Dr Christian Patermann is a programme Director for the European Commission. Christian has studied Law, Economics and Languages in Germany, Switzerland and Spain and completed his Doctoral Thesis in Law at the University of Bonn in 1969. After working in the Federal Ministry of Science and Education, he became Science Counsellor at the German Embassy in Washington D.C., USA. Following senior posts in the Ministry of Research and Technology he became the Programme Director for “Environment” Research at the Research Directorate-General of the European Commission in 1996, where he conceived and implemented the 4th, 5th and 6th RTD Framework Programmes. Since January 2004 Christian has been Programme Director for Biotechnology, Agriculture & Food Research.

Dr Laurent Bochereau is Head of Safety of Food Production Systems for the European Commission. He gained a Laureate from Ecole Polytechnique and ENGREF in Paris, a Master’s degree from the University of California and a PhD from the University of Paris VI. After spending several years working as a research project leader at CEMAGREF, he served two years in the French Ministry for Research. He then joined the European Commission in 1995 and worked several years as assistant to the Director for Life Sciences before taking his current Head of Unit functions. His unit covers a wide range of topics including animal and plant production systems, animal and plant health, non-food uses and traceability, as well as providing scientific support to European agriculture, rural development, and forestry policies.

Dr Piero Venturi, is EPOBIO’s Scientific Officer for the European Commission and has a degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Bologna. Piero obtained his PhD in Agricultural Engineering with the Italian Ministry of Scientific Research. He worked for several years as researcher at Polytechnic University of Madrid and Wageningen Agricultural University, dealing with energy crops production and non-food chains modelling. From 1999 he was lecturer of ‘Agricultural Mechanisation’ and ‘Energy Integrated Systems’ at the University of Bologna and worked on the development of non food chains for several destinations. In 2005 he joined the European Commission as Research Officer dealing with Plant Production Systems, Plant Health, Non Food Uses and Rural Development.

Dr Antoinette A. Betschart is the Associate Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the premier food and agricultural research organization in the United States with over 9000 scientists and support staff in research centers and extension stations throughout the nation. Antoinette previously served as Director of the eight-state ARS Pacific West Area, where she was awarded the prestigious 2003 Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service for outstanding leadership in directing the Area’s expanding and dynamic multi-million dollar research program.

Dr Judith B St John is the Deputy Administrator for Crop Production and Protection of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Program Staff, Judy provides leadership for the Agency’s research programs conducted by more than 2000 Ph.D. level scientists. She has served ARS as Associate Deputy Administrator, Director of the Plant Sciences Institute in Beltsville, MD, as Research Leader of the Weed Science Laboratory in Beltsville and as a research plant physiologist there, as well. As a member of the US-EC Biotechnology Task Force, she has been a leader in establishing research priorities and scientific liaisons between US and EC scientists. In 2001, President George W. Bush awarded her the rank of Distinguished Executive in recognition of sustained extraordinary accomplishments and exemplary leadership.

Eileen Herrera, an International Affairs Specialist at the ARS Office of International Research Programs (OIRP), has primary responsibility for ARS international activities with Europe and Sub Saharan Africa. She has over 16 years of experience in planning, managing and implementing international research and technology transfer projects around the world. She has successfully implemented projects between USDA-ARS and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria, with the Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Texcoco, Mexico, and with the World Agro-Forestry Centre (ICRAF). She helped to establish the cooperation between the United States and the European Commission in molecular approaches to enhancing biobased product development, including biofuels.

Professor Dianna Bowles is the lead partner of the EPOBIO consortium. She directs the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) at the University of York, an academic research centre focussing on plant and microbial sciences to benefit society, that recently was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. She holds the Weston Chair of Biochemistry and has over 30 years’ experience in plant biochemistry, with current research aimed at the understanding of the role of glycosylation in regulating the bioactivity of small molecules. She founded the Plant Journal and was the journal’s Chief Editor for 11 years. She has worked extensively with the UK Research Councils, and national and international Government agencies to develop plant sciences, their applications and non-food crop policy. Dianna chairs the UK’s Knowledge Transfer Network: Bioscience for Business.

David Clayton is the EPOBIO Project Officer and has over 30 years experience in the development of policy for the UK Government. For the last 8 years he has been responsible for the promotion of non-food crops as renewable and sustainable resources. His recent work included drafting the UK Non-Food Crops Strategy and advice to government ministers. He was responsible for EU regimes for non-food crops and for UK legislation. Before becoming the EPOBIO Project Officer David was Secretary to a Task Force set up to review government policy and make recommendations on expanding the use of biomass for energy.

Dr Jim Coombs from CPL Press, UK, is the partner in the EPOBIO project responsible for the EPOBIO website. Jim is the owner/director of CPL Press, has over 40 years experience in research, industry, consultancy, management and publishing, with an emphasis on life sciences, biomass energy and renewable bioproducts, analysis, process modelling, environment, agriculture and food - including aspects of photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, anaerobic digestion, fermentation, composting, cellulose hydrolysis and biopolymers.

Professor Markus Pauly from Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Germany, is a Plant Cell Walls Flagship Leader in the EPOBIO project. Markus has over 13 years research expertise in biochemistry, plant molecular biology and molecular physiology. He is an independent group leader at the Max-Plank Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology in Germany. His main scientific interest is in the relationship between the structure of plant cell wall polysaccharides and their function. He makes extensive use of enzymatic degradation of wall polymers as an analytical tool.

Professor Sarah Hake from Plane Gene Expression Centre, USA, is a Plant Cell Walls Flagship Leader in the EPOBIO project. Sarah has over 25 years of research expertise in plant development biology and genetics. She is Center Director of the Plant Gene Expression Center and Adjunct Professor at University of California, Berkeley. A worldleading development biologist, she is starting to apply her expertise to increasing the utility of sustainable resources.

Dr Ralf Möller is a desk researcher for the EPOBIO project and is responsible for the Plant Cell Walls Flagship. His background is in Wood Science and Technology. He specialized in the area of wood formation. For the last 3 years he worked as research scientist in the cell wall group of the New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited and was responsible for the development of a tissue culture based assay system for the functional testing of genes involved in secondary cell wall formation.

Professor Yves Poirier from the Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, is a Biopolymers Flagship Leader in the EPOBIO project. Yves is Director of the Department of Plant Molecular Biology at the University of Lausanne. His work over the last 10 years has had two key themes - the metabolic engineering of plants for the synthesis of polyhydroxyalkanaotes (PHA) and phosphate uptake and distribution in plants, in particular the study of the gene family PHO1 which is involved in the export of inorganic phosphate to the vascular system.

Professor Bill Orts from the Agriculture Research Service, USA is a Biopolymers Flagship Leader in the EPOBIO project. Bill is a research leader at the Bioproduct, Chemistry and Engineering Research Unit in Albany, California with experience in the development and characterisation of natural biopolymers for use as renewable and/or biodegradable plastics, coatings and additives. Specific projects focus on the development of wheat starch-based foams and plastics for use in food and beverage containers.

Dr Jan van Beilen from the Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, is a desk researcher for the EPOBIO project and is responsible for the Biopolymers Flagship. After MSc work on NAD-biosynthesis at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, Jan worked for one year at Genencor in San Francisco. He then returned to Groningen for his PhD studies on Alkane Degradation by Pseudomonas putida, again in Groningen. From 1994, he headed a team working on alkane oxygenase diversity and applications at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. Since January 2005, he investigated the current status and prospects of research in the biopolymer field.

Professor Sten Stymne from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden, is a Plant Oils Flagship Leader in the EPOBIO project. Sten has been one of the leading scientists in plant lipid biochemistry for over 20 years. He is establishing a Strategic Research Centre for the production and utilisation of vegetable oils by industry at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. His work on a pathway for triacylglycerol biosynthesis has been the working assumption for research in the area for 15 years.

Professor John Dyer from the United States Department of Agriculture, USA, is a Plant Oils Flagship Leader in the EPOBIO project. John has over 17 years of experience in protein biochemistry and molecular/cellular biology. His work focuses on the production of industrial oils in plants, with an emphasis on understanding the molecular and cellular events involved in channelling of fatty acids into storage oils.

Dr Anders Carlsson from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden, is the desk researcher for the EPOBIO project and is responsible for the Plant Oils Flagship. Anders research has for more than 12 years been focused on different aspects of oil biosynthesis in plants. He has often used a molecular approach in order to identify genes coding for enzymes responsible for specific pathways in the biosynthesis of lipids. For the past 6 years much of Anders attention has been turned towards understanding the biosynthetic pathways responsible for the storage of lipids in the seeds. An area that specifically has attracted his interest is the difficulty so far to genetically engineer plants to produce high levels of unusual fatty acids. Progress in this field will allow us to develop new oilseed plants that produce designed industrial oils for the chemical industry.

Dr Marcel Toonen from Plant Research International, The Netherlands, is a partner in EPOBIO and is responsible for the Environmental and Agronomic Analysis Support Theme. Marcel obtained his PhD at Wageningen Agricultural University on embryo-forming cells in carrot suspension cultures in 1997. During his postdoc period at the Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen he studied the role of heat shock proteins during microspore embryogenesis. Since 1998 he has been working at Plant Research International on improvement of industrial crops. The work covers a broad spectrum of research themes which include a hemp breeding programme, molecular improvement of fibre quality and chain project to develop new fibre-based products.

Dr Elma Salentijn from Plant Research International, The Netherlands, is a desk researcher for the EPOBIO project and is responsible for the Environmental and Agronomic Analysis Support Theme. Elma started as a junior scientist in the department of Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Utrecht. In 1995 she obtained her PhD at Wageningen Agricultural University on the molecular characterisation of the beet cyst nematode (Heterodera schachtii) resistance locus Hs1. Currently, she is involved in the Celiac Disease Consortium, studying the gluten genes of wheat and in the molecular mutation breeding of the industrial oil crop Crambe abyssinica using an EMS-mutated population.

Dr Uwe Schneider from Hamburg University, Germany, is a partner in the EPOBIO project and responsible for the Economic Potential Including Impacts from Regulations / Legislation Support Theme. Uwe is assistant professor in the research unit Sustainability and Global Change at Hamburg University. His main research focuses on the economic and environmental impact assessment of policies and technical change in the agricultural and forest sectors. Recent work involves agricultural implications of climate policies related to land use, carbon sinks, bioenergy demand, and animal production. Currently, he is the coordinator and main developer of the European Non-Food Agricultural (ENFA) model.

Professor Giorgos Sakellaris from National Hellenic Research Foundation, Greece, is a partner in the EPOBIO project responsible for the Analysis of Public and Politicians Attitudes Support Theme. Giorgos is a Senior Researcher in the Institute of Biotechnology at the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens (Greece). He is the head of the communication office of the Institute and he is responsible for the ethical legal and social issues of biotechnology and he participates in the Public Perceptions Group of the European Federation of Biotechnology. He is a member of the GMO panel at EFSA, member of the International Research and Regulation network on Biosafety and member of the advisory committee of the European Parliament on GMOs.

Maria Paschou from the National Hellenic Research Foundation, Greece, is a desk researcher for the EPOBIO project and is responsible for the Analysis of Public and Politicians Attitudes Support Theme. Maria has an educational background in the social sciences. She has studied social anthropology and social policy in the Panteion University of Athens and received her MSc degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she studied Social Research Methods and Social and Public Communication. Her particular research interests are public attitudes to science, social representations of biotechnology and science communication.

Dr Louisa Wright from the University of York, United Kingdom, is a desk researcher for the EPOBIO project and is responsible for the Science-Society Communication Support Theme. Louisa has worked as an Information and Funding Officer for the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) for 2 years. During this time she has been involved in information researching, writing and preparing funding applications, developing science outreach activities and science communication. Louisa has a scientific background in plant molecular biology.

Professor Philippe Soucaille from Metabolix Explorer, France, is a partner in the EPOBIO project. Philippe has 20 years research expertise in microbial physiology, strategic targets, microbial cell factories, biocatalyst development and metabolic engineering. Philippe has been a member of the French Commission for evaluation and funding of research in Biochemistry (CNRS) since 1996, co-ordinator of the French commission for the promotion and development of Metabolic Pathway Engineering from 1998-2000 and a member of the Editorial board of Metabolic Engineering since 2004. Phillipe was project leader at Genecor International, USA from 1999-2002, has been a Professor at INSA since 1990 and CSO of Metabolic Explorer since 2002.

Dr Francesco Degli Innocenti from Novamont S.p.A., Italy is a partner in the EPOBIO project. Francesco is the R&D Vice-Director in Novamont and a biologist (University of Florence). After a Max-Planck Fellowship at Max-Planck Institut für Molekulare Genetik, Berlin, Germany he became Fermentation Group Supervisor at the Biotechnology Development Centre at SCLAVO (now Chiron Italy), Siena, Italy. From 1988 he was Group-Leader of the Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology at the Biotechnology Research Centre for Agriculture, AGRIMONT in Massa-Carrara, Italy and in 1991 became Environmental Affairs Manager in Novamont, located in Novara, Italy. His current activities include studies of biodegradability of plastics and definition of new test methods and standardisation at ISO, CEN, ASTM, UNI (convenor of CEN TC249WG9).

Gary Punter from British Sugar plc, UK, is a partner in the EPOBIO project. He is head of technology development for British Sugar plc. He is responsible for research, engineering & commercial development for new business within the company. As a Chartered Chemical Engineer, his expertise is in strategic development, industrial research and managing investment in new manufacturing technology. This has culminated in investments of over £60m in recent years. Current projects include development of chromatographic technology and commercialisation of bioextractives and bioethanol.

Katy Hall, Managing Director of CPL Press, has qualifications in IT and extensive experience in the design, programming and management of databases and websites, as well as in editing and publishing of printed material, from newsletters and brochures to multi-volume scientific texts.

Elaine Hughson from CNAP provides administrative support for EPOBIO.