Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration at The Ohio State University, and an Adjunct Professor of University of Iceland, Reykjavik; and of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He was President of the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (1987-1990), International Soil and Tillage Research Organization (1988-1991), Soil Science Society of America (2006-2008) and the International Union of Soil Sciences (2017-2018). His professional research interests include soil carbon sequestration for food and climate security, conservation agriculture, principles and practices of soil erosion control, soil structure and carbon dynamics, eco-intensification of agroecosystems, soil restoration, fate of soil carbon transported and redistributed over the landscape, and sustainable management of world soil resources. He is a laureate of 2018 GCHERA World Agriculture Prize, 2018 Glinka World Soil Prize, 2019 Japan Prize, 2020 World Food Prize, and 2021 Padma Shri Award of the Government of India. He has authored more than 1000 journal articles, authored/edited 100 books, mentored 370 researchers, has 164 h index, and total citations of 122,000.

Mike Michener currently serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, USAID, where he oversees the strategic direction and implementation of USAID’s work on agriculture-led growth and the bureau’s efforts to engage and build partnerships with the private sector and research community in support of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative. He previously served as Vice President for Product Policy and Innovation with the U.S. Council for International Business and as the Director of Multilateral Relations for CropLife International. At the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mr. Michener served as Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service and as Minister Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome. 

Rob Bertram is the Chief Scientist in USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, where he serves as a key adviser on a range of technical and program issues to advance global food security and nutrition. In this role, he leads USAID’s evidence-based efforts to advance research, technology and implementation in support of the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future. He previously served as Director of the Office of Agricultural Research and Policy in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, which leads implementation of the Feed the Future research strategy and related efforts to scale innovations in global food security efforts, working with a range of partners. Prior to that, he guided USAID investments in agriculture and natural resources research for many years. Dr. Bertram’s academic background in plant breeding and genetics includes degrees from University of California, Davis, the University of Minnesota and the University of Maryland. He also studied international affairs at Georgetown University and was a visiting scientist at Washington University in St. Louis. He has been especially active in plant genetic resources policy as it relates to research for development, including applications of biotechnology in food security-related research. Before coming to USAID, he served with USDA's international programs as well as overseas with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system.