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Dr. Kelly Bronson (she/her) is a social scientist at the intersection of science and society, studying tensions that emerge in controversial technologies such as GMOs and AI, and their governance. She is head of the Canadian Network for Science & Democracy, holds several advisory positions on large research grants operating out of the US and Europe, and is on the Editorial Boards of Science Communication.

Dr. Bronson has a strong track record in academia, backed by her experience as Director of a Science and Technology Studies program at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, holding a Ph.D. in Communication and Cultural Studies from York University, and a Master's degree in Sociology of Technology from the University of Saskatchewan. Before training in the social sciences, she earned two degrees in biology and worked as a lab bench scientist practicing genetics/plant biology at Queen's University. 

Lenore Newman is the Director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley where she holds a full professorship and chair in Food and Agriculture Innovation. Dr. Newman is a past Canada Research Chair, Chaired the Council of Canadian Academy’s Atypical Agriculture Committee, and is an emeritus member of the Royal Society of Canada's New College. She mentors in Creative Destruction Labs-Rockies agricultural stream and was a member of the BC Premier’s Food Security Task Force, sat on the BC Minister of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee, and is a member of the X-Prize Brain Trust.

Lenore co-leads the Sustainable Food System for Canada national network and she works as a consulting fruit hunter. She has been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, and CNN. Her award-winning books include Speaking in Cod Tongues, Lost Feast, and she is co-author of Dinner on Mars. She holds a BSc in Physics from the University of British Columbia, and a PhD in Environmental Studies from Toronto’s York University.

Dr. Ryo Sugiura is Head of the AI Research Promotion Office at the Research Center for Agricultural Information Technology, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Japan. His work focuses on the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data-driven approaches to agricultural research and innovation. He received his Ph.D. from Hokkaido University in Japan, where he conducted research on agricultural robotics and remote sensing.