Have a look at
GenB Advisory Board members!
advisory board

She has a multidisciplinary professional and academic background, that includes communication studies, international relations and human rights, as well as education policy and development studies. Her doctoral research focused on gender equality in education policies and this is something she mainstreams in her work broadly.

Since 2017 she has been working in the field of science communication and public engagement with science in the context of science education. In addition, she also works on the development, implementation and evaluation of food science education programs. Currently she complements her development work with a position as a researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel where she looks at implementation of an interdisciplinary sustainability science curriculum for middle schools.

Has worked in the Public Relation Unit of ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Economic Sustainable Development, Rome (Italy), since 1998.

Her job is to promote and disseminate research activities and results, with a special focus on sustainability, climate change and circular economy, among all our stakeholder groups, from Industry, SME’s and Public Administration to citizens and young people. She has gained wide experience of all media available to science communicators, including events’ management (I am ENEA coordinator for the European Researchers’ Night event, NET scieNcETogether EU Project), science exhibitions, social media, and video production (in 2010, as 1st author of the video: Skyland, the vertical farm made in Italy she was awarded the New Media category award at the European Science TV and New Media Festival Award, London).

Since 2018, she developed an interest for the educational sector. Her experience tells her that learning may have a deep transformative effect on people that communication will never achieve. So she started working to promote the issues of sustainability, climate change and circular economy within the Italian school sector. She is also committed to fight gender bias in STEM. With a master degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures (Sapienza University, Rome) and a 1st level master in Economics Communication and Media Management (Tor Vergata University, Rome), she has a humanities educational background.

Coordinator of the “Campus of Trades and Qualifications of Excellence Bioeco Academy » (CMQ Bioeco Academy)

I’m Professor of Plant Physiology at the Reims Champagne Ardenne University (URCA). I’m responsible for the development of a network in bioeconomy education (secondary and higher education) and provides the oversight to other research programs. My doctoral research was in soil and water decontamination using plants. I have a Master’s Degree in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology.

For more than 20 years, I have been developing a research activity in the field of physiology of plant stress (biotic and abiotic), et their impact on carbon metabolism of leaves, flowers and fruits (study of photosynthesis).

Since 2020, I have been leading the CMQ and, with my team, we are developing communication tools to make the bioeconomy known, to exchange with companies to find out their needs and to create new training courses.

Francisco X. Aguilar is a Professor of Forest Economics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and a University Fellow at Resources for the Future (Washington DC, USA). His research focuses on the study of social-natural resources interactions particularly in regard to conservation and management of forest resources. His research has been funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR), Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS), Nordic Forest Research Council (SNS), the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, US National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the US Forest Service, the US Natural Resource Conservation Service, among others. He leads the Team of Specialists on Forest Products and Wood Energy Statistics of the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Europe. He holds leadership positions with the International Union of Forest Research Organizations and is a former Associate Editor of Forest Science, Environment, Development and Sustainability and PLoS One.

Photo credit: Alekzandra Grannath

Michiel Heijnen started his career as a teacher in secondary education, while studying educational sciences. He obtained his degree, specializing in educational change and strategic management and became active in the field of teacher education as teacher educator and project leader. Later, as manager, he led teams, working on policy, curriculum renewal and the development of teacher education. Michiel was responsible for a wide variety of (international) projects and programs that focus on innovation, making good use of co-creation and research. Michiel currently works as director of the bachelor’s and master’s programs at Marnix Academy, a university of applied sciences based in Utrecht, the Netherlands. These programs focus on initial teacher education and the continuous professional development of teachers. Next to his work at the university Michiel is member of the pool of experts of Lifelong Learning Platform and President of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE).

Martin Behrens (DE), email: m.behrens@fnr.de
Martin Behrens holds a MA in political science and a MSc in Environmental Studies. He is working as Senior Advisor and Deputy Head of the department of EU and International Affairs at the Agency for Renewable Resources. He is involved in EU-Project development and implementation, specialised in multi-stakeholder activities focusing on bio-based products. He is also in charge of EU networking activities at FNR. Martin participates in various EU Advisory Boards in EU projects and is member of the SCAR Forest and SCAR Bioeconomy Strategic Working Group.

Stephanos Cherouvis has a PhD in Philosophy of Science (UCD). Over the past 10 years, he has been working in numerus EU-funded projects in education, OERs, RRI, the ethics of technology, science engagement and open access. He has been responsible for setting up ethics committees and for looking after compliance in projects involving minors. He has a long interest and experience in smart practices, in supporting teachers, researchers, policy makers and community stakeholders to act as change agents and in public engagement in research and education across Europe, mostly in the context of large-scale European initiatives.

Full Professor in Agricultural Economics and Rural Appraisal. Working since almost 30 years in the field, with research interests focused on bioeconomy, agricultural policy evaluation, economics of water use in agriculture, environmental evaluation, economics of agri-environmental schemes, farm management. He was the coordinator of the FP7 projects CAP-IRE and CLAIM, of the H2020 projects PROVIDE and CONSOLE, all of which related to the role of the CAP in rural areas and the provision of environmental and climate public goods. He is now coordinating the BBI project BIOBEC. He also participated in several other EU projects in these fields, including many closely connected to the measurement of CAP impact on the environment (e.g. LIFT, SPARD, BIOBIO) and the Bioeconomy (Transition2Bio, Coopid, BIOGOV.NET). Davide was editor-in-chief of the journal “Bio-based and applied economics” and published in 2018 the book “The Bioeconomy. Delivering sustainable green growth”, CABI, UK. Is part of the steering group of the international master “Bioeconomy in the Circular economy - BIOCIRCE” and of the Coordination Group of the European Bioeconomy University.

Dr Pramod Kumar Sharma is the Senior Director of Education with the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). He is responsible for the development of the Eco-Schools, Young Reporters for Environment (YRE) and Learning About Forests programme and also provides the necessary oversight to other programmes. His doctoral research is in Assessment of Environmental Literacy. He has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and also holds an integrated Bachelor’s Degree in Science and Education.

An Education for Sustainable Development professional with a broad experience of over 25 years, he has worked with a wide range of stakeholders that include schools, corporate, programmes focusing on school systems, and rural development issues of tribal communities in India and has mentored over 150 grassroots NGOs for projects in the area of sustainable development. He has been part of major global environmental conferences and has broad exposure to education systems globally

I am currently a PhD student at ITQB-NOVA as well as an EU Bioeconomy Youth Ambassador. I graduated from the University of the Azores with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in biotechnology for sustainability from ITQB-NOVA (NOVA University of Lisbon). After completing my bachelor's degree, I became interested in biotechnology, which prompted me to continue my studies in that field. During my master's studies in biotechnology (2017-2019), I began my research in the biopolymers/biomaterials field. Later, in 2021, I received an FCT PhD Research Scholarship and began my PhD in molecular biosciences (2022), with a focus on biopolyesters. Besides my academic path, my science communication and education activities were an added value to be selected as a Bioeconomy Youth Ambassador, a program of the European Commission in 2022. The main mission of the ambassadors is to raise awareness about bioeconomy in our communities.