Mr. Kirk has 37 years of experience at DuPont, where as Group Vice President he led its $4.5 billion Agriculture Business and served as a member of the CEO's Strategy/Operating Committee. Mr. Kirk created a vision to expand agricultural participation from crop protection to include the acquisition of Pioneer Hi-Bred, biotechnology research and development, and food ingredients (Protein Technology Acquisition). In addition to being named Agrimarketer of the Year in 1998 by Agrimarketer Magazine, Mr. Kirk was recognized for his biotechnology leadership by University of Illinois, and he received an award for his service to agriculture by the Farm Managers Association.
Dr. Tom Fort joins ABN with 38 years of experience in multiple global technology and business leadership roles from DuPont. Dr. Fort led a world-wide team of over 150 professionals who successfully developed and commercialized an industry leading pipeline of crop protection products, focusing on the seed treatment market. His experience includes business leadership in Europe and globally, project leadership for a successfully commercialized crop protection product and working extensively at the interface of business and research/development. Dr. Fort was awarded a B.S. degree from North Georgia College (now the University of North Georgia), an M.S. from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Louisiana State University. He is a Vietnam-era veteran of the United States Army and spent a 13-month assignment in the Republic of Korea.
Dr. Tom Woods joined the ABN team in 2013 after a distinguished 33-year career at the DuPont Company’s Crop Protection business. Dr. Woods is highly experienced in intellectual property licensing and patent portfolio management, as well as broadly-based scientific and regulatory affairs administration. He is a graduate of Auburn University and earned his doctorate in Organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois. He is also a Vietnam-era veteran of the United States Army where he served as a Research Scientist officer at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
An experienced research and development Project Manager and Technical Leader accustomed to working with multidiscipline teams to develop and transfer technologies to both large and small companies. Areas of activity include planning, management, analysis and reporting of technical projects and business-to-business communications throughout a project’s lifecycle from inception to commercialization.
A co-inventor on multiple microencapsulation patents relevant to many industries including food and supplements, probiotics, infant health, and animal health. Technical skills include formulations, encapsulation, lyophilization and spray drying.”
Dr. Moti Harel, has been actively involved in marine aquaculture R&D for more than 15 years. Prior to joining ABN, Dr. Harel worked at the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB) at the University of Maryland, where he led an international research group in developing the first AquaGrow products and new larval feeds. While at COMB, Dr. Harel developed the first re-circulating hatchery system that successfully closed the life cycle of blue crabs, and he led a project which produced more than one million striped bass juveniles outside the natural spawning season. Earlier in his career, he managed the general operation of the larval rearing department at the National Center for Mariculture, one of the largest R&D centers in the Mediterranean. While there, Dr. Harel introduced a complete diet for valuable marine fish broodstock. Dr. Harel has published his work in British Journal of Nutrition, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Aquaculture, Fish Physiology and Biochemistry, and Lipids. He has presented his work in many international professional conferences, and has been invited to present his work as a key speaker at numerous international conferences and workshops. Dr. Harel received his Ph.D. in biochemistry and food technology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1995.
Majid joined ABN in 2013 and has over 24 years of experience in manufacturing, R & D food and pharmaceutical industries. Mr. Keshtmand received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of District of Columbia in Food Science and a Bachelor
of Science degree from Shiraz University in Food Science & Human Nutrition. He has a vast knowledge of new product formulations and optimized formulations, as well as product scale up from his career at Ashland, ISP Pharma and Unilever.
Trisha joined the ABN Team in the spring of 2010. Trisha earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Ms. Rice has experience in various laboratory applications and assists ABN’s Food Technologists
and Research Scientists in product development and delivery technologies with probiotics.
Peter is responsible for directing the process development and engineering of new ABN processes, including scale-up, process optimization, and technology transfer for commercial manufacture. Prior to joining ABN, Mr. Schmalz was employed by the DuPont Company for 38 years. He served in a variety of managerial roles in R&D, engineering consulting, and facility design and construction, within DuPont Engineering and in engineering technology and operations management within the DuPont Crop Protection business. Mr. Schmalz holds a BSME degree from Valparaiso University and a MSChE degree from the University of Minnesota, and is a registered Professional Engineer. Mr. Schmalz also serves on the National Advisory Board for Christ College-The Honors College of Valparaiso University.
Tristan joined the ABN Team in the summer of 2021 after earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology from Colorado State University. He has aided in the development of novel microbiological techniques to enhance the development of agricultural biological, enzymatic, and probiotic products with ABN.
April has been with ABN since 2001, serving as Financial Controller before being promoted to her current position, where she is responsible for managing recruiting, compensation, benefits and facilities. She brings to ABN 30 years of experience in accounting
and business management, most of which has been in the biotechnology industry. Prior to ABN, Ms. Pugh put her accounting and business management expertise to work for Martek Biosciences Corporation.
Lissy is in charge of accounting operations, including the production of financial reports, maintenance of accounting records, and design and oversight of controls that mitigate risk and enhance the accuracy of reported results. Prior to joining ABN in 2005, she served as Accounting Manager at COLA, a nonprofit organization. Ms. Menachery is a Certified Public Accountant.