Advisory Board

Marie Østergaard is a Chief Advisor at the Danish Agriculture and Food Council. With over 10 years of experience working with plant nutrients, she’s currently focused on the use of biomass for energy, including biogas and optimization of cascade effects. Her main interests lie on the just and efficient use of resources to cover human needs for food and energy, while minimising effects on climate, nature and environment. She has a Master in Horticulture and a PhD in Agriculture and Plant Nutrition.

Nicolas Befort is a Professor of Economics at NEOMA Business School, and the Director of the Chair in Bioeconomy and Sustainable Development. His research covers bioeconomy, circular economy and biotechnology, as well as ongoing transformations in the agricultural and wine-growing sectors. As an expert analyst of innovation processes in the ecological transition, he has worked closely with various national and international institutions, including the European Commission and the World Bank.

With over ten years of experience as an agricultural inspector, Patrick Barrett is engaged in bioeconomy policy implementation and development in the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. He is also part of the Secretariat for the National Bioeconomy Policy Implementation & Development Group, and a member of the States Representative Group for the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU). He holds an MSc in Biological Sciences and has a strong background in science and policy.

Dalia D’Amato is a Senior Researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), and is also affiliated as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki. Her current research interests focus on societal and organisational sustainability transformations, with an emphasis on biodiversity issues and the conceptual understanding and sustainability of the circular bioeconomy. She holds a Master’s Degree in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, and a PhD in Forest Economics and Marketing.

Having pursued a PhD in Biochemical Processes at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Dr Marcella Fernandes is now based at Ghent University, where she has been working as a postdoc researcher for the past 7 years. She is currently supervising the “New Biomass” research line within the Laboratory for Bioresource Recovery (RE-Source Lab), which involves the creation of value from agricultural residues; she is also managing the ReJuice project, funded by Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland.

Massimiliano Mazzanti is full Professor in Economic policy at University of Ferrara. He is the director of SEEDS, the Italian inter-university research centre on green economy, and also leads the Centre for Research on Circular economy, Innovation and SMEs (CERCIS). He is the former President of the Italian Association of Environmental Economy and Natural Resources, and has also collaborated and published policy oriented reports for international entities, including the OECD, UNIDO and the World Bank.