Keynote speakers

Senthold Asseng

Prof. Dr. Senthold Asseng
Technical University Munich | Germany
Senthold Asseng is Professor and Head of the Department of Digital Agriculture and Director of the Hans Eisenmann Forum at the Technical University of Munich. He has published over 300 papers, is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and has been a highly cited researcher on the Web of Science several times in recent years.

François Chrétien

François Chrétien, agr M.Sc.
Agriculture and Agri-Food | Canada
François Chrétien is a Director of Research, Development and Technology at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). In this role, he provides leadership on multiple science priorities, such as climate change, agri-environmental challenges and living labs. Since 2017, he has been responsible for the development and establishment of AAFC network of Agroecosystem Living Labs, including under the Agricultural Climate Solutions program. He has worked with multiple Canadian and international partners in order to develop this new approach to agricultural innovation. François Chrétien received his bachelor of sciences in agriculture from McGill University and his master’s degree in Water Sciences from the National Institute of Scientific Research.

Robert Finger

Prof. Dr. Robert Finger
ETH Zurich | Switzerland
Robert Finger is Professor of Agricultural Economics and Policy and Chair of the World Food System Center at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. His research is at the interface of agricultural sciences and economics and contributes to more sustainable and resilient agricultural systems, especially related to European agriculture. Focal thematic areas are the economics and policy of pesticides, biodiversity, digitalization and climate risk management in agriculture. Robert Finger and his team are strongly engaged in outreach and science communication. For example, they established a blog that synthesizes academic papers into non-technical blog posts in German or French targeting at non-academic stakeholders (www.agrarpolitik-blog.com).

Brajesh Singh

Prof. Dr. Brajesh K. Singh
Western Sydney University | Australia
Brajesh is a Distinguished Professor of Soil biology, at Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University. Through his fundamental research, he identifies the quantitative relationships between microbial diversity and ecosystem/ host functions and how natural/anthropogenic pressures such climate change affect this. His applied research harnesses the knowledge gained in fundamental research to improve agriculture productivity, restoration success and environmental sustainability. Outcomes from his research have informed multiple policy decisions at national and international levels, and he is currently working with multiple government and inter-governmental bodies including European Commission, United Nation agencies such as Food and Agriculture Authority to support the implementation of relevant Sustainable Development Goals.
Prof Singh has published well above 290 scientific papers including and these have been cited well above 35,000 times with h’ index of 96. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, American Academy of Microbiology, Australia Society of Soil Science, American Society of Soil Science. He is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, a Humboldt Research Awardee, JA Prescott medalist and Horizon Award- Dorothy Jones prize winner.

Teja Tscharntke

Prof. Dr. Teja Tscharntke
University of Göttingen | Germany
Teja Tscharntke has been Professor of Agroecology at the University of Göttingen since 1993. He made his Master in both sociology and biology at the universities in Marburg and Gießen, did his doctorate in Hamburg and habilitated in Karlsruhe. His main research focuses on landscape perspectives on biodiversity patterns and associated ecosystem services of temperate and tropical regions, especially biological pest control, pollination and quantitative food webs. Further research addresses interdisciplinary studies integrating socio-economic and ecological analyses. He is "Highly Cited Researcher" on the Web of Science (since 2015) and has been honored 2020 by the Royal Entomological Society (Award for Insect Conservation), the British Ecological Society (Marsh Award for Ecology, 2020) and the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Honorary Medal 2021).

Associate Prof. Dr. Michelle Chevelev-Bonatti
Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Humboldt-Unversität zu Berlin & University of Vila Velha | Germany & Brasil
Dr. Michelle Bonatti is Associate Professor of Environmental Sociology at University of Vila Velha and Deputy Head of SusLAND group at ZALF. She lectures on Environmental Sociology and Policy at Humboldt University Berlin, where she earned her Ph.D. in Life Sciences. Her research focuses on co- social learning and design of innovations for sustainable land use. With over a decade of experience, including work at FAO, Dr. Bonatti has contributed to projects across Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Her expertise in environmental sociology and sustainable development has earned her four academic awards, including “Research Leader on Sustainable Transformations in the Face of Climate Change” by the European Research funders’ network JPI CLIMATE, Norway. She has authored more than 80 scientific publications, establishing her as a voice in sustainable land use and social learning.