Peter Nelson
Peter Nelson is a principal in BioDimensions Inc., a company dedicated to facilitating collaborations between agricultural biotechnology and chemistry to create a new bioeconomy. The company is involved in all segments of the supply chain including crop diversity research, relationships with farmers, and the deployment of green technology with industrial partners. Mr. Nelson's career in agricultural-based technology began in 1996. Since that time he has been a frequent speaker and writer on the subject, as well as a key member of committees and organizations. Through a trade organization he cofounded, Mr. Nelson influenced key components of Title IX of the 2002 Farm Bill which encouraged the development and use of biobased products. He was an original steering team member of the Southeast Sun Grant Initiative and is currently progressing the development of the "Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta" a 5-state, 98 county initiative coordinated by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation. He is also an advisor to Infinite Enzymes LLC., based in Jonesboro, Arkansas and Stemergy, based in Ontario, Canada.
Maury Radin
Maury has over 30 years of experience in business operations and management. A native of Memphis, Tennessee Maury attended the University of Memphis before beginning his career. In 1972, Maury joined the staff of Manpower Employment Services as a Service Representative. He served Manpower in a variety of positions including Branch Manager, Area Manager, Vice-president of Operations, General Manager and President/Chief Executive Officer. During this period, the Company grew from one office to seven offices in three states. Working with a permanent staff of over 50 people, Manpower eventually employed over 10,000 temporary and contract workers annually.Maury was instrumental in the formation of AMIC, a captive insurance company providing employee insurance coverage to Manpower operations throughout the United States. He served two terms as the first President of AMIC and also served as Secretary and Vice-president of the Board of Directors. Additionally, Maury is an active community leader serving on the Boards of a number of non-profit organizations in the Memphis area. Maury provides BioDimensions with leadership and expertise in the areas of Operations, Human Resource Management, Sales, Marketing and Customer Service.
Randall W. Powell, Ph.D.
Randy Powell earned his Ph.D in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Powell spent most of his career with Eastman Chemical Company in a variety of operational and management roles in the United States and Europe. Most recently, he served as the Vice President of Performance Chemicals Manufacturing for Eastman Chemical Company. In that position, he was responsible for three specialty chemical manufacturing facilities located in Batesville, AR; Llangefni, Wales, U.K.; and Kingsport, TN. He initiated a biobased products business strategy for the Batesville, AR site, which resulted in the commercialization of biodiesel in October 2005. He subsequently led a transition team that managed divestiture of Eastman's Specialty Chemicals business and served as President and COO for the new company, FutureFuel Chemical Company in Batesville, AR from 2006 to 2007. Currently, he is the President of Powell Consulting, LLC, supporting the biofuels, bioproducts, specialty chemicals, and allied industries.
Leah C. Wells
Leah C. Wells writes about the bioeconomy in Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. She grew up in a Midwestern farm family and also spent much time in central Mississippi with her grandparents. Prior to coming to Memphis, Ms. Wells taught high school in California and developed curriculum modules for conflict resolution and eco-equity, and she has advised human rights groups in high-conflict areas worldwide, visiting more than 40 countries. She has also worked as a policy analyst on poverty, children's issues and social change in Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. Ms. Wells holds a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics from Georgetown, a Master's degree in Political Science from The University of Memphis and is currently pursuing her PhD in Political Science at The University of Mississippi.
Dean T. Didato
Mr. Didato is currently an Executive in Residence with the Memphis Bioworks Foundation and the Principal of Inntegro Consulting of Germantown, TN. Mr. Didato has 25 years of experience having worked for a leading international specialty chemical firm with senior positions in direct sales, business & market development, technical support, product development (R&D) and sales management. Mr. Didato most recently served as the Vice President of Business Development at OmniLytics, a fermentation Biotech firm based in Salt Lake City which specialized in the isolation, amplification and production of bacterial viruses or bacteriophage for use against a variety of pathogens. These included E. coli 0157:H7, Salmonella, Listeria and Campylobacter. Mr. Didato has authored and co-authored a number of papers and holds several patents pertinent to novel microbial control methodologies. He is a past President of the American Leather Chemists Association, one of the oldest U.S. technical industry associations and has served for several terms on the Board of Directors of a Washington, DC based industry lobbying organization. Mr. Didato has traveled extensively outside of the United States. Mr. Didato holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Biology-Management from Marietta College. He has attended programs at the Centers for Creative Leadership and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.
Steve Smith
Mr. Smith has worked in agriculture for over ten years. Among his experiences he has worked on a commercial row crop farm, grown and harvested a variety of alternative crops, and worked with new processing equipment for agrifibers. He is one of the founders and is currently the primary manager of the website BiobasedNews.com, which is dedicated to being a global news aggregator and disseminator for information related to biobased products and technologies. Besides the management of BiobasedNews.com, he is also involved in new crop development underway at BioDimensions.
Michael Gong
Michael Gong is a Mid-south native with deep family farming roots in Northeast Mississippi. His experiences on, and family history of this Alcorn county farm have helped shape his passion for the development of agriculture in the 21st century. Mr. Gong holds a bachelor's degree in Recreation Management from The University of Mississippi. Areas of study included facility maintenance and design and program cycle analysis and evaluation. He also earned a minor in business administration. After graduation, he spent two years working in North Mississippi for the United Methodist Church. After two years in Batesville Mississippi, Michael recently returned to the Memphis area and joined the BioDimensions team in January of 2008. His scope of work involves development of regional biodiversity and increasing regional awareness of the emerging bioeconomy. His particular area of interest is in the development of new and re-tooled crops for the region and innovative value-added processing of the resulting plant materials.
Paul Levine
A native Memphian, Paul Levine is a graduate of the University of Memphis. After earning a BBA with an Accounting major, Paul has amassed over twenty-eight years of experience in Finance and Accounting. In 1980, Paul became the Assistant Comptroller at The Memphis Group, a company involved in the market for new and used aircraft parts. He was employed by The Memphis Group until 1991. At that time, Paul joined the staff of Manpower Employment Services as a staff accountant. During his tenure at Manpower, Paul was promoted to Comptroller and Secretary Treasurer of the corporation. Upon the sale of the Manpower operation, Paul began PM Enterprises, an accounting and business advisory firm serving the small to mid-size market. Paul is a member of the Memphis Chapter of The Institute of Management Accountants where he has received the Institute's President's Award on multiple occasions. Paul provides BioDimensions with key skills in the areas of Finance and Accounting.
Arielle Moinester - Company Advisor
Arielle Moinester began consulting with BioDimensions in 2008 to aid in economic analyses of alternative crop and valued-added agricultural enterprises in the Mississippi Delta. Arielle brings to BioDimensions her experience and passion for designing, implementing and managing business and development projects that seek new intersections between traditional approaches to sustainable agricultural development and free market economic efficiency. Arielle has worked with the International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI, in Washington, DC and with AVRDC, The World Vegetable Center in Arusha, Tanzania researching African indigenous vegetables and sustainable productivity growth of horticulture in sub-Saharan Africa. She has also worked in coffee production, cooperative development and women’s income generation in Honduras and in agricultural development in Ethiopia. Arielle is co-founder of Manos de Madres, a non-profit organization building sustainable women’s businesses around the world as well as Coordinator for the Women's Earth Alliance, India Women and Sustainable Agriculture Initiative. Arielle earned her M.S. in Agricultural and Resource Economics and an M.S. in International Agricultural Development from the University of California, Davis. Currently, Arielle lives in Juba, South Sudan where she is the South Sudan Program Manager for Agriculture and Livelihoods with Catholic Relief Services.
Chris Ramezanpour - Company Advisor
Chris Ramezanpour earned his Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2008. Mr. Ramezanpour has several years of agriculture and international development experience from his work in Kenya, Cote d'Ivoire and Zambia. From 2003-2005 he was a field agent in Kilifi, Kenya for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. There he led agribusiness and crop training programs and assisted in crop marketing for the 1,300 farmers affiliated with the FAO Farmer Field School Program in the district. He has worked closely with international institutions, non-profit organizations and local governments to provide policy papers, supply chain analysis and strategic guidance on issues like alternative energy for public schools in Maine, micro-finance for small-scale farmers in Kenya, developing agro-processing opportunities in Zambia, and protecting farm worker rights in the United States.
Hillary Spain - Company Advisor
Hillary Spain is a Technical Marketing Representative for Progeny Ag Products in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. She is a native of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She earned her Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in Agriculture from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. While at Murray State, she completed a study on biodiesel utilization and wrote a thesis on the amount of soybean biodiesel being used in Western Kentucky. Ms. Spain spent over two years working for a large farm equipment dealership in Western Kentucky before relocating to Memphis, Tennessee and joining BioDimensions in February, 2008, where she developed alternative crops programs through 2009. Ms. Spain also spent four months in Niger, West Africa where she served as an agriculturist to native peoples in the village of Gotheye. She was also a committee member in the "Sustainable Shelby" program initiated by former County Mayor A. C. Wharton. Ms. Spain serves on the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee. Ms. Spain is a board member for the Memphis Agriculture Club.