Dr. Muthukumar Bagavathiannan is an Associate Professor of Weed Science & Agronomy at the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. He received BSc (Agriculture) and MSc (Agronomy) at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India; MSc in Plant Genetic Manipulation at the University of Nottingham, England; Ph.D. in Weed Ecology at the University of Manitoba, Canada; and postdoctoral training at the University of Arkansas, USA. Dr Bagavathiannan’s research interests fall within the broader area of Weed Science and Agronomy, with particular emphasis on weed ecology and integrated management. Crop-wild relatives, gene flow, and their management is an important research focus area. These research activities have provided practical solutions for gene flow mitigation and novel trait confinement in agricultural landscapes. He takes an inter-disciplinary approach by collaborating broadly at local, regional, national, and international levels. Dr. Bagavathiannan has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles, 10 book chapters and several outreach bulletins. He has mentored/mentoring 25 graduate students, 7 postdoctoral researchers, and 12 visiting scholars. He serves as an Associate Editor for Weed Science (Weed Science Society of America) and Crop Science (Crop Science Society of America) journals. Dr. Bagavathiannan was the recipient of the 2021 Southern Weed Science Society Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award; the 2020 Weed Science Society of America Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award; and the 2019 Vice Chancellor’s Outstanding Early Career Research Award as well as the 2018 Dean’s Outstanding Early Career Research Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University.

Dr. Joerg Romeis heads the Biosafety Research Group at Agroscope in Zurich, Switzerland. Agroscope is the Swiss center of excellence for agricultural research and is affiliated with the Federal Office for Agriculture. In addition, he is a lecturer at the University of Bern and an adjunct professor at the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing. Joerg holds an MSc and Ph.D. in biology and was trained as an applied entomologist with a focus on biological pest control and multi-trophic interactions. He has more than 17 years of experience in the risk assessment of genetically modified (GM) crops and in particular in the design and execution of non-target laboratory studies. His research has focused on the effects of insect-resistant GM plants, such as Bt maize and cotton, on arthropod herbivores and their predators and parasitoids. More recently, he is also studying the non-target effects of RNAi-based GM plants. In addition to primary research, Joerg has been actively involved in defining operational environmental protection goals, and in developing guidelines for risk assessment and non-target testing.

Camilla Beech is currently the Director of her regulatory consultancy business specializing in novel biotechnology products and particularly genetically modified insects. For more than 30 years she has been involved in the forefront of contributing to policy, guidance, regulation, and risk assessment for genetically modified organisms, including GM crops and other products. In the last decade, she has specialized predominantly in obtaining regulatory outcomes for genetically modified insects for both agriculture and public health including obtaining permission for use of genetically modified mosquitoes at the contained, field, or area-wide levels. She has also been a faculty member of training courses on GM vectors (funded by WHO-TDR) in Latin America, Africa, and SE Asia and is currently a member of the WHO Vector Control Advisory Group. Prior to setting up her own business in 2015, she led the biotechnology regulatory affairs department at Oxitec Ltd and was a global regulatory lead at Syngenta (and its legacy companies). She is currently working on projects covering the Nagoya protocol for shipment of insects and impact assessments for gene drive mosquitoes for a variety of clients. Having managed various regulatory portfolios and compliance programs for a variety of biotechnology products worldwide she has a deep understanding of the attributes required for their safe use and efficacy.

Dr. Joerg Romeis heads the Biosafety Research Group at Agroscope in Zurich, Switzerland. Agroscope is the Swiss center of excellence for agricultural research and is affiliated with the Federal Office for Agriculture. In addition, he is a lecturer at the University of Bern and an adjunct professor at the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing. Joerg holds an MSc and Ph.D. in biology and was trained as an applied entomologist with a focus on biological pest control and multi-trophic interactions. He has more than 17 years of experience in the risk assessment of genetically modified (GM) crops and in particular in the design and execution of non-target laboratory studies. His research has focused on the effects of insect-resistant GM plants, such as Bt maize and cotton, on arthropod herbivores and their predators and parasitoids. More recently, he is also studying the non-target effects of RNAi-based GM plants. In addition to primary research, Joerg has been actively involved in defining operational environmental protection goals, and in developing guidelines for risk assessment and non-target testing.