Nokwanda (Nox) Makunga

Associate Professor, Stellenbosch University

Biotechnological Mining of the (Greater) Cape Floristic Region of South Africa: a focus on natural products

March 15 9:00-10:00 AM HST

My research is centred around using a multidirectional approach that combines the areas of biotechnology, ethnopharmacology and phytochemistry. During my tenure at Stellenbosch University (2005 to current), I established the area of medicinal plant biotechnology. In my group, we use cutting edge multi-omics technologies where we try and understand plants from the genetic level through to their responses to the environment to allow production of quality assured, economically suitable phytopharmaceutics.  I have an interest in people-plant interactions and so my research is also focused on medicinal plants, their cultural significance and opportunities presented for socioeconomic development. The over-exploitation of plants as part of indigenous knowledge systems is often seen as route that may possibly lead to extinctions and through use of cultivation as a conservation system, our work aims to develop strategies using biotechnology that may preserve rare and endangered genotypes. In 2011, I was a recipient of the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Annual Award under the category Distinguished Young Black Researcher (Female), TW Kambule NRF award for 2011/12. Recent awards include the Fulbright Fellowship where I was positioned at the University of Minnesota in 2017 to 2018. I am a founding member of the social movement founded in 2020 that seeks to promote Black botanists, globally, whether they be formally or informally trained.

Mel C. Jackson

Chief Science Officer, Sweet Green Fields

Plant Natural Products in Hawaii: A Unique Environment for Innovation and New Opportunities

March 15 10:00-11:00 AM HST

Dr. Mel C. Jackson has had an abiding interest in adding value to Hawaii’s farm products and thus Hawaii’s farmers, whether it be awa, taro, coffee, honey, kukui, awapuhi and many other crops currently growing in Hawaii. Dr. Jackson was born and educated in the U.K with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and has worked in the tropical agriculture field as the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center’s Director of Product Development and Services for more than 20 years, before joining Sweet Green Fields as a founding member in 2008. As a 20-year veteran of the stevia industry, Dr. Jackson has been an inventor and an innovator in the stevia plant and product field, with the first process patent using a highly efficient method to purify rebaudioside A. Dr. Jackson’s focus in the last decade has been to develop stevia extracts that are based on specific combinations of steviol glycosides that result in more sugar-like taste and temporal profile. This has led to the development of novel and high-quality solutions for the food and beverage industry, which are the main product platform for Sweet Green Field’s stevia extract offerings. Dr. Jackson continues to innovate in both the product development, application, and the agriculture research area, providing scientific expertise to drive Sweet Green Fields vertically integrated business. His research team has recently developed leading edge stevia based natural flavors with modifying properties that help to solve some of the mouthfeel and taste issues that are typically seen when sugar is reduced or removed from a product. Dr. Jackson is committed to bringing stevia to Hawaii as a commercial high intensity sweetener crop to bring more value back to Hawaii land that once grew sugar-sane and pineapples, to make Hawaii’s farm operations more sustainable and more productive.

Harry Klee

Professor, University of Florida

A chemical and genetic approach to improve tomato flavor quality

March 15 12:00-1:00 PM HST

Harry Klee received a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts. Following postdoctoral work at the University of Washington where he worked on the mechanisms of Agrobacterium tumefaciens T-DNA transfer, he was a senior scientist at Monsanto. While there, he participated in developing herbicide resistant crops as well as fundamental research in ethylene biology. In 1995 he took an endowed chair in Horticultural Sciences at the University of Florida. There his research has focused principally on tomato fruit ripening and quality. For the last decade, his lab has used an interdisciplinary approach to understand the chemistry of tomato flavor. The lab has identified the fruit chemicals that drive consumer liking, the metabolic pathways for synthesis of the most important flavor chemicals and the underlying genetic control of flavor chemical composition. Harry is a Fellow of the AAAS, a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and past President of the American Society of Plant Biologists.

Leslie Weston

Professor, Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation,

Charles Sturt University

Discovery of Natural Plant Products Associated with Plant Protection and Allelopathy

March 15 1:00-2:00 PM HST

Professor Weston has focused on the study of bioactive natural plant products that are involved in plant defence strategies, with a particular emphasis on bioherbicides and phytotoxins. Ground-breaking research techniques employing analytical chemistry, metabolomics, separation science, genomics and population and field ecology has resulted in advances in our understanding of how plants employ secondary products as chemical signalling agents, in defence strategies against pests including weeds and grazing herbivores, localization of these metabolites in the plant and soil rhizosphere and their impact on the function and dynamics of soil microbial communities. Recent studies have also focused on a greater understanding of their role in toxicity to grazing livestock and specific mode of action as herbicides, cytotoxins and photosensitisers.

From an applied standpoint, our laboratory focuses on understanding how weeds and invasive plants adapt to novel environments and spread. Emphasis has been placed on the development of alternative and integrated weed management strategies to limit the spread of herbicide resistant weeds. We study the use of competitive crops, rotational crops, and both chemical, cultural and mechanical approaches to effectively manage weed invaders in crops and pastures. Particular emphasis on study of the biology and ecology of invasive weeds such as panic grasses, wild melons, annual ryegrass, parthenium weed, Paterson’s curse and mikania or mile-a-minute vine have resulted in improved identification and management strategies, and understanding of why these weeds have become successful invaders, both in Australia and more globally and also contributed to management of toxicity of certain crops and weeds to grazing livestock.

Jennifer Barry

Research Scientist, Corteva Agriscience

Plant Derived Insect Toxins for Protection of Crop Plants

March 16 9:00-10:00 AM HST

Jennifer Barry is a Research Scientist at Corteva Agriscience whose interests focus on the discovery of proteins that control insect damage to crop plants.  She currently leads the Genome Based Discovery group to develop insect control proteins by combining next-generation sequencing technology and bioinformatics analysis with protein testing strategies. Jennifer earned her B.A. in Biochemistry from Wellesley College and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Rice University.  Her talk will focus on the use of fern derived proteins to protect crop plants from insect damage.

Current commercialized insect traits in corn, soy, and cotton are based on toxins discovered by mining the soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, for proteins with insecticidal activity.  These traits have been an important tool utilized by farmers to maximize productivity. However, the development of resistance to these traits has generated urgency to discover new proteins with novel Sites of Action (SoA) that can complement or replace existing products.  Many plants naturally produce insecticidal proteins.  These plants provide a source of novel insect toxins for Corteva’s trait development pipeline.  Multiple versions of related toxin sequences are present in different plants creating variation that could benefit crop plants as the next generation of insect control traits.

Dorothea Tholl

Professor, Virginia Tech

Crossing the boundaries between plant and insect volatiles

March 16 10:00-11:00 AM HST

Dorothea Tholl is a professor of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech and incoming president of the Phytochemical Society of North America. Her lab studies the metabolism and function of specialized metabolites, especially volatile organic compounds, in plant and insect interactions. Recent interests include the use of insect derived volatiles in developing alternative pest controls.

Herbivores use both host plant volatiles and pheromones as cues for successful mating and reproduction. Behavior-mediated pest management strategies like push-pull systems and trap cropping have become a viable option in farming systems that promote arthropod diversity and pest resistance management. The efficacy of trap crops can be enhanced by application of synthetic aggregation pheromones. However, methods to produce pheromones can be limited by yield and overall cost especially if specific stereo-isomers are desired. Alternative strategies may consider using plants as sustainable factories of pheromones and enhanced trap crops. We have identified pheromone biosynthetic genes in different crop pests and explore avenues of metabolically engineering pheromone biosynthesis in preferred plant hosts. Proof-of principle studies include specialist insects on crucifer or cabbage crops and the development of transient and stable plant transformation systems with the long term goal to combine plant and insect specific volatile cues in the development of new pest controls.

Nōweo Kai

Campus Arboretum Curator, University of Hawaiʻi

TBD

March 16 11:00 AM-12:00 PM HST

Patrick Sullivan

Founder & CEO, Oceanit

"Mind to Market" a Disruptive Model

March 16 1:00-2:00 PM HST

Dr. Patrick K. Sullivan is the Founder and CEO of Oceanit. He was named Hawaii Business Magazine's "2016 CEO of the Year" and Pacific Business News "2019 Titans of Technology Leader." Dr. Sullivan has occupied seats on the Ocean Research Advisory Panel (appointed by the Secretary of the Navy) and the board of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES). He is a member of the Hawaii Military Affairs Council of the Chamber of Commerce and successfully developed nationally­ focused research programs, such as the National Defense Center of Excellence for Research in Ocean Sciences (CEROS), and the National Electric Vehicle Demonstration program, both collaborations with DARPA. 

Dr. Sullivan received his Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Hawaii and his BS in Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He developed the methodology of 'Intellectual Anarchy', which is practiced at Oceanit, as a system of business that breaks down traditional expertise silos and removes management barriers that hinder breakthroughs. 

University research & development activities produce a wealth of ideas and discoveries that struggle to become products with economic or social recognition. Unfortunately, most great research fails to see the light of day. Over several decades we have explored and developed an approach called "Mind to Market" that connects fundamental science and discovery, typically found in Universities and National Labs, to a variety of markets. I'll explore how this process works and review a few examples to illustrate how the research community can bring more disruptive thinking to impact humans and society. 

Elizabeth Feldeverd

Director of Research, Tokyo Academics

Cultivating a Sense of Place: Mentorship in the Plant Sciences

March 16 2:00-3:00 PM HST

Elizabeth Feldeverd serves as the Director of Research at Tokyo Academics, where she and her team mentor high school students through their own academic research projects. Additionally, she is the Co-founder of Women in Science Japan, a 200 member-strong organization whose mission is to address the unique barriers facing women scientists in Japan. Elizabeth is also the Co-director of the International Young Researchers' Conference, an interdisciplinary platform for high school and undergraduate students. Elizabeth earned her M.S. in Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and her B.S. in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University. Prior to pursuing her master's degree, Elizabeth worked for Syngenta at their corn production sites in Hawaii, Illinois, and Nebraska. During her talk, Elizabeth will share her insights on the role of mentorship in the plant sciences and practices that can help non-traditional academics succeed.