Manager over production in living materials department.

Lead scientist for Trait Studies conducted to characterize genetically modified crops and support regulatory approvals of Syngenta products.Manage regulatory field and greenhouse studies as Study Director or Study Monitor; manage trials under Good Laboratory Practices Standards (GLPS) as necessary.Contribute to field, greenhouse and laboratory study design, data analysis and data interpretation.Participate in regulatory project teams, setting strategy and developing project plans in conjunction with Regulatory Affairs colleagues.Work closely with other Syngenta functions and with external contract research organizations.

Regulatory Scientist with responsibility for regulatory field trial management, including agronomic and environmental safety assessments of regulated transgenic and non-transgenic crop plants, including canola, soybean, rice, and wheat. Develop and implement study protocols and field trial notebooks for phenotypic and agronomic evaluations and environmental safety studies with regulated crop plants under field conditions. Manage agronomic studies (Study Director) conducted under Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) or internal quality management system. Act as Study Monitor for externally managed regulatory agronomic studies.Coordinate with BASF Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) to ensure GLP compliance.Support regulatory submissions and data defense in primary production countries as well as in key import countries. Ensure high quality standards for field trials, data collection processes and data analysis. Develop high quality and timely regulatory study reports and summary documents.

Assist with direction of Specialty Products research program in the lab and field, evaluating experimental chemistry and formulations against human health pests and household pests such as ticks, fleas, bedbugs, mosquitoes, spiders, ants. Develop and/or implement study plans for GMO, Specialty Products, bioassay screening and other contract research projects.Develop high quality SOPs and protocols under GLP.Analyze data and prepare technical research reports, with data analysis and report generation in ARM or other required electronic notebooks and statistical programsCoordinate with the Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) to ensure compliance with GLP regulations.As appropriate, function in the role of Study Director and/or Principal Investigator in studies under contract to Eurofins Agroscience Services. Provide Sponsors and Eurofins Management with regular status reports, facilitate regular communications with other teams / remote bases.Participate in the business appraisal and review program.Provide training in agronomic research, assessments, use of ARM, pollination techniques, etc. to other members of staff.

Research scientist with responsibility for tobacco improvement. Integration of field, laboratory and greenhouse tobacco breeding and genetics program. Development and improvement of all types of tobacco for current industry needs, using modern and classic breeding tools and methods. Principal Scientist for field, laboratory and greenhouse tobacco breeding and genetics program. Responsible for development and improvement of flue cured, burley and non-traditional types of tobacco for current industry needs. Emphasis on unique, proprietary traits. Program tools include proprietary breeding lines, wild species and primitive cultivar germplasm, molecular markers for disease resistance, mutation breeding, haploids, and tissue culture.

Developed a GLP compliant (Good Laboratory Practices) field and laboratory research station with diverse agricultural and specialty product research capabilities. Directed versatile research program at two lab/field facilities in North Carolina.Developed and marketed diverse capabilities to address industry needs, including research with GM crops, greenhouse insecticide screening program, field to lab translational studies, residue studies (GLP), greenhouse water management studies, field efficacy trials; ensured GLP compliance.Assisted with establishment of Specialty Products research program in the lab and field, evaluating experimental chemistry and formulations against human health pests and household pests such as ticks, fleas, bedbugs, mosquitoes, spiders, ants. Established target pest cultures for station research – lepidopteran, mite and aphid species and perform non-target organism research with honeybees. Developed and trained staff, with direct supervision of five professional staff including three research scientists.Budget and management responsibility for 55 acre research farm, 10,000 sqare foot lab space, 4200 square feet greenhouses space.

Managed portfolio of over 300 UNC technologies, including medical devices, computer science, physics and environmental engineering. Represented UNC in licensing negotiations. Developed and structured negotiation term sheets for commercial partnerships.Promoted UNC technology portfolios and inventors through marketing presentations and technology showcase events.

Managed Product Development, Marketing and Production. Disciplines included Genetics, Biotechnology, Plant Tissue Culture, Microbiology, Developmental Biology, Zoology and Botany.Managed Department and R&D lab, including supervision and mentoring of 3-5 staff.Maintained, improved and produced genetic crop strains for research and education, including corn, soybean, tobacco, sorghum, tomato, and Brassica. Established new stocks of plants, animals and cultures for science research and education.Developed, marketed, and provided technical support for innovative and profitable hands-on science education kits and materials. Product areas/disciplines included Genetics, Botany, Plant Tissue Culture, Zoology, Biotechnolgy, AP Biology, and Forensic Science.Developed business and marketing plans, had budget oversight, negotiated licensing agreements.Developed safety, care and maintenance protocols for production lab and classrooms.Created, conducted and facilitated hands-on workshops for life science educators at national, regional and state educators’ conferences.Wrote proposal and received funding from the National Council for Agricultural Education to develop student manual and an updated teachers’ manual for a national agricultural science curriculum, “Biotechnology for Plants, Animals and the Environment”.

Conducted quantitative genetics research on the effect of new mutations on genetic variation in Arabidopsis and Tribolium.Developed biochemical markers to study population genetic structure of Lythrum (purple loosestrife) and study its adaptation to cold climates.Taught graduate and undergraduate courses in population/quantitative genetics, ecology, biology.

Conducted plant breeding and plant genetics research in cultivated potato and its wild relatives.