BPIA board members pictured clockwise from left to right: Back row: Rick Melnick, William Dunham, Bob Holm, Mike Donaldson, Steve Hartmeier; Middle Row: Bill Stoneman, Eda Reinot, Fred Betz, Pam Marrone, Bill Foster; Front row: Amy Roberts, Cam Wilson, Ned French

Bill Stoneman

Bill Stoneman is the Executive Director of the Biopesticide Industry Alliance (BPIA), serving in that capacity since April of 2008. Stoneman began his career with the Minnesota Extension Service. After earning an advanced degree in Agronomy and Soil Science at the University of Minnesota, Stoneman moved to agribusiness as a Technical Services Specialist and later Marketing Specialist for a Midwest regional fertilizer and agrichemical company. Later his career evolved to include biological pesticides in his role as Business Development Manager at Chr. Hansen, a Danish Biotechnology Company with ventures in food, agriculture and industrial applications of microorganisms. Currently he serves the biopesticide and organic industries through regulatory consultation, assistance with organic listing of biological crop inputs and biological control product development. He is a member of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), American Phytopathological Society (APS) -Biological Control Committee Chair for 2001-2002, BPIA and the International Organic Inspectors Association (lOlA). Stoneman is a Director and Secretary of the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) Board of Directors, serves on the IOIA Board of Directors and Executive Committee and the Wisconsin Organic Advisory Council with the state's Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Fred Betz

Director of Global Regulatory Affairs for AgraQuest, Inc. Mr. Betz held scientific and management positions in EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs from 1976-1994 where he helped develop and implement EPA's biopesticide regulatory program. From 1999 to 2007 Mr. Betz was Director of Regulatory Affairs for Eden Bioscience Corp. Before joining Eden, Mr. Betz led the biotechnology practice at JSC, a Washington DC - based regulatory consulting firm.

William (Bill) Dunham

William Dunham is the owner and CEO of International Bio Consultants, LLC, an international agricultural biopesticide consulting firm founded in 2007. Int’l. Bio provides support to biopesticide companies in their international expansion and growth (commercial launch, sales & marketing, regulatory and product development). Bill has been in the international crop protection and seed business for 30 years, has managed companies in three countries outside of the United States and managed large global and regional projects for some of the largest crop protection companies in the market. He has been working in the global biopesticide sector since 2003 having introduced biopesticide products and companies into more than 40 countries worldwide.

Ned French

Ned French, Ph.D., is a Product Development Manager at AMVAC. His interest in production agriculture began on his family’s farm in Oklahoma. After achieving M.S. (Mississippi State University) and Ph.D. (North Carolina State University) degrees in agricultural disciplines, Ned joined the Biopesticide Division at Mycogen Corporation. At American Cyanamid, Ned moved into Technical Service and Specialist positions in Ag Products and Forestry. After fulfilling field development and managerial roles at Eden Bioscience and later PHC, which acquired Eden, Ned joined AMVAC in 2012.  Dr. French has accumulated extensive experience in development, commercialization, and sales support of biopesticides and has served with the Arkansas Crop Protection Association, American Phytopathological Society, American Society of Agronomy, Entomological Society of America, Society of Nematologists, and Weed Science Society of America.

Steve Hartmeier

Steve is President and CEO of Vestaron Corporation. Steve previously served as President of Suterra LLC and has been involved in the agrichemical industry for over 25 years. He has held senior managerial and sales positions at Consep, Inc., Pacoast, Inc. and Monsanto. He was a member of the Western Plant Health Assoc. and the California Agricultural Production Consultants Association, has worked with the California Weed Conference and is a former board member of CAPCA and the AGR Alumni Corporation.

Dr. Robert Holm

Bob Holm, Ph.D., retired as Executive Director of the IR-4 Program at Rutgers University in 2006. Prior to joining IR-4, Dr. Holm spent over 30 years in a variety of research and development management positions in the crop protection industry with such companies as Diamond Shamrock Corp., Mobil Chemical , Rhone-Poulenc and Valent U.S.A.Corp. He currently serves as the BPIA Membership Chair and on the Meister Media Worldwide Editorial Advisory Board.

Pam Marrone

Pam Marrone is Founder and CEO of Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. Prior to launching MOI, she founded AgraQuest Inc., and led the company as CEO and then Chairman for ten years. She is Founding Chair of BPIA, she served as President of Novo Nordisk Entotech, Inc. and Sr. Group Leader of Insect Biotechnology at Monsanto Ag Company. She is a member of the University of California President's Council on Science and Innovation and Cornell University College of Ag and Life Sciences and UC Davis' College of Ag and Natural Resources Dean's Advisory Councils. She is also on the Board of the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists and the Organic Farming Research Foundation.

Rick Melnick

Rick Melnick is the Global Strategic Marketing Manager for Valent BioSciences Corporation (VBC), with responsibilities in the areas of Bt Microbials and Plant Growth Regulators as well as Public Health and Forestry. Prior to joining VBC, Rick had a 16-year career with Meister Media Worldwide where he occupied positions as editor of American Vegetable Grower magazine, Group Editor of Meister’s English and Spanish language horticultural publications, Business Director for the Crop Protection Handbook, and ultimately Corporate Editorial Director. After joining the BPIA Public Relations committee in 2005, Rick became its chair in 2006 and was elected to the BPIA Board of Directors in 2009. Rick has contributed to a variety of biopesticide-related print and online resources including authorship of VBC’s Guide to Understanding and Evaluating Biorational Products (2006) and Biorational Application Guide (2012).

Eda Reinot

Eda Reinot is Global Head of Research and Development for Becker Underwood, a leading international developer an producer of innovative specialty products for horticulture, agriculture, seed enhancements and landscape. Eda also works on collaborative projects with Crop Life America, world Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and maintains strong working relationships with regulatory organizations (EPA, PMRA, OMRI, PSD, etc.). Eda also serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Natural Biocontrol Producers (ANBP) since 2003 and is currently the Vice President and Secretary of ANBP.  Eda joined Becker Underwood in 1995. She has an MS in Chemistry and a Masters in Business Administration from Iowa State University.

Amy Roberts

A regulatory consultant with Technology Sciences Group Inc. (TSG) since 1997. Ms. Roberts specializes in biopesticide registration (microbials and biochemicals) and the distinctive issues relating to this class of products. Ms. Roberts is a a founding member of the Biopesticide Industry Alliance, as well as a member of that group’s Board of Directors and Regulatory Committee.

Tom Rutherford

Tom Rutherford is Vice President and General Manager of Oil-Dri Corporation’s Crop and Horticultural Products Group. Oil-Dri supplies clay based carriers for crop protection materials including many bio pesticide products. Mr. Rutherford has been with Oil-Dri since 1991. Prior to joining Oil-Dri, he worked for ChemLawn Services Corporation in both technical and business positions. An agronomist by training, Tom developed, monitored and supplied training for the programs applied to lawns and landscapes. Later, he migrated to the business side of Chemlawn serving as Regional Manager for several years. Mr. Rutherford holds a BA in Botany and Bacteriology from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MS in Turfgrass Science from The University of Rhode Island. In addition to his activities with BPIA, he is actively involved with Mid America Croplife Association. He currently serves on BPIA’s membership committee.