Speakers

Robert B. Horsch, PhD
Vice President , International Development Partnerships
Monsanto Company
Horsch joined Monsanto Company in 1981 and currently has responsibility for public-private partnerships to help small-holder farmers in developing countries gain access to better agricultural products and technologies. From 1981 to 1995, he led the company’s plant tissue culture and transformation efforts, contributing to the development of the Bollgard, Yieldgard and Roundup Ready traits in broad use today. From 1996 to 1999, he served as vice president and general manager of the Agracetus Campus of Monsanto Company’s Agricultural Sector in Middleton, Wis.

He has served on the editorial boards of several leading journals in the plant sciences and also as an advisor to the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. He has published more than 50 articles on plant biology and plant biotechnology and has been a frequent speaker on these subjects in the United States and abroad. Horsch has testified before the U.S. Congress on “Why investing in public research is important” and “Plant biotechnology research and development in Africa: challenges & opportunities.” In 1999 he was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Clinton for contributions to the development of agricultural biotechnology. Currently, he is a member of the United Nations Millennium Goal Task Force on Hunger, the CGIAR Private Sector Committee and the Board of the World Agricultural Forum.

Horsch holds a PhD in Genetics from the University of California–Riverside and conducted postdoctoral work in plant physiology at the University of Saskatchewan.

Margaret Mellon
Director of the Food and Environment program, Union of Concerned Scientists
Mellon is one of the nation’s most respected experts on biotechnology and food safety. When she first became aware of biotechnology in the early 1980s, her attitude toward the new technology was like that of most scientists — unreservedly enthusiastic. But as she learned more, she grew skeptical of its benefits and concerned about its risks. She became convinced that decisions about new technologies shouldn’t be left to companies and scientists; she believes the public must have a role. A widely quoted expert on genetic engineering, Mellon regularly appears on ABC World News Tonight, CNN and NPR, as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many other major media outlets.

Additionally, she is published widely on the potential environmental impacts of biotechnology applications and is co-author of Ecological Risks of Engineered Crops and Hogging It!: Estimates of Antimicrobial Abuse in Livestock and co-editor of Now or Never: Serious New Plans to Save a Natural Pest Control. She serves on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture and teaches a course in biotechnology and the law at the Vermont Law School. In 1993 she received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Purdue University’s School of Science.

Mellon holds a doctorate in molecular biology and a law degree from the University of Virginia. She was formerly a research fellow in molecular virology at Purdue University and program director for the Environmental Law Institute.