IPREFER PROJECT TEAM
Jim Anderson
Breeding & Genetics
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
ander319@umn.edu
Carol Kiam Assato
Breeding & Genetics
Graduate Student
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
cskiama@ilstu.edu
Jason Bond
Agronomy / Crop Management
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
(Soybean Cyst Nematode)
College of Agricultural Sciences
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL
jbond@siu.edu
Mary Brakke
Outreach – Extension – Education
Integrated Plant Systems
Undergraduate Research Experience (Lead)
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St Paul, MN
brakk001@umn.edu
Senyu Chen
Agronomy / Crop Management
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
(Soybean Cyst Nematode)
Southern Research & Outreach Center
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
Steve Csonka
IPREFER Advisory Board
Executive Director
Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI)
Mike DeCamp
IPREFER Advisory Board
Chief Executive Officer
CoverCress, Inc.
St Louis, MO
mdecamp@covercress.com
Alexandra Diemer
Supply Chain Development
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
Minneapolis, MN
adiemer@auri.org
Alan Doerning
Supply Chain Development
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
Crookston, MN
adoering@auri.org
Ahmad M. Fakhoury
Agronomy / Crop Management
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
(Soybean Cyst Nematode)
College of Agricultural Sciences
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL
amfakhou@siu.edu
Neville Fernandes, PE.
IPREFER Advisory Board
VP, Chevron Renewable Energy Group
Frank Forcella
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
(Pollinators)
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota
Morris, MN
forcellafrank@gmail.com
Liza Gautam
Graduate Student
Breeding & Genetics
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
bgautam@ilstu.edu
Russ Gesch
Executive Leadership Team
Agronomy / Crop Management
USDA-ARS
North Central Soil Conservation Research Lab
Morris, MN
russ.gesch@ars.usda.gov
Brad Glenn
Agronomy / Crop Management
Producer
CoverCress, Inc.
St Louis, MO
brad.glenn@frontier.com
Riley Gordon
Supply Chain Development
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
Crookston, MN
rgordon@AURI.org
Matthew Hagaman
Executive Leadership Team
Outreach - Extension - Education (Lead)
Center for Math, Science, & Technology
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
mthagam@ilstu.edu
Alex Hard
Agronomy / Crop Management
Department of Agronomy & Plant Sciences
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St. Paul, MN
hardx006@umn.edu
Aaron Hauger
Graduate Student
Outreach - Extension - Education
College of Education & Human Development
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
hauge553@umn.edu
Brett Heim
Breeding & Genetics
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St. Paul, MN
hbrett@umn.edu
Nicholas Heller
Agronomy / Crop Management
Outreach - Extension - Education
Dept. of Agriculture
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
njhelle@ilstu.edu
Mitch Hunter
Supply Chain Development
Forever Green Initiative
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St. Paul, MN
mhunte@umn.edu
William Hunter
Co-Project Director
Outreach - Extension - Education
Department of Chemistry
Illinois State University
Normal IL
wjhunte@ilstu.edu
Nikhil Jaikumar
PostDoc
Breeding & Genetics
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
njaikum@IllinoisState.edu
Kaveh Javanshirjavid
Graduate Student
Agronomy / Crop Management
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
(Soybean Cyst Nematode)
College of Agricultural Sciences
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL
kaveh.javanshirjavid@siu.edu
Gregg Johnson
Agronomy / Crop Management
Supply Chain Development
Southern Research & Outreach Center
University of Minnesota
Waseca, MN
johns510@umn.edu
Frances Lawrenz
Outreach - Extension - Education
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
lawrenz@umn.edu
Matthew Leiphon
Supply Chain Development
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
Crookston MN
Alexander Lindsey
Co-Project Director
Agronomy / Crop Management
Outreach - Extension - Education
Department of Horticulture & Crop Science
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
lindsey.227@osu.edu
Aaron Lorenz
Breeding & Genetics
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St. Paul, MN
lore0149@umn.edu
Matt Luetje
Executive Leadership Team
Supply Chain Development (Lead)
Founder
M2L Ag Consulting
St Louis, MO
Lauren Lurkins J.D.
IPREFER Advisory Board
Founder
Lurkins Strategies, LLC
M.David Marks
Co-Project Director
Breeding & Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (Ret.)
Forever Green Initiative
St. Paul, MN
marks004@umn.edu
Mark Messmer
Breeding & Genetics
CoverCress, Inc.
St Louis, MO
Yesuf Mohammed
Executive Leadership Team
Agronomy / Crop Management (Lead)
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
moha2490@umn.edu
William Perry
Executive Leadership Team
Pennycress Ecosystem Services (Lead)
Supply Chain Development
University of Minnesota, Duluth
Duluth, MN
wlperry@umn.edu
Kathryn Phillips
Graduate Student
Supply Chain Development
Bioproducts & Biosystems Science, Engineering & Management
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St. Paul, MN
phil0929@umn.edu
Mary Phippen
Agronomy / Crop Management
Alternative Crops Research Program
School of Agriculture
Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL
ME-Phippen@wiu.edu
Winthrop (Win) Phippen
Project Director
Agronomy / Crop Management
Breeding & Genetics
Alternative Crops Research Program
School of Agriculture
Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL
wb-phippen@wiu.edu
Rob Rhykerd
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
Supply Chain Development
Department of Agriculture
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
rrhyker@ilstu.edu
Lucas Roberts
Graduate Student & Research Assistant
Breeding & Genetics
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St. Paul, MN
robe2110@umn.edu
Emily Schoenfelder
Outreach - Extension - Education
(Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development)
University of Illinois Extension
Pekin, IL
eschoe@illinois.edu
John C. Sedbrook
Executive Leadership Team
Co-Project Director
Breeding & Genetics (Southern Breeding Lead)
Supply Chain Development
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
jcsedbr@ilstu.edu
Tim Smith
Supply Chain Development
Department of Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St. Paul, MN
timsmith@umn.edu
Dale Sorenson
Pennycress Commercialization
CoverCress, Inc.
St Louis, MO
Michael Sparby
Supply Chain Development
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
St. Paul MN
msparby@auri.org
Harold Stanislawski
Supply Chain Development
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
St. Paul, MN
hstanislawski@auri.org
Michael Stutelberg
AURI Lead
Supply Chain Development
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
St. Paul, MN
mstutelberg@auri.org
Jennifer Wagner-Lehr
Supply Chain Development
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
Crookston, MN
Alan Weber
IPREFER Advisory Board
MARC-IV Consulting
Samantha Wells
Co-Project Director
Agronomy / Crop Management
Supply Chain Development
Outreach - Extension - Education
College of Food, Agricultural & Natural Resource Sciences
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St. Paul, MN
SSWELLS@UMN.EDU
Tad Wesley
Agronomy / Crop Management
Breeding & Genetics
School of Agriculture
Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL
TL-Wesley@wiu.edu
Julia Zhang
Executive Leadership Team
Breeding & Genetics (Northern Breeding Lead)
University of Minnesota
College of Biological Sciences
St. Paul MN
zhan0521@umn.edu
Past Board Members, Collaborators, and Students
Heba Hamdy Abouseada
Breeding & Genetics
Visiting Fulbright Scholar (Illinois State University)
Molecular Genetics & Biotechnology
Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University
heba_1st@hotmail.com
Jeff Bender
Agronomy / Crop Management
Retired Summer 2021
Illinois State University
Katie Black
Outreach - Extension - Education
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Anthony Brusa
Breeding & Genetics
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
St Paul, MN
abrusa@umn.edu
Constance Carlson
Supply Chain Development
(Market Development)
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Julija Cubins
Data Management
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Colin Cureton
Supply Chain Development
UMN Forever Green Initiative
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Saint Paul, MN
cure0012@umn.edu
Rashmi Dangol
Graduate Student
Agronomy / Crop Management
Illinois State University
Rebekka Darner
Executive Leadership Team (2019-2023)
Outreach - Extension - Education
Center for Mathematics, Science & Technology (CeMaST)
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
rldarne@ilstu.edu
Maliheh Esfahanian
Graduate Student
Breeding & Genetics
Illinois State University
Dr. Esfahanian served on the IPREFER Breeding & Genetics team from Aug. 2019 to Jan. 2021 while a graduate student at Illinois State University.
Katherine Frels
Breeding & Genetics
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Dr. Frels served on the IPREFER Breeding & Genetics team from Aug. 2019 to Jan. 2021 while at the University of Minnesota.
Gary Haer
Advisory Board
08/2019 - 04/2021
Gary Haer served on the IPREFER Advisory Board from IPREFER's inception in 2019 in his capacity as Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Renewable Energy Group (REG) until his retirement in April 2021.
Will Hamman
Outreach - Extension - Education
Cristine L. Handel
Executive Leadership Team
Supply Chain Development
Dr. Handel served on the IPREFER Executive Leadership Team from Aug. 2019 thru Mar. 2021 while at CoverCress. Dr. Handel also led the IPREFER Supply Chain Development objective.
Cody A. Hoerning
Agronomy / Crop Management
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Brice Jarvis
Graduate Student
Breeding & Genetics
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
Nasib Koirala
Graduate Student
Agronomy / Crop Management
The Ohio State University
Shahriar Mahmud
Graduate Student
Breeding & Genetics
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
smahmu1@ilstu.edu
Danny Marchiafava
Graduate Student
Breeding & Genetics
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Ryan Meyer
Graduate Student
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
rtmeye1@IllinoisState.edu
Deepika Mishra
Breeding & Genetics
CoverCress, Inc.
Dr. Mishra served on the IPREFER Breeding & Genetics team from Aug. 2019 to Dec. 2020 while employed at CoverCress, Inc.
Ethan Morales
Agronomy / Crop Management
North Central Soil Conservation Research Lab
Morris, MN
ethan.morales@usda.gov
Matthew A. Ott
Graduate Student
Breeding & Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Leonardo Rocha
PostDoc Researcher
Agronomy / Crop Management
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
(Soybean Cyst Nematode)
College of Agricultural Sciences
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL
leonardo.rocha@siu.edu
Rachel Sparks
Graduate Student
Outreach - Extension - Education
Illinois University University
Normal, IL
Jerry Steiner
Advisory Board
CoverCress, Inc. CEO, Ret.
08/2019-05/21
Jerry Steiner was an original IPREFER Advisory Board member, a role he took on while serving as CoverCress CEO. Prior to CoverCress Steiner was EVP for Monsanto, focused on Global Corporate Affairs including government industry and public affairs sustainability and new business models for soybeans.
Zenith Tandukar
Graduate Student
Breeding & Genetics
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Pamela Tas
Agronomy / Crop Management
University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Tim Ulmasov
Breeding & Genetics
CoverCress, Inc. (Ret.)
Mujen (Jack) Wang
Graduate Student
Pennycress Ecosystem Services
Illinois State University
Dalton Williams
Graduate Student
Breeding & Genetics
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Jeffrey Wilson
Breeding & Genetics
CoverCress, Inc.
St Louis, MO
Bethany Wohrley
Graduate Student
Agronomy / Crop Management
Illinois State University