Board of Directors
Scientific Committee
The Scientific Committee is composed by all the integrated PhD members of GreenUPorto and is convened and chaired by the Director.
External Advisory Board
The External Advisory Board (EAB) is formed by international researchers of recognized merit in the thematic research lines of GreenUPorto; members of the society with relevant positions in national companies or institutions of the agri-food sector.
Jörg Römbke
Managing Director – ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH (located in Flörsheim/Germany)
Dr. Römbke has a Ph.D. and a Diploma in Biology from the University of Frankfurt a.M.. In 1994, he co-founded ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH (located in Flörsheim/Germany) as a private contract research laboratory, where he is still one of two Managing Directors. Dr. Römbke is responsible for ecotoxicological effect and fate tests as well as the environmental risk assessment of chemicals (pesticides, metals, or pharmaceuticals) working both for chemical industry and for national and international governmental authorities. He has published about 200 papers in indexed journals. Dr. Römbke is specialized in the taxonomy, biogeography and ecology of soil fauna. He is involved in several ecological and ecotoxicological field studies in Germany, other European countries, Brazil and in North Africa, most recently the EU-FP7 project EcoFINDERS. Especially he is interested in the development and standardization of ecotoxicological test methods as well as in the international harmonization of methods for biological soil monitoring, serving e.g. as chair of ISO TC 190/SC4 (the committee responsible for biological methods).
http://www.ect.de
Lília Ahrné
Full professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Food Science
Professor Lília Ahrné has a Master’s Degree in Food Engineering from Portugal (ESB-UCP) with a Diploma Thesis from Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany. She did her PhD at the Catholic University of Portugal in collaboration with the University of California in Davis and went to Sweden during 1994 for a postdoc between Tetra Pak and Lund University. After working for Tetra Pak Processing Systems, she joined SIK – the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology – where she worked for 18 years. For the last 7 years, she headed up the Process and Technology Development section. At the University of Copenhagen, her core areas are mild processing, functionalised dairy ingredients and structure processing. Exploring technologies that are emerging or under development, that are sustainable and that can produce added value products. The effect of technologies on product properties like texture, taste and nutritional value is a major interest of her research – especially the development of healthier and tasty alternatives. Professor Ahrné was elected fellow to the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST) in 2016 and is the President of the European Federation of Food Science & Technology (EFFoST) Executive Committee.
http://www.food.ku.dk/english/
Leo Marcelis
Horticulture and Product Physiology group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Leo Marcelis is full professor Horticulture and Product Physiology at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Leo has a vast experience in experimental and simulation research on growth and functioning of horticultural plants grown in greenhouses and vertical farms. His main expertise is on physiology, growth and product formation of plants and plant organs. In particular fluxes of assimilates, water and nutrients in the plant, sink/source interactions and partitioning among plant organs in response to environmental growth conditions are subject of study. His research contributes to sustainable horticultural production while improving crop production and quality; this includes saving of energy, efficient use of (LED)light, efficient use of water and nutrients. He has (co-) authored more than 160 scientific articles and over 250 articles for growers or general public. H-index is 41 (Google Scholar).
https://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Persons/Leo-Marcelis.htm
Benedita Chaves
Manager of the Research, Development and Innovation Unit at LIPOR
Graduated in Environmental Engineering from the ESBUC (School of Biotechnology of the Portuguese Catholic University) with a postgraduate degree in Environmental Health from ESBUC and with Training in Business Management and Leadership. Collaborator at Lipor since 2001. Currently Manager of the Research, Development and Innovation Unit of Lipor. Participation in cross-national, national and international working groups. Participation in European projects (Life and H2020). Expert in Circular Economics from FCT and Biobased Industries from the European Commission. Supervisor of curricular and professional internships and MSc thesis in environmental engineering, environmental sciences, environmental health, environmental awareness, nutrition sciences and sociocultural animation.
http://www.lipor.pt
Deolinda Silva
Executive Director at PortugalFoods
BSc in Food Engineering, Faculty of Biotechnology of the Catholic University of Portugal. RTD financial incentives manager. RTD projects analysis and technical monitoring. Since 2017 Deolinda Silva is Executive Director at PortugalFoods. Between 2004 – 2017 she was Project manager at ANI (National Innovation Agency). Skills in the organisation and management of projects, teams and events. Experience in participating in international projects and in University-Company interface, technology transfer and in promotion and dissemination of RTD projects results. Thorough knowledge of the Portuguese business fabric and Research and Innovation System, with emphasis on the agri-food sector, as a result of 20 years of work experience in the area. Experience in programs such as: R&TD TEAMS IN COMPANIES (Projects in Co-Promotion); DEMONSTRATORS – Projects demonstrators of advanced technologies and pilot lines; MOBILIZING PROGRAMMES – Strategic cross-thematic R&D projects that envisage the development of new products, processes or services highly intensive in technology and innovation; R&TD in CO-PROMOTION – Business projects in co-promotion with other companies or other entities of the R&I system; SIFIDE – the R&D tax incentive system for companies.
http://www.portugalfoods.org
Maria do Carmo Martins
General Secretary at COTHN
Graduated in Agricultural Engineering and has a Masters’ in Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology from the Instituto Superior de Agronomia de Lisboa. Also has a course in Management of Agricultural and Agroindustrial Companies by AESE. She taught subjects in the areas of tropical agriculture, economics of natural resources and rural development at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, at the Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra and in international cooperation programs with Portuguese-speaking countries. She collaborates with the National Hortofrutícola Technological Operative Center since 2004, as a technician for applied innovation projects in the area of fruit growing, and took on the role of general secretary of the Center in 2008. The main activities developed within the scope of COTHN are related to the transfer of knowledge throughout the horticultural sector, such as the survey of research needs, promotion and coordination of projects in innovation applied within the scope of the innovation measures of the Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture, involving organizations in the productive sector. Also carrying out knowledge transfer actions such as field days, production campaign reviews, expert seminars, technical and scientific meetings and close coordination with the various official entities of the Ministries of Agriculture and Economy.