Page 33 - AWA Vol.36-No.5

NEW APPOINMENTS

Benson Hill Names Jason Alga Energy Appoints Fabricio Benatti V.P. Latin
Bull as Chief Technology America Business
Officer AlgaEnergy, a global leader in microalgae biotechnology,
A crop innovation appointed Fabricio Benatti as Vice President of its new subsidi-
ary being established in Brazil. Benatti is the newest member
company dedicated of the company’s executive leadership team responsible for
to unlocking the building AlgaEnergy’s international business in South America
natural genetic di- and Latin America.
versity of plants has
named Jason Bull as “Fabricio Benatti brings 25 years of agricultural experience
Chief Technology to AlgaEnergy,” said Douglas Ry Wagner, President of Interna-
Officer to oversee tional Agribusiness for AlgaEnergy. “He will play an integral
all platform and product develop- role in helping us build a best-in-class company that delivers
ment. Bull is a seasoned executive innovative microalgae products to agriculture.”
with more than 20 years of industry Benatti has led the development of seeds, fertilizer, and biologicals businesses in
experience unlocking synergies both Africa and Latin America for such industry leaders as Bayer Vegetable Seeds,
between biology and data science for Ouro Fino Group, and BASF. He holds an M.B.A. in international business from
multiple industries. Fundação Getúlio Vargas, a Bachelor of Science degree in financial mathematics
Bull will lead the company’s com- from Octávio Bastos University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy En-
bined R&D and Data Science cap- gineering from Manoel Carlos Gonçalves University, CRUPI.
abilities across predictive breeding, In addition to Latin America, AlgaEnergy recently announced the establishment
genomics, product discovery, big of subsidiaries in the U.S., Mexico, India, Turkey, and Australia. Circle 45 on enquiry card
data engineering, and software de-
velopment. Bull will be responsible Aviagen UK Names Blake Williamson New General Manager
for technology strategy and execution
of the product pipeline, leveraging Aviagen® UK Limited announces the appointment of Blake
Benson Hill’s CropOS™ platform and Williamson as its new General Manager, effective immediately.
a seed-to-shelf perspective to de- Blake succeeds Alan Thomson, who has become Global Head
liver new market opportunities. Ben- of Technical Transfer. In this new position, Blake will drive the
son Hill’s CropOS platform combines UK business forward by continuing to provide customers with
machine learning and big data with the best quality breeding stock backed by a strong team that is
genomics and plant biology to accel- committed to supporting Aviagen’s customers.
erate and simplify the product devel- Throughout his 12-year career with Aviagen, Blake has built
opment process. up extensive experience and knowledge of the company, its
“Insight underpins everything we customer base, and the global poultry industry. He says he is
do, and crop innovation is ultimately looking forward to serving Aviagen customers in this new role. “I am honored to
about solving biological and inform- be given the opportunity to lead the UK business and have been impressed by the
ation problems,” said Jason Bull. “Ben- resilience of our employees, company, and our customers in the current turbulent
son Hill’s CropOS machine learn- situation of a global health crisis. My goal is to further strengthen our relationships
ing capability integrates massive with our customers based upon our ongoing respect and trust as together we work
amounts of data into the product to lead the industry through the current challenges.”
development process. That ability, Blake has taken on the responsibilities of this new role on an interim basis since
coupled with the focus on consumer 1 January, and, according to Aviagen’s President of European Operations Patrick
insights and empowering closed-loop Claeys, has proven his strong leadership abilities. “The breadth and depth of Blake’s
supply chains, creates really exciting experience, along with his passion and commitment to our customers, is a great as-
untapped innovation opportunities in set, particularly in the current challenging conditions of COVID-19.”
food improvement.” Blake is a qualified accountant who holds an MBA and brings with him a strong un-
Bull joins Benson Hill from Ob- derstanding of the Aviagen business at all levels of the production and supply chain.
ject Computing, Inc. (OCI) where Circle 46 on enquiry card
he served as VP, Strategy & Machine
Learning, and founded a machine Cobb Asia Grows Technical Service Team
learning strategic impact business
leveraged by multiple Fortune 500 Cobb Asia recently expanded its technical
companies spanning a diverse set service team with the addition of Dr. Magali
of industries. Prior to OCI, Bull spent Charles and Dr. Suttisak Boonyoung. Dr. Charles
twenty years with Bayer (Monsanto) will serve as a regional veterinarian, while Dr.
and then Climate Corporation, most Boonyoung joins the team as a regional nutri-
recently as its Global VP R&D of Digital tionist. Both will report to Dr. Youngho Hong,
Seed Science, where he delivered a director of the technical service for Cobb Asia.
digital advisory platform. Prior, Bull “Adding residing veterinary and nutrition
served as Global VP Trait & Field specialists to our Cobb Asia technical team
Solutions, leading trait introgression helps reinforce our commitment to customer
into the global product lineup, and support,” says Dr. Hong. “It is my pleasure to welcome Dr. Charles and Dr. Boonyoung to
led Global R&D IT, where he spear- our team. We are excited about the expertise they add to our robust team.”
headed the seminal introduction of A native of France, Dr. Charles, brings more than 20 years of veterinary experience with
predictive technologies and their ap- a specialization in livestock production. She joins Cobb Asia from Hendrix Genetics where
plication to the R&D pipeline. she served most recently as a veterinarian and technical support manager in Thailand. She
“Jason is both a visionary architect received her degree from the Nantes-Atlantic National College of Veterinary Medicine.
and a disciplined scientist who has Dr. Boonyoung brings more than a decade of industry experience in animal nutrition
a long track record of inventing and to his role as a regional nutritionist. Most recently he worked at Cargill Meats Thailand as
delivering transformational products quality assurance and formulation manager. He holds a Ph.D. from Tokyo University of Mar-
that have an industry-wide impact,” ine Science and Technology in fish nutrition.
said Matt Crisp, CEO of Benson Hill. Circle 47 on enquiry card
Circle 44 on enquiry card
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