Louise O. Fresco is an expert in the intersection of international development, agriculture and food, advising the Dutch government on socio-economic policy and climate change.

Monty Jones is co-winner of the prestigious 2004 World Food Prize, awarded for his discovery of the genetic process to create the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) which gives higher yields, shorter growth cycles and more protein content than its Asian and African parents.

Dickson Despommier is a trailblazer, devising solutions to problems in agriculture and public health that likely will be magnified by climate change. A microbiologist, he is a Professor of Public Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School, where he developed the idea of growing food in urban farm skyscrapers.

Radley Horton conducts regional climate change scenario assessments for stakeholders around the globe, projecting impacts on agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, and infrastructure.

Peter Pringle is the author of The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov and co-author of nine previous books. His book, Food Inc., traced the history of biotech agriculture. The former Moscow bureau chief for The Independent, he has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and The Nation.

Peter Staley has been a long-term AIDS and gay rights activist, first as a member of ACT UP New York, then as the founding director of TAG, the Treatment Action Group. He served on the board of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) for 13 years.

Caleb Harper is the Principal Investigator and Director of the Open Agriculture (Open Ag) Initiative at the MIT Media Lab. He leads a diverse group of engineers, architects, and scientists in the exploration and development of future food systems.

Fred Gould is Co-Director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center of North Carolina State University. He conducts research on the application of evolutionary biology and population genetics to sustainable use of insect resistant crops and genetically engineered agricultural pests.

Brooke Borel is a Journalist and Author. She has written on everything on everything from biotech in agriculture, to the seedy world of cannabis pesticides, to the history of the bed bug. She is a contributing editor at Popular Science and an editor-at-large at Undark.

Susan MacIsaac graduated with undergrad and graduate degrees in plant physiology. Now as Head of Agricultural Science at Bowery, MacIsaac is on a mission to produce clean, healthy food in indoor farms.

Melissa Metrick is a graduate of the master’s program in Food Studies at New York University, where she was instrumental in establishing the NYU Urban Farm Lab, an educational greenspace located right on the university’s campus.