Symposium on Pesticide Reduction Speakers, Panellists and Organizers

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1 Symposium on Pesticide Reduction Speakers, Panellists and Organizers Zurich, 3rd September 2015, ETH Zurich Laurianne Altwegg, Specialist, Federation Romande des Consommateurs Laurianne Altwegg worked as a sustainable development and mobility project coordinator for the City of Neuchâtel After studying Politics in Lausanne and Aberdeen (Scotland). In addition to her professional career, she develops and implements environmental and sustainability strategies in the context of cultural events. As a sustainability specialist, she is now in charge of agricultural, environmental and energy issues for the Fédération romande des consommateurs (FRC), which represents the interests of its members from the French-speaking part of Switzerland and is a founding member of the Swiss coalition of consumer organisations. Sibyl Anwander, Head Economy, Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU) Sibyl Anwander has graduated as Agricultural Economist from ETH Zürich and wrote her PhD-Thesis on Public acceptance of new Technologies in the Food Sector. After 10 years as researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Agricultural Economics at ETH she became Head of Sustainability and Public Affairs with the retailer Coop Switzerland and was also responsible for the Coop Fund for Sustainability. She had been the Chairwoman of the Business Social Compliance Initiative in Brussels. Since 2015 she is Head of the Department of Economy and Innovation at the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN. Otto Daniel, Head Ecotoxicology, Agroscope Otto Daniel coordinates the registration of plant protection products (PPP) at Agroscope, the Swiss centre of excellence for agricultural research. Since 2000 he is responsible for the ecotoxicological risk assessment in the PPP registration in Switzerland. He did his PhD on the ecology of earthworms and was active for more than 10 years in research and teaching in Soil Ecology at the ETH and other institutions. He has also some years experience in the risk assessment of contaminants in food and inorganic chemical analytics.

2 Frank Eyhorn, Sustainable Expert, Helvetas Frank Eyhorn, PhD Environmental Sciences ETH, is specialized in sustainable agriculture and rural development. From 2000 to 2005 he coordinated organic farming projects in Asia at the Research Institute of Organic Farming (FiBL). Since 2006, Frank is working with HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation where he leads the Rural Economy Team. In this function he worked on sustainable agriculture value chains in Africa and Asia. Since 2011 Frank is serving on the World Board of IFOAM Organics International. He is also a member of the Impact Committee of the Sustainable Trade Initiative IDH. Anna Gilgen, Project Coordinator, World Food System Center Anna Katarina Gilgen is a Project Coordinator with the World Food System Center since 2014 and a lecturer at ETH Zurich since She studied plant ecology at University of Basel and holds a doctorate from ETH Zurich with an emphasis in agricultural sciences. Her research focused on the impacts of extreme summer drought on Swiss grasslands. Her work was part of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Climate. As a postdoctoral researcher within the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern, Anna continued working in an interdisciplinary environment and building her expertise in climate change impacts on agricultural systems. Wilhelm Gruissem, Professor for Plant Biotechnology, ETH Zurich Wilhelm Gruissem is Professor for Plant Biotechnology at the ETH Zurich since 2000 and Co-Director of the Functional Genomics Center Zürich since Before he was appointed as Professor of Plant Biology at the University of California at Berkeley in He was Chair of the Department at UC Berkeley and Director of a collaborative research program with Novartis. In 2008 he started the company Nebion. From 2006 to 2010 he was elected President of the European Plant Science Organization (EPSO) and he is Chair of the Global Plant Council since In addition to his research on systems biology, he directs a biotechnology program on trait improvement in cassava, rice and wheat. He is an Editor of Plant Molecular Biology, and Co-Editor of the acclaimed book Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants. He has received several prestigious awards, including prizes for his trait improvement work in cassava.

3 Daniela Hoffmann, Pesticides and Biodiversity Specialist, WWF Daniela Hoffmann studied agriculture focusing on plant protection and did her PhD in ecology. She has been responsible for agricultural policy at WWF Switzerland since Before she worked as pesticide campaigner for Friends of the Earth Austria and as an ecotoxicologist and risk assessor for the Swiss pesticide regulation authority. Ruedi Küng, Moderator, InfoAfrica Ruedi Kueng has been involved in a broad range of topics and affairs related to Africa for more than 30 years now. He has been living for a total of 11 years in Uganda, South Africa, Sudan and Kenya. For 12 years he was the Swiss Radio SRF's (formerly DRS) Africa correspondent. Having accomplished studies in philosophy and political sciences with a lic.phil.l, he worked as a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC and subsequently as international affairs editor with Swiss Television and Radio DRS. At present, he is an independent Africa specialist with InfoAfrica.ch. Bernard Lehmann, Director, Federal Office for (BLW) Bernard Lehmann grew up on a farm in the Cantone of Vaud. He studied Agricultural Economics at ETH Zurich and did his PhD there. After several years work as an agronomist for the Swiss Farmers' Union, he was appointed Professor for Agricultural Economics at ETH Zurich in His curiosity then drove him to follow a call to Bern as the Director of the Federal Office for. In this role, he leads the federal competence center for agriculture and the food sector, which is responsible for policy making in agriculture and the strategic direction of the research station Agroscope. Andre Leu, President, IFOAM Organics International Andre Leu is the President of IFOAM Organics International, the world umbrella body for the organic sector. He has an extensive knowledge of farming and environmental systems across Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australasia from over 40 years of visiting and working in over 100 countries. He runs an organic tropical fruit orchard in Queensland, Australia. As the author of the The Myths of Safe Pesticides which was published in 2014, he brought the discussion on pesticides to a broader audience.

4 Francesca Mancini, Pest and Pesticides Management Specialist, FAO François Meienberg, Expert, Berne Declaration (EvB) Francesca Mancini is a member of the Pesticide Risk Reduction Team of the Food and Organization of United Nations (FAO) based in Rome. She is a tropical agronomist with over 20 years of experience in sustainable agriculture. Since 2000, Francesca has been working for FAO to reduce the use of pesticides on crops, and in particularly on cotton, and to promote ecological alternatives to chemical control. She is also the vice-chair of the International Panel on the Social, Environmental and Economic Performance of Cotton (SEEP). With the other panel members, she has recently published the Global Framework on Measuring Sustainability in Cotton Farming Systems which addresses the impacts of pesticide management on people and the environment. François Meienberg works since 1999 as Campaign Coordinator for the Berne Declaration (BD) with a focus on Intellectual Property Rights, and Biodiversity. From he was also joint managing director for the BD. In the nineties he worked as a campaign coordinator for Greenpeace Switzerland and from 1987 to 1993 as an actor for theatres in Germany and Switzerland and for TV, Film and Radio. He is the author a several hiking books. He has a Bachelor of Arts and a diploma as a chemical laboratory worker. Urs Niggli, Director, Research Institute for Organic (FiBL) Raphael Schilling, Project Manager Sustainability, Coop Urs Niggli is Director of the Research Institute of Organic (FiBL) in Switzerland since An institute with 160 staff and 80 students. He is also president of FiBL Germany and FiBL Austria (50 scientific staff). He is Honorary Professor at the University of Kassel in Germany where he teaches on organic farming policy and research strategy in the EU. He was appointed as Honorary PhD by the University of Life Sciences in Estonia. His professional background is MSc and PhD in plant production. He started his career as head of the unit weed control and herbicide registration at the Federal Research Station in Wädenswil. He serves on boards of national, European and international committees for research, agro-ecology, sustainability and organic farming. Raphael Schilling is Project Manager Sustainability at Coop, Switzerland. He holds a Master's degree in Food Science and a Master of Advanced Studies in Development and Cooperation, both of ETH Zurich. After finishing his studies he worked as a Project Manager for NGOs and GIZ (German Agency for International Development) in international cooperation. He had assignments in Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Honduras and Ethiopia focusing on sustainable supply-chain development for cocoa, coffee and bamboo. Raphael joined Coop in 2011 and is since then in charge of the topics working conditions, water management and pesticide reduction in agriculture.

5 Heiko Specking, Conference organizer Heiko Specking has been working in the area of sustainable investments, corporate social responsibility and philanthropy advisory for more than 18 years within the financial industry. He has built up specialist knowhow on a broad range of sustainability themes with specific interest in water, organic farming and a circular economy. In the past years he has been consulting clients on their charitable engagement in a Multi-Family Office and was Head Philanthropy and Social Responsible Investment Advisory at Credit Suisse. He recently set up his own consultancy company based in Zurich. Simon van der Veer, Farmer Simon van der Veer has studied agronomics with a specific focus on plant sciences. Together with his wife, he grows several crops and vegetables on their own farm in Sutz- Lattrigen, a little village near the lake of Biel. Additionally he works as a consultant and teacher for plant production at the Informa Rütti, the agricultural school of Bern. He takes a special interest in sugar beets, as a vice president of the Swiss sugar beet growers association. Inge Werner, Director, Ecotox Centre Eawag- EPFL Inge Werner obtained her Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Mainz, Germany, with a focus on aquatic ecotoxicology. She then spent 14 years at the University of California in Davis doing research on the effects of contaminants, especially pesticides, in aquatic ecosystems. Since 2010, she directs the Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology or Ecotox Centre located at Eawag in Dübendorf and EPF in Lausanne. Stephanie Williamson, Staff Scientist, PAN-UK Stephanie Williamson is trained as an ecologist/biologist, with an MSc in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and a PhD on pesticide use and impacts on African smallholders. Formerly at CABI Bioscience working on biological control and IPM training, she joined Pesticide Action Network UK in She has over 20 years experience relating to pesticide issues and sustainable agriculture in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. Her work covers promotion of ecologically informed alternatives to hazardous pesticides, pesticide policy assessment and advising food and fibre sustainability standards and companies on strategies for pesticide use and risk reduction. She authored three chapters for The Pesticide Detox book (Ed. Pretty, 2005).