Executive Director, CAAFI
Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative

Steve Csonka is the Executive Director of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) , where he leads this public/private consortium working toward the development, introduction, and widespread commercialization of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) for the entire aviation enterprise. With over 27 years of broad airline and aviation OEM experience prior to taking the helm of CAAFI in 2012, Csonka is a strong industry advocate who seeks pragmatic solutions to the challenges of aviation growth – resulting in his current focus on SAF as the leading technology to allow for the near-term decoupling of carbon growth from operational growth.

CEO, CoverCress, Inc.

Mike DeCamp is the former CEO of CoverCress Inc. He joined as COO in 2020. Mike has over 30 years of diversified experience in agribusiness, corporate finance, law, corporate strategy, and M&A.  Mike began his career as a CPA at Ernst & Young, practiced corporate and securities law with Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale in St. Louis, worked at Monsanto in legal, strategy, and operational roles, founded an agricultural-focused strategic advisory and transaction services firm, and led corporate finance, capital management, M&A, and strategy as CFO and CIO for a production agriculture focused private equity firm in Indianapolis. Mike earned his law degree from the University of Missouri – Columbia and a BA in business administration from the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

Vice President, Chevron Renewable Energy Group

Neville Fernandes has more than 30 years of experience in the renewable fuels, petroleum, and chemical industries in a variety of roles including business development, sales, marketing, EHS, and process engineering. He currently serves as Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Development at Renewable Energy Group, Inc. In this position, Mr. Fernandes provides strategic thought leadership in public policy and leads early stages of strategic business development opportunities while working closely with the REG business development and strategy teams.

Founder
Lurkins Strategies, LLC

Lauren Lurkins is the founder of the environmental consulting firm Lurkins Strategies, LLC. Prior to opening Lurkins Strategies, LLC, Lauren served as the Director of Environmental Policy at the Illinois Farm Bureau for over 10 years. In that role, Lauren was responsible for advocating on behalf of the organization in the promulgation, implementation, and enforcement of local, state, and federal environmental legislation and regulation impacting Illinois agriculture. Lauren maintained liaison with various state and federal agencies and developed and coordinated the organization’s environmental programs, communications, and information work. She also held several leadership positions on university research projects, industry coalitions, and agency advisory committees addressing the issues of environment, climate, and conservation issues at the farm level.

Agricultural Producer
MARC-IV, Founding Partner

Mr. Alan Weber is a founding partner of MARC-IV, a consulting company that fosters the development of bio-based innovations that benefit agriculture and enhance our environment. Active with biodiesel commercialization activities since 1991, Weber assisted with the establishment of the National Biodiesel Board’s (NBB) Washington, DC office in 2006-07 and continues to provide economic & technical support to their efforts. He was appointed by the U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy to serve on the Biomass Research & Development Initiative Technical Advisory Committee in 2012. In addition to his activity with MARC-IV, Weber operates and manages his family’s farm in central Missouri. He completed his undergraduate and graduate training in agricultural economics at the University of Missouri.