application primarily in food and nutraceuticals, oral healthcare and cosmetics, agrochemical, energy storage and carbon capture. Further information about Dr Tchuenbou-Magaia can be found on the University of Wolverhampton website, https://www.wlv.ac.uk/about-us/our-schools-and-institutes/faculty-of-science-and-engineering/all-faculty-staff/school-of-engineering-staff/dr-fideline-laure-tchuenbou-magaia/

Alaa Emam

For the last two decades, Alaa Emam has been working in life science as a scientific entrepreneur.  All of his work has been gathered for his top invention, GENE HAMMER, the particular applied theory that is one of a kind, solving plant production issues with gene therapy systems promoted organically.

THE GH THEORY was a subject to participate with outstanding organisations, a comprehensive verity of scientific events as well as industrial projects.

Reaching the field ground, by translating his inventions into tailored products worked effectively.

From science to shelf slogan, Emam brought it to the botanical market, it is promising and the future spin doctor plant system.

Matthew Phillips

Tony Liu

Dr. Liu is the Chief Scientific Officer and a Co-Founder of Boragen Inc., a startup that leverages a novel boron chemistry platform to address important crop and animal health problems. Dr. Liu obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry in 2011 from Queen’s University in Canada. Subsequently, he joined Dr. Benkovic’s research group at Pennsylvania State University as a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) postdoctoral research fellow. It is out of this postdoctoral work that Boragen Inc. took shape; now based in North Carolina, Dr. Liu leads Boragen's world-class science and research team in the development of next-generation technologies that will uphold stewardship practices. Over the years Dr. Liu has generated over 30 peer reviewed articles and 9 patents/applications.

Dr Gregory Kemmitt

Dr. Gregory Kemmitt has been part of the Corteva Agriscience (Agriculture Division of DowDupont) disease management R&D program for 24 years.  He has held multiple roles within both the discovery and product development functions with a wide range of experience spanning early stage lead identification through to  post launch product re-registration.  As a current member of the Corteva Fungicide Global Business Line Management Team, he has responsibility for technical input into the short and long term strategy and vision for the Corteva fungicide portfolio. He is an active member of the FRAC Steering Committee and a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.  Kemmitt received a bachelor of science degree in Applied Plant Science  from Wye College, University of London and a doctorate degree in plant pathology from the University College of North Wales.

Professor Robert Edwards

Robert Edwards qualified with a BSc in Biochemistry  (Bath University) and a PhD in Environmental Toxicology (St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, University of London).  His interests are focussed on the biotransformation of synthetic compounds and natural products in plants and the manipulation of these pathways for applications in crop protection.  These interests have been developed through working in both the private and public sector in the UK (Schering Agrochemicals) and USA (Noble Foundation), with an independent research group established in 1991 in the Biology Department at the University of Durham.  In 2008 he became the Head of Biological Sciences at Durham and in 2010 took up a joint position as Chief Scientist at the UK’s Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) and a chair in Crop Protection in the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, University of York.   To further consolidate his interests in basic and applied agrifood research, in March 2014 he took up post as the Head of Agriculture at Newcastle where he continues to direct personal research programmes in crop protection, with a specific focus on the control of wild grasses in cereal crops. Outreach and industrial roles in the farming sector include Chair of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Farmer Scientist Network and the Director of the Institute for Agrifood Research and Innovation formed in 2014 between Newcastle University and Fera Science Ltd.  He is currently the Head of the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Newcastle.

Roger Tripathi

Chris Hartfield

Chris Hartfield’s career within the farming industry started in research, where he spent six years working on the biocontrol of pest insects. He then spent four years working with farmers to deliver UK Government agri-environment schemes, before joining the National Farmers’ Union in 2004. Most of his NFU career has been spent on horticultural policy, heading-up that team for two years. In 2017 Chris joined a new NFU plant health unit as senior regulatory affairs adviser, and also headed-up the NFU’s science and regulatory affairs team for a short while.

His work focusses on the regulatory process and its implications for availability and use of crop protection products, and the relationship with UK regulatory authorities, EU institutions and international regimes. Chris is the NFU policy lead on Brexit implications for pesticides. For the last ten years he’s also led the NFU’s work on bee health and insect pollinators.

Euros Jones

Boaz Inbal

Rebecca Blell

Talk to me about… your business

As a senior scientist at the R&D center at Borregaard, I focus on the understanding and use of the Exilva products in Personal Care, Home Care and Agrochemical applications. I have now been on this adventure for 4 exciting years.

Borregaard operates the world's most advanced biorefinery. By using natural, sustainable raw materials, Borregaard produces advanced and environmentally friendly biochemicals and biomaterials that replace oil-based products. The Borregaard Group has 1080 employees in 16 countries.

Talk to me about…something people may not know about you

Born and raised in Sierra Leone, West Africa. After high school, I decided to become a researcher so I had to move out of that tropical paradise. I travelled quite much and lived in 6 different countries for more than 1 year before the age of 30. I speak 4 languages and understand a few more so I find myself in very awkward situations involuntarily understanding a “secret conversation” on a bus or a train which the person speaking wouldn’t have expected me to understand. It’s a nice ice breaker in many situations. I now live and work in Norway.

Iain Robertson

Iain is Basis and FACTS qualified. Iain carries out all the application of Plant Protection Products. He has been spraying since 1991. In 2007 Iain won Farm Sprayer Operator of the Year (national competition to find best Operator in the UK) he has judged it and is still involved in the competition. He is involved in training new entrants for their certificates to apply pesticides. Iain is a very active member in Syngenta’s Application club involved in the development of new nozzles and technology including closed transfer systems. He is the moderator for a Facebook group for Sprayer Operators with over 3000 members. Iain is also an Adama sponsored entrant into the YEN (yield enhancement network) to oust wheat yield to their potential maximum. 

Iain is married with 2 boys. He used to race speedway bikes, breaking his leg in 2013 in a crash. He didn’t realise and carried on racing winning the next 2 races. He has a great love for motorsports and enjoys the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Iain also manages and coaches an under 12 boys football team.