France
• Dedicated career in plant breeding • Executive MBA from Cambridge • Leader, coach and innovator • Passionate about food security • Private and public sector experience • Extensive international focus • Building research partnerships • Development of strategy processes
Providing leadership for KWS' wheat breeding programs across Europe and the US, ensuring our breeders have the best tools and resources to continuously produce top-performing varieties for our growers. Only through well-supported breeding will we be able to meet the challenges of food security, climate change and the drive to increased sustainability. Steering KWS' implementation of hybrid wheat breeding as we get ready to enter the hybrid wheat market. Hybrid wheat will provide a boost to productivity and stability through enhanced utilization of resources. This will make wheat an attractive value proposition, driving investments in current and new markets to the benefit of growers and consumers. Creating links between researchers and breeders across crops, benefitting from working in a seed-focused company actively breeding more than 20 field and greenhouse crops.
Taking on the leadership role for hybrid wheat development at KWS is a chance to play a part in making wheat a commercial success in markets with low private investments as well as boosting yield in current high yielding environments. With a team of breeders and researchers across Europe we work on all aspects of hybrid wheat, drawing on knowledge and technologies obtained from international research partnerships.
Responsible for KWS’ global wheat pre-breeding strategy and activities. Building on initial success, the pre-breeding activities of trait introgression pipeline was expanded to target all KWS' wheat markets. Research activities heavily expanded into hybrid wheat and became a main target for my group. Via international partnership we explore efficient ways of producing hybrid wheat but also how hybrid wheat can be a tool in global food security.
In California I was charged with the modernisation and management of the medium grain rice program developing high yielding varieties with excellent end-use quality exclusively for California.
As a breeder at CIMMYT I was involved in breeding improved lines of wheat for rainfed and irrigated cropping systems. Initially I worked in the genebank on the characterization and utilization of wheat genetic resources.