Background & Expertise

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• Develop and advance a portfolio of product concept projects as a technical expert and Process Lead on the Biofertility Agile Innovation Team. Work closely with the commercial organization to mature new product ideas in our development pipeline with an eye toward customer desirability, commercial viability, and technical feasibility.

• Work closely with Regulatory Affairs to ensure project compliance with local, state, and federal regulations for lab and field testing of wild and genetically engineering microbes. Interact directly with the USDA to educate the agency on new technologies, product concepts, and company interests.

• Consult in discussions with customers and external companies to explore opportunities, develop relationships, and maintain co-development partnerships.

• Represent Novozymes at technical and industry relevant conferences and external events, frequently communicating information to broad audiences of different levels of technical understanding.

• Previously led the nitrogen fixation development project which continues as part of our innovation team project portfolio. Coordinated a team of 40 cross-functional researchers with the goal of replacing chemical fertilizers in corn with nitrogen fixing bacteria. Set project goals, aligned expectations with leadership, and divided project resources and responsibilities into relevant teams to execute the scientific strategy.

• More than doubled the N fixation ability of dozens of microbes using genetic engineering and identified candidate strains that increased plant nitrogen content in early field trials.

• Led the Microbial Discovery project in the Monsanto-Novozymes BioAg Alliance. Coordinated the activities of twelve project team members and directly managed four research associates. 

• Was responsible for the annual goal setting and reviews of direct reports as well as their individual development plan and yearly salary adjustments.

• Developed novel microbial isolation strategies to obtain new and diverse microorganisms with potential to enhance plant growth. Ensured thousands of microorganisms were risk assessed, characterized, and prioritized for on time delivery to more than 500,000 corn and soy field trials ran every year of the Alliance.  

• Established high throughput genome sequencing workflows for thousands of microbes per year and implemented novel high throughput characterization assays.  Used the results of these assays in combination with comparative genomics to predict plant growth promoting physiologies and prioritize microbes for field testing. 

• Built a multi-year product development pipeline that identified dozens of microbial product candidates that increased corn and soy crop yields in the field. Top strains are in the final stages of development before launch as biological inoculant products.