Innovative Crop Management: Biological Inputs for a Sustainable Future

Natasha Dixon

Regulatory Policy Manager, Regulatory Scientific Affairs, Bayer US – Crop Science

Natasha Dixon is a Regulatory Policy Manager in the Crop Science division of Bayer US. Natasha’s experience in regulatory affairs is varied, as she has planned and executed regulatory strategies for both biological and chemical products. She is a member of the OECD Expert Group on Biopesticides and works with several industry associations, including the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA), and Crop Life International, to promote the development and usage of biological products around the globe.

Jane Fife, Ph.D.

Chief Technical Officer, 3Bar Bio

Dr. Jane Fife currently serves as Chief Technical Officer at 3Bar Bio, the first biological CDMO focused on production of biological products for the agricultural industry.  Dr. Fife’s research focuses on improving fermentation, formulation, and delivery of biologics for more effective application of beneficial microbes to promote plant growth and biological disease control. Prior to joining 3Bar Bio, she has more than 20 years of expertise in biodefense, application technology, and biologics through her technical and leadership roles at Battelle Memorial Institute and The Ohio State University. Dr. Fife holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from The Ohio State University, where she currently serves as an Adjunct Faculty and teaches courses in engineering design.

Wiebke Striegel, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Wiebke Striegel is a senior scientist at the Emerging Technologies branch of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs. Her work focuses on a broad range of product characterization, human health risk assessment, and related policy questions for pesticide products derived from biotechnology. These products include plant-incorporated protectants, genetically engineered microorganisms, and topically applied dsRNA. Wiebke joined the Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division (BPPD) in 2016 after completing a one-year AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship in the same division. Prior to joining EPA, Wiebke held a postdoctoral position at the University of Maryland. She received her Ph.D. in molecular plant biology from Colorado State University and her M.Sc. in Biology from the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany.

Andrew Roberts, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer, Agriculture & Food Systems Institute (AFSI), USA

Dr. Andrew Roberts joined the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute (AFSI) in December 2009 as the Deputy Director of the Center for Environmental Risk Assessment (CERA), where he developed tools and materials for use in training and capacity building related to the problem formulation approach to environmental risk assessment and served as the coordinator for CERA’s capacity building projects under the USAID-funded South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP) and the World Bank-funded Partnership for Biosafety Risk Assessment and Regulation, in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam. He also provided technical support for capacity building work in Brazil, India, Japan, Chile, and South Africa. In January 2015, he became the director of CERA, as well as the Center for Safety Assessment of Food and Feed (CSAFF), which worked on food and feed safety assessment for foods derived from genetically engineered plants. The two centers were later consolidated under the Research Foundation, for which he became Deputy Executive Director in January 2017. When the organization became the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute in 2020, his title shifted to Vice President – Biotechnology, and he assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer later that year.

Prior to joining AFSI, Dr. Roberts worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in several different capacities, all related to the regulation of agricultural biotechnology. He began his career at USDA as an AAAS Risk Policy Fellow in the Office of Science of Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS), the group responsible for regulating genetically engineered plants at USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service. After spending a year in the New Technologies office of the Foreign Agricultural Service serving as the lead for USDA’s efforts related to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, he returned to BRS to serve in the International Affairs branch where he remained until joining AFSI.