Speakers ABIM 2025 at a glance

Martin Andermatt - Chairman of the Board, Andermatt Group AG

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Tuesday, 21 October, Anniversary Celebration

José Carvalho - EMEA Regulatory Lead, Certis Biologicals

José Carvalho holds a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the Humboldt University in Berlin and a Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Porto University, with a focus on microbiology, antibiotics resistance and immunology. Previous to joining the industry, José worked for the Portuguese Water Institute, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the German Federal Institute for Material Science and Testing (BAM) in analytical methods, publishing 11 peer-reviewed articles and 2 book chapters. Since 2020, José is working as European Regulatory Lead for Certis Biologicals and prior to that in several regulatory and business positions within the crop protection industry. He is currently the Chair of the Microbial Professional Group at IBMA, an expert group dealing with microorganism registrability issues and market access for microorganism-based technologies in agriculture.

Wednesday, 22 October 2025, Session 6: Actions to Accelerate Biocontrol (Chair)

David Cary - Honorary Member IBMA and ABIM Fellow

David Cary was a pivotal figure in the biocontrol industry and ABIM. He was appointed as the 1st Executive Director of IBMA and served in that role from 2009 to 2019 and is now an Honorary Member. He was a member of the organising team at ABIM from 2009 to 2022 and is an Honorary Member of ABIM. He is an entomologist by training and has represented the industry at FAO, OECD and EU level. He has served under 4 IBMA Presidents and worked closely with Bernard Blum who was often referred to as the founding father of IBMA. He has been involved in the Bernard Blum Award since its creation and now is Chair of the judging panel. He is a Member of the Board of PAN Europe and it’s Vice Chairman and Treasurer. He was a Member of the Board of PA Europe until December 2024. He is Chairman of his local Parish Council, Braunston Parish Council and Treasurer of the Braunston Climate Action Network.

Monday October, 20 October 2025: Bernard Blum Award (Host)

Camille Delpoux - COO, AGRIODOR

Agricultural engineer, Camille has spent the past ten years building her experience through various roles at every link in the value chain of crop production (R&D, production management, training, marketing). Through the development of multi-partner projects within the agricultural ecosystem, she has specialized in the commercial development of innovations, notably within the Roullier Group.
In 2020, her encounter with Ené Leppik and Alain Thibault presented an opportunity to dive into an entrepreneurial project and develop a cutting-edge biocontrol technology with the creation of Agriodor. Convinced that the agroecological transition will be driven by making biosolutions available to farmers, she joined the company's management team, taking responsibility for coordinating operations from the development of solutions to ensuring their market readiness.
AGRIODOR draws inspiration from nature, creating scent blends from molecules naturally emitted by plants to modify pest insect behavior and protect crops.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025, Session 4: 30 Years of IBMA & 20 Years of ABIM

Livia Esterhazy - Programme Director, A Lighter Touch Programme

Livia joined the A Lighter Touch Programme in October 2022 as Programme Director. A Lighter Touch is an industry and government partnership on a mission to support New Zealand growers moving from agrichemical reliance to an agroecological approach to crop protection, working with nature to build productive, sustainable and resilient farming systems.
Given Livia’s huge passion for the health of people and planet through food, driving this kind of real system change to ensure the agri-food sector is future-proofed, is a perfect fit. As the former CEO of WWF New Zealand, Livia knows the benefits and power of working with nature for nature, and is using this to help ensure New Zealand produce is grown using more sustainable farming systems and lighter touch food production.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025: Keynote and Panel discussion (panellist)

Juliana Jaramillo - Lead for Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture at the Rainforest Alliance

Juliana Jaramillo is the Lead for Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture at the Rainforest Alliance, where she drives global efforts to scale nature-based solutions and agroecological practices across tropical farming systems. With over 20 years of experience in sustainable agriculture—including cutting-edge research on coffee pests, biological control, and climate change adaptation—Juliana bridges science and practice to help farmers and companies achieve greater resilience and environmental impact. She holds a PhD in entomology and biological control and has published extensively on integrated pest management and climate-smart agriculture. She also brings experience from the plant protection private sector, where she worked on sustainable pest management solutions. Juliana is committed to advancing regenerative food systems that support farmer livelihoods and protect ecosystems.

Wednesday, 22 October 2025, Session 6: Actions to accelerate biocontrol

Sylvia Kuria - Organic Farmer

Sylvia Kuria is a Kenyan organic farmer and entrepreneur on a mission to make organic produce accessible. She connects 30+ small-scale farmers to markets, aggregating and selling over 5 tonnes of organic produce monthly to bulk buyers. Passionate about training and empowering farmers, she champions safe, sustainable farming. When she’s not in the fields, she’s documenting her journey through writing.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025, Session 2: Biocontrol in Action

Jennifer Lewis - Executive Director, IBMA Global

Jennifer Lewis was appointed as IBMA Executive Director in 2019. Jennifer is passionate about IPM, reducing the reliance on traditional pesticides through the uptake of these integrated programmes of pest and disease control in crop production throughout Europe.
Prior to IBMA, for 10 years Jennifer Lewis was a member of the Certis Europe Management Board as Head of Innovation and Development and during this period was Vice Chair of IBMA UK.
Earlier Jennifer was General Manager of BCP, a beneficial insect production company selling beneficial insects for pest control, which was purchased by Certis Europe.
Jennifer has worked in crop protection for 35 years in various marketing, regulatory and stewardship roles in the US, Brazil and Europe. Jennifer is an agronomy graduate with a Masters in Business Administration and a Diploma in Sustainable Business Development.

Monday, 20 October 2025, Opening: Welcome note

Tuesday, 21 October 2025, Session 2: Biocontrol in Action (Chair)

Wednesday, 22 October 2025, Closing

Anna Maden - Farmer and Agronomist, Crop Capsules Company

Anna Madden’s childhood on her family farm in Australia fostered a passion for agriculture and biodiversity, leading her to complete a BSc in Rural Science (Hon) at university. Anna is now a farmer and agronomist with over 30 years of commercial field experience.  In 2020, she and her husband founded The Crop Capsules Company after applying Eretmocerus hayati to their own crops and their cotton clients crops for many years. Their flagship product, CottonCap, is a groundbreaking solution for mass releasing beneficial wasps for the treatment of silverleaf whitefly in Australian cotton crops, scaling biological control into thousands of hectares. 

Tuesday, 21 October, Session 2: Biocontrol in Action

Alessandra Moccia - Vice President, IBMA Global

Alessandra strongly believes in a future where our farming practices become more sustainable. In 2012 she joined Suterra where she directs the Regulatory Affairs department, ensuring the registration of semiochemicals active substances and products globally. From 2018 to 2023 she chaired the IBMA semiochemical professional group. Since 2024 she is Vice President of IBMA Global.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025, Keynote and Panel discussion (Chair)

Alain Querrioux - CEO, Andermatt France, Treasurer IBMA Global

Alain Querrioux is a French-born agronomist, who has been active in the agricultural sector for the past 35 years. He assumed several technical, commercial and management positions covering a wide spectrum of agricultural and regulatory environments around the globe. In the late 90’s, his deeply rooted commitment to alternative solutions triggered his decision to fully dedicate his energy to the development of Biocontrol. He joined pure-players and witnessed the early development of the industry in pioneering times, and now enjoys the excitement of its booming development. Innovation has always been a key driver in Alain’s professional live, together with the aim to let farmers benefit performing, healthy and cost-effective alternative solutions to protect their crops. Over the years, Alain has developed an excellent knowledge of our industry, of its history, markets and main stakeholders. In 2014, Alain co-founded the French branch of the Andermatt group, which he has successfully been running and developing sofar. In the meantime, he has been active in IBMA governance, as a Council and Board member of the French association. In January 2023, he joined IBMA Global Board as Treasurer.

Monday, 20 October 2025, Opening: Welcome note

Tuesday, 21 October 2025, Keynote and Panel discussion (Panellist)

Tuesday, 21 October, Anniversary Celebration

Willem Ravensberg - Former IBMA President and Advisor HeyFever Consulting

Dr. Willem Ravensberg holds a Master’s in Biology from Leiden University (1981) and a PhD from Wageningen University (2010), where his thesis on microbial pest control was later published as a book by Springer.
He began his career in 1981 at Koppert BV, where he established the R&D Department and led the development of natural enemies, microbial insecticides, and quality control systems. In 1999, he became head of the R&D Microbials Department, leading innovations like the fungicide Enzicur, and securing the company’s first patent.
Willem has over 30 years of experience in regulatory affairs, particularly in the registration of biopesticides (macros, micros, natural products, semiochemicals). He served on the board of Artemis (2011–2023) and held multiple leadership roles in IBMA, including President (2013–2018), where he spearheaded efforts for better EU bioprotectant regulation and co-authored the IBMA White Paper. He also represented Koppert in BPIA and co-founded BioProtection Global.
From 2019 to 2023, Willem served as Senior Corporate Governmental and Regulatory Manager at Koppert before retiring. He has published over 80 scientific works, including key books on microbial bioprotectants. Notable honors include the World Bioprotection Forum’s Outstanding Achievement Award (2022), the Artemis “Willem Ravensberg Award” (2023), and the New IPM Award for Sustainable Agriculture (2024).
After 42 years at Koppert, Willem joined HeyFever Consulting as Senior Bioprotectant Development Advisor.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025, Keynote and Panel discussion (panellist)

Tuesday, 21 October 2025, Session 4: 30 Years of IBMA & 20 Years of ABIM

Max Schulman - Farmer, Senior Advisor, cereals oilseeds, Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) Finland

Max is a farmer, grain trader, and agricultural advisor. He owns Stor-Tötar Gård, a farm in Southwestern Finland. He previously worked for the Finnish Grain Board and in the agricultural machinery sector. Since 2008, he has served as Senior Advisor at the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK). Max is also Chairman of the Copa-Cogeca Phytosanitary Working Group, Vice Chairman of the Seeds Working Group, and a member of several EU-level agricultural observatories.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025, Session 2: Biocontrol in Action

Kaspar Sutter -  State Councillor, Canton Basel-Stadt 

Monday, 20 October 2025, Opening: Welcome note
 

Lucius Tamm - CEO, ABIM AG

Dr. Lucius Tamm holds a degree in agricultural engineering from ETH Zurich and has more than 25 years plant pathology R&D experience working on cereals, potatoes, grapevine and horticultural crops. Lucius has published > 100 papers and book chapters and been a partner or coordinated in EU projects since 2001. He is also guest lecturer at several universities. Until May 2023, he was Head of Department of Crop Sciences at the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). He led FiBL’s R&D activities for the development of crop protection solutions and has also been involved in the development of improved registration procedures for novel plant protection products. Since 2023, he has joined Agroscope, the leading agricultural research organization in Switzerland and coordinates its research programmes & international collaborations. Lucius was co-founder of ABIM in 2006 and is CEO of ABIM AG.

Monday, 20 October 2025, Session 1: Showcasing Innovations (Chair)

Monday, 20 October 2025, Opening: Welcome note

Tuesday, 21 October 2025, Poster session (Chair)

Wednesday, 22 October 2025, Closing

Jean-Marc Vandoorne - CEO of BioFirst Group

Jean-Marc Vandoorne is the CEO of BioFirst Group (formerly Biobest Group), a global leader in biological crop protection and pollination. Since stepping into the CEO role in 2009, Jean-Marc has overseen the company’s remarkable growth, driven by both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions. What began as a niche player with a €25 million turnover is now projected to exceed €500 million in 2025. BioFirst Group continues to pioneer sustainable alternatives to chemical crop protection, addressing critical issues such as residues, resistance, and regulatory challenges. Before leading BioFirst group, Jean-Marc served as Senior Vice-President at Alliance Laundry Systems, overseeing business operations in several regions. He was also President of IPSO, where he displayed a strong capacity for company growth. Jean-Marc’s expertise was further developed at ExxonMobil as a Supply Chain Manager and at Arthur Andersen. He holds a Master’s in Business Engineering from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, equipping him with a comprehensive understanding of business and management that he has applied effectively across diverse industries.

Tuesday, 21 October 2024, Session 4: 30 Years of IBMA & 20 Years of ABIM