AGRIMEET2024

Kathleen Hefferon received her PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and currently is on faculty in the Department of Microbiology, Cornell University. Kathleen also has a visiting professor appointment in the Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto. Kathleen's research interests include global health, food insecurity and plant biotechnology.

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Daniel Kallinger was Global Green founder and owner . He was born in Austria and develops innovative product solutions for use in organic farming. These include effective microorganisms that fix nitrogen from the air and mobilize nutrients from the soil, such as P and K. The products are applied to the soil or used to coat seeds. Global Green cooperates with the University of Innsbruck, among others.

Lorraine is the Founder and Director of the Australian Regenerative Agriculture Alliance at Southern Cross University. She leads efforts to deliver regenerative agriculture solutions, focusing on climate change mitigation. Lorraine co-designed the world's only Bachelor of Science in Regenerative Agriculture, now Australia's largest agricultural degree. As Director of the Farming Together Program for the Australian Government, she has supported over 28,500 farmers, fishers, and foresters in collaborative projects, including establishing Cooperatives. Lorraine has received several awards for her leadership and engagement in rural communities. She is also a registered carbon farmer and beef cattle trader, and holds previous positions in regional development, agribusiness, and economic security. Lorraine is completing her Ph.D. in Ecological Economics, comparing resilience between regenerative and conventional grazing systems in a changing climate.

Dr. Vivian C.H. Wu is the Research Leader of the Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit, one of the six Research Units at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)-Agriculture Research Service (ARS) Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California. She currently also serves in the USDA ARS Research Leaders Advisory Council (RLAC). In 2021, she served as the acting Associate Area Director of USDA-ARS Pacific West Area (PWA), providing leadership and line management to the program and staff in the PWA, which covers eight states with over 2000 employees. Before joining USDA ARS in 2015, Dr. Wu was a Full Professor at the University of Maine, where she led the Pathogenic Microbiology Laboratory. Dr. Wu is a fundholder of a $7 million annual budget for three USDA-ARS CRIS research projects in addition to more than $20 million in external competitive grants she received for her research programs. She is the Project Director (PD) on 90% of these external competitive grants. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Food Safety. She serves on 16 international journal editorial boards. Dr. Wu and her team’s cutting-edge science have immensely benefitted the food sector and have significantly impacted food supplies and public health. She received a multitude of awards, including the 2012 International Bimbo Pan-American Nutrition, Food Science and Technology Award (out of 107 nominees) for her achievement in the development of biosensors, the 2012 Distinguished Service Award from the Chinese American Food Society for her service contribution to the society, and 2019 USDA Technology Transfer Innovation Fund Award for the commercialization of her biosensors. She received the Chinese American Food Society (CAFS) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and CAFS Professional Achievement Award in 2020. She received National Chung-Hsing University Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 2020 for her outstanding professional achievement. She received the 2022 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Achievement Award in Microbial Research for Food Safety in Honor of Gerhard J. Haas for her innovative research into the microbial aspects of food safety. Her research accomplishments have also been translated into successfully training undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral research scientists, resulting in more than 28 prestigious national and international research awards. She has graduated seven Ph.D. students, 24 M.S. thesis students, three undergraduate honors thesis students, 30 undergraduate research capstone students, and nine high school research capstone students.

Dr. Sheng Zhou is a professor at Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences and guest professor at Shanghai Institute of Technology (SIT), Shanghai Ocean University (SOU). He graduated from Nanjing University (China) in 1994 and received Ph.D. from the Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology (Japan) in 2007. He was the visiting scientist in Helmholtz-UFZ of Germany in 2011. He is the executive deputy director of Key Laboratory of Low-carbon Green Agriculture in Southeastern China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, P. R. China, the deputy director of Shanghai Engineering Research Centre of Low-carbon Agriculture, and the vice-president of the Shanghai Society of Soil and Fertilizer. His research focuses on agricultural greenhouse gases mitigation and carbon sequestration as well as non-point source pollution control. He has taken charge of more than 20 research projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, Promotion Project of Agricultural Science Foundation of Shanghai, etc. He published more than 120 research papers in English, Chinese, and Japanese. His research findings of high effectivity of CH4 mitigation by D-WDR technology provides an important pathway to reduce CH4 emission in paddy fields and has been widely recognized, which cited by “Opportunities to Reduce Methane Emissions from Global Agriculture” (2021, Princeton University) and “Progress on the Implementation of China’s Nationally Determined Contributions (2022) ”.

Yanier Acosta Fernández was born on March 13, 1981, in Cienfuegos, Cuba and is a professor and researcher at the Bioplantas Centre, University of Ciego de Ávila Máximo Gómez Báez (UNICA), Ciego de Ávila, Cuba.He completed basic studies until he became an Agricultural Engineer in 2006 at UNICA, where he began his work as a professional. In 2014 he graduated with a Master of Agricultural Sciences and in 2022 he became a Doctor of Agricultural Sciences. He is a collaborating professor at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of UNICA since 2011 and currently he is a Senior Professor and teaches the subjects of Plant Physiology and Seed Production System. Additionally, he is Senior Researcher at the Center for Bioplants attached to UNICA and directs the Department of Cell and Tissue Culture. Dr.C. Yanier Acosta Fernández has directed 23 undergraduate theses (agronomist engineer) and 7 postgraduate theses. He participates in 5 Research Projects related to his theme (Germination and Dormancy of Seeds). He directs a Scientific Group on the subject of Seed Production with more than 15 students from the Agricultural Sciences career. He has more than 25 scientific articles in the last 5 years and has participated in 10 scientific events in the same period of time.

Aleksandar obtained PhD in 2005 for the work that contributed towards a better understanding of the response mechanisms of ionophore-based sensors. As a postdoc at Dublin City University, he worked on real-life applications of ionophore-based sensors and expanded his expertise on materials capable of changing sensing characteristics using external stimuli. As a lecturer, he spent a year University of Portsmouth followed by 11 years at Keele University. Since September 2022, Aleksandar is an Associate Professor at the School of Chemistry at the University of Lincoln. The main focus of his research is development of simple, low-cost sensors that can be used by non-technical personnel. The main aim is to develop tools that will enable more frequent measurements with more granularity that is currently possible with the view of nutrient/pollutant monitoring, increasing standards of water and soil quality, and offering tools for more efficient water/waste management. The fundamental aspect of Aleksandar’s research revolves around development of methodologies for improvement of selectivity and sensitivity of ionophore-based sensors (IBSs), and simplification of their preparation and handling protocols. This is done by utilization of fundamental theoretical principles of IBS response and by development of new materials capable of tuning sensor response. Real-life application aspect of the research involves interaction with engineers and scientists with wide variation of backgrounds and have strong international links mainly in low-to-middle income countries.

Sadiye leads the transformation and gene editing of wheat at the John Innes Centre. Her interest is innovations in transformation and gene editing technologies to meet specific research goals in wheat. She focusses on innovative strategies to further improve wheat transformation and editing technologies. This includes work to further extend the efficiency of wheat transformation and the range of amenable genotypes; as well as to develop advanced genome editing technologies adapted for use in wheat. Sadiye is also an honorary lecturer at the University of East Anglia, UK.

Dr. Abdeen Mustafa Omer (BSc, MSc, PhD) is an Associate Researcher at Energy Research Institute (ERI). He obtained both his PhD degree in the Built Environment and Master of Philosophy degree in Renewable Energy Technologies from the University of Nottingham. He is qualified Mechanical Engineer with a proven track record within the water industry and renewable energy technologies. He has been graduated from University of El Menoufia, Egypt, BSc in Mechanical Engineering. His previous experience involved being a member of the research team at the National Council for Research/Energy Research Institute in Sudan and working director of research and development for National Water Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Sudan. He has been listed in the book WHO’S WHO in the World 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. He has published over 300 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 200 review articles, 30 books and 150 chapters in books.

After obtaining a BSc (Hons, 2010) and Masters (2014) from the University of Edinburgh in the areas of Biology and Ecosystem Health, Frances began work as a Fisheries Researcher with the University of Highlands and Islands. During this time, her research focus was on the carbon footprint of Scottish fisheries, where she worked closely with the Scottish pelagic fishing industry to map out their environmental impacts. Moving on from this, she went on to obtain a PhD in Marine Science with the University of Aberdeen in 2021, which extended the work further, exploring the potential role of Scottish pelagic fish in achieving Net Zero and improving national health. Her current research focus remains on food security and the pressures of climate change on our food systems. Now working as a Life Cycle Analyst with the James Hutton Institute in Scotland, she specialises in agricultural research towards Net Zero, in particular having interest in the role of controlled system agriculture in sustainable global food production. Her current work revolves around the environmental impacts and of differing food production methods and how they compare under the lens of both global demand and sustainability. It is the aim of her research to assess the current impacts of existing methods and identify ways in which this can be reduced or otherwise improved. This ranges from comparison of local production systems – e.g. vertical farming and ‘green’ agriculture through to imported versus locally produced food items.

I am working is focuses on the valorization and preservation of plants with aromatic and medicinal properties (PAM) for therapeutic and industrial applications, such as pharmaceutical and agri-food industries. Safeguarding wild flora, local varieties, and specifically plants with medicinal uses, is crucial for conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem balance. Our post-doctoral work has targeted numerous spontaneous and cultivated medicinal and aromatic species deserving of recognition and promotion. Our strategies primarily revolved around positioning the medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP) sector and defining research priorities based on the economic interests of relevant countries. Additionally, we established a specific incentive framework for MAP. In collaboration with national and international academic institutions, our research focused on local species (both spontaneous and cultivated). We primarily conducted analyses on essential oil compositions, determination of bioactive molecules (such as total polyphenols, flavonoids, flavanols, tannins, anthocyanins in essential oils and extracts), and tests of their biological activities (including antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, enzymatic activities, etc.). Furthermore, we sought to establish correlations between these parameters to facilitate the exploitation and rational utilization of these species.

He Completed PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Master in Electrical Engineering, in the Optimization research line at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Completed in June 2012). Graduated in Information Systems from Faculdade Infórium de Tecnologia (2007). He is currently a University Professor at the University Center of Belo Horizonte (UNIBH) and UNA University Center. Advisor at Anima Educação. He has experience in Electrical Engineering, with emphasis on Telecommunications Systems. He also acts as a technology consultant for micro-enterprises in various segments. Reviewer for IEEE Access Magazine. Researcher of Artificial Intelligence applications and Mobile Applications focused on Health. He worked 13 years in non-military satellite communications technology. Member of the Professional Ethics Committee of the University Center of Belo Horizonte (UNIBH ). Google Trainer and AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner.

Professor Salimia is the President of Nablus University for Vocational and Technical Education. He has a PhD in plant science (horticulture) / Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, GREECE (2000-2004); MSc in protected cultivation and post-harvest biology / Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania / CIHEAM, GREECE (1996-1997) and BSc in horticulture science and technology / University of Aden (1990-1994). He served as the Vice President of Hebron Univeristy (2018-2020); Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie (July 2014-August 2015); Chairman of Palestinian National Committee of SESAME (2019-2022); and the Dean of the College of Agriculture at Hebron University (2007-2011); Head of Agricultural Education at the MoEH (1998-2000); and a member of Palestinian National Committee for Accreditation of Higher Certificates / Natural Sciences (2015-2022). He has published numerous publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals; attended numerous international conferences; supervised and participated in the examination committees of (25) graduate students; granted two distinguished international awards; secured several research & developmental grants from different international sources; and participated in many international visits and scientific activities. Professor Basheer-Salimia has taught different courses for postgraduate as well as undergraduate levels. More over, he worked as a visiting scientist and post-doctorate in many developed countries (USA, Germany, Austria, FAO/IAEA, Turkey, Spain, France, etc). His research interests include but are not limited to plant stress eco-physiology, plant genetic resources, climate change, and food security.

Dr Sharaf Al-Tardeh, is the coordinator of applied biology program at Palestine polytechnic university (PPU) (since 2017) and chairman of Palestinian Society for Biological Sciences (PSBS) (since 2020). He has a PhD in plant Physiology and anatomy from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE (2003- 2008). He has MSc. in Food Quality Management from Mediterranean.Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAIC), A constitute Institute of the International Center of Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) (200-2002) and BSc. Biological Sciences/ Yarmouk University, Jordan (1996-2000). Al-Tardeh is a member of renewable energy & environment research unit (REERU) / (PPU) (since 2017), member of the national team to restore research priorities for the water, environment and agriculture sectors, Ministry Of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Palestine (since 2022). He has published numerous publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and conferences. He was the Chairman of the Annual Conference of Palestinian Society for Biological sciences (4-5th, 2021). He is/was a supervisor and member of examination committees of more than 60 undergraduate students; one master student, four PhD student and one Post doc. Dr Al-Tardeh participated in many national and international workshops, visits and scientific activities. He hold many funded research projects i.e., Palestinian German Ccooperation (PALGER) program, Germany Palestinian Scientific bridge (GPSB), EUPI Research Grants, and Palestinian American Research Center (PARC). He has taught different courses for undergraduates. His research interests include but are not limited to plant stress physiology, anatomy and nutrition, soil amendments, wastewater treatment, Rehabilitation of the quarries and environmental pollutions.