Science & Biotechnology Team

Robert Schmidt, Ph.D.

Chief Scientist

Dr. Robert Schmidt has more than 25 years of research in plant molecular genetics, specializing in developmental genetics of seeds, flowers and inflorescence and whole plant architecture. He holds a B.A in Biology from Harvard, a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology/Botany from Duke University. He is a Professor of Biological Sciences at UCSD, where he has taught and conducted research for 21 years. Dr. Schmidt has produced contributions to corn genome projects and has been published in over 60 peer reviewed publications.

Eric Mathur

Vice President, Chief Technologist

Eric Mathur previously served as Vice President, Agricultural Solutions at Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (SGI), where he was responsible for the creation of SGI's first laboratory in La Jolla, Calif. He assembled and managed the plant biotechnology, environmental microbiology, and bioinformatics research teams. Prior to SGI, he spent twelve years as a founding scientist at Diversa Corporation (now Verenium Corporation; NASDAQ: VRNM), most recently serving as Vice President of Scientific Affairs. At Diversa, he was responsible for scientific management of Syngenta and DOW Chemical Corporation collaborations and had oversight of Diversa's Biodiversity Access Program involving relationships with more than 15 countries and 25 institutions. He is named inventor on 52 patents, has over 100 patent applications pending worldwide and has published extensively. Mathur sits on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the DOE Joint Genome Institute, UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, the Monterrey Biotechnology Institute and the Thermal Biology Institute at Montana State University. He earned his Bachelor of Sciences degree from the University of California, Riverside in 1977.

Richard Rotter Winslow

Plant Breeding Operations Director

Mr. Rotter has extensive experience in agronomy, including plant breeding, soil classification, soil fertility, irrigation and drainage, weed control, insect and pest control. He has managed research stations that developed off-season experimental hybrids, line increases, varietal evaluations and hybrid purity trials. Mr. Rotter has worked with many different species including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, watermelons, melons, cucumbers, broccoli, teak and eucalyptus. He has managed the evaluation of many experimental hybrids for commercial introduction into the Central American region. He has also participated as a researcher in several forestry breeding projects, such as the conservation of superior germplasm of the Primavera species (Tabebuia donelli smithi) and in the development of teak and eucaliptus clonal breeding programs for Guatemala. Mr. Rotter graduated from UC Davis with a BS degree in Agricultural Science.

Steven P. Briggs, Ph.D.

In addition to expertise in molecular biology, biotechnology, bio-informatics and technology development, Dr. Steven Briggs has considerable business experience. He has held positions at Pioneer Hi-Bred, Syngenta, and Diversa. He was Director of TMRI (La Jolla) and co-founded Sapphire Fuels. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.