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Meet The Organisers

2-5 October 2023

Event Organisers

Professor, Warwick University

Rosemary Collier

Rosemary is the Chair of the Scientific Committee for the Carrot Symposium.

Rosemary trained as an entomologist and has worked on the pest insects of horticultural crops for many years. Her main research interest is in the development and application of Integrated Pest Management strategies for horticultural crops. She has worked, and collaborated with industry, on several of the key pests of carrot and other apiaceous crops. Rosemary is also interested in the wider aspects of food production and consumption and in recent years has collaborated with colleagues from a range of disciplines on projects associated with food and food security. She is an Academic Lead for the University of Warwick Global Research Priority (GRP) on Food. Rosemary is a member of the Royal Horticultural Society Science Committee, the UK Insecticide Resistance Action Group and the European Vegetable Research Institutes Network (EUVRIN).
Deputy Chairman

Robin Wood

Deputy Chairman of Elsom Seeds, Robin has had a lifelong career in Horticulture and Agriculture.

Robin has had a lifelong career in Horticulture and Agriculture, and following school he gained a BSc in Horticulture at the University of London (Wye College). Prior to joining Elsoms as the Trials and Brassica Crop Manager in the mid 1980’s, Robin spent time with ADAS at both Stockbridge House and Kirton Experimental Horticulture Stations being involved in field vegetable research. Following a period at Horticulture Research International (HRI), working at both Kirton and Wellesbourne research stations where he focussed particularly on vegetable research and technology transfer. Robin returned to Elsoms as Vegetable Seeds Director in the autumn of 2004 and is now Elsoms Deputy Chairman.

Coral Clark

Crop Association Executive

Coral is a long standing member of the British Growers team, working hard to support the British Horticultural industry.

Pauline Sutton

Crop Association Executive

Pauline is a long standing member of the British Growers team, working hard to support the British Horticultural industry.

Holly Jones

Holly Jones

Crop Association Executive

Holly is a new but vital member of the British Growers team, working hard to support the British Horticultural industry.

Andy Smith

Business Support Executive

Andy is a key member of the British Growers team, working hard to support the British Horticultural industry.

Sam Pope

Administrator

Sam is a long standing member of the British Growers team, working hard to support the British Horticultural industry.

Scientific Committee

Principal researcher, National Institute for Agronomy Research (INIAP), Ecuador

Eduardo

Eduardo Morillo is the Principal researcher, National Institute for Agronomy Research (INIAP), Ecuador, currently he is carrying out a project for development of molecular markers in Andean minor crops using Next Generation Sequencing technology.

Eduardo Morillo is involved in projects related to biotechnology and genetic resources, with national and international scientific collaboration. He is head of Biotechnology Department in INIAP. During the last 10 years he strengthened local capacities in Biotechnology in Ecuador by setting up research labs in Molecular Biology and DNA analysis. He has led many projects with Bachelor, MSc and PhD students supervising their research works and he is principal author of papers about plant genetics in peer reviewed journals. At present he is carrying out a project for development of molecular markers in Andean minor crops using Next Generation Sequencing technology.
Senior Scientist

Thomas Nothnagel

Thomas is a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Breeding Research on Horticulture Crops of the Julius Kuehn-Institute (JKI Quedlinburg, Germany).
His research focuses on vegetable genetic resources, genetics and pre-breeding for resistance and stress tolerance on carrots, celery, asparagus and arugula salat. He is a long-time member of the ECPGR Umbellifer working group and was a member of the Scientific and Editorial Board of both of the earlier International Symposiums on Carrot and other Apiaceae.

Vegetable curator, National Gene Bank of Tunisia

Najla Mezghani

Najla Mezghani is an assistant Professor in the National Gene Bank of Tunisia since 2008. She has her expertise in plant biotechnology, conservation sciences and genetics. She is particularly responsible of the Vegetable, condiment and ornamental genetic resources conservation and evaluation. Najla’s research focuses mainly on genetic diversity of carrot and wild relatives.

Najla Mezghani is an assistant Professor in the National Gene Bank of Tunisia since 2008. She has her expertise in plant biotechnology, conservation sciences and genetics. She is particularly responsible of the Vegetable, condiment and ornamental genetic resources conservation and evaluation. Najla’s research focuses mainly on genetic diversity of carrot and wild relatives. She has published more than 20 papers in peer reviewed journals and she is serving as a reviewer for several reputed journal.
USDA, ARS, University of Wisconsin – Madison

Philipp Simon

Phil Simon is a USDA, ARS Research Geneticist and Research Leader in Madison, Wisconsin. Phil’s research in vegetable genetics focuses on carrot improvement, targeting improved flavor and nutritional quality, nematode, disease and abiotic stress resistance. He bred widely used carrot germplasm with high carotene content, mild flavor, and root-knot nematode resistance; developed breeding tools; and collected carrot, Allium, and other vegetable germplasm in collecting expeditions.

Dr. Phil Simon is a USDA, ARS Research Geneticist and Professor of Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research in vegetable genetics and breeding has focused on carrot improvement, targeting improved flavor and nutritional quality, nematode, disease and abiotic stress resistance. He led the development of widely used carrot germplasm with high carotene content, sweet, mild flavor, purple color, and root-knot nematode resistance. To complement his breeding effort, along with students and collaborators, he has developed breeding tools, including the sequencing of the carrot genome, and he has collected carrot, Allium, and other vegetable germplasm in 10 collecting expeditions. He has undertaken related plant breeding research including the first production of true seed in garlic, and the development of cucumber and melon germplasm with orange color and elevated carotene content. He has supervised the training of 35 graduate students, is a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science, recipient of the ASHS Vegetable Breeding Award, and of an Honorary Doctorate from the Agricultural University of Krakow, Poland. He is a past chair of the Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee.
Professor, Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Agriculture in Krakow (UAK), Poland

Dariusz Grzebelus

For almost thirty years Dariusz Grzebelus has been working in UAK Faculty of Horticulture. He has been primarily involved in the research on carrot, focusing on genetic diversity, molecular genetics and genomics of the crop, especially in the context of repetitive DNA and mobile genetic elements.

For almost thirty years Dariusz Grzebelus has been working in UAK Faculty of Horticulture. He has been primarily involved in the research on carrot, focusing on genetic diversity, molecular genetics and genomics of the crop, especially in the context of repetitive DNA and mobile genetic elements. He has co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers, of which more than 30 reported results from his research on carrots. He was a convenor of the 2nd ISHS Carrot and other Apiaceae Symposium held in Krakow (2018). He is a member of editorial boards or associate editor of five journals in the field of agriculture and plant biology.
Warwick University

Charlotte Allender

Charlotte is the Head of the UK Vegetable Gene Bank, managing a globally significant collection of crop diversity – including over 1,400 samples of wild and cultivated carrot. She is interested in describing and utilising genetic diversity for the benefit of improved food security.

Emmanuel Geoffriau

François Villeneuve

François Villeneuve is a french specialist in research on field vegetable crop protection at the Centre Technique Interprofessionnel des Fruits et Légumes (CTIFL - France).

François Villeneuve is a french specialist in research on field vegetable crop protection at the Centre Technique Interprofessionnel des Fruits et Légumes (CTIFL - France). With more than 30 years of experience in the domain of carrot crop covering many aspects of production, F. Villeneuve leads a vast R&D activity in the scope of crop protection including pest and disease management.
F. Villeneuve has actively participated in the organization of various carrot-related events (32nd International Carrot Conference, Arcachon - Bordeaux, France and 1st International Symposium on Carrot and Other Apiaceae, Angers, France.
He wrote book or chapters writing about pests, diseases, physiological disorders and Carrot growth and development
He also mainly involves in minor uses for vegetables crops and different alternatives techniques for manage biogressors.

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