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Scientist in Greenhouse

Team

Our team is growing

as we work to meet the increasing demand

for sustainable solutions.

 

Our talented and passionate team members are working tirelessly to find innovative solutions to the world's most pressing environmental challenges.

 

We are proud to be at the forefront of the movement towards a more sustainable world,

and we look forward to building on this momentum

as we work towards a better tomorrow.

MICHEL KAINE, Eng.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Michel has been involved in various developing countries since 1997 in Africa and the Caribbean and holds a patent for an innovative hand pump design. Founder of Grogenics and Quorum Inoculants, a NextGen Agriculture biotech company involved in the production of microbial solutions set to revolutionize the plant industry.

Michel is passionate about helping ocean conservation, poverty communities and regenerative agriculture.

Over the past several years, he has supported numerous research projects in Canada with IRBV, University of Montreal, McGill University, Laval University, Biopterre, Merinov and Agrinova.

Michel sat on the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Buildings, Maintenance and Security Advisory Committee for more than 30 years and holds a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Montreal Polytechnique.

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ANDREA GARCIA-MENDEZ
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

As a seasoned Lead Director, Andrea has experience working in both museums and the art business. She graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and possesses strong leadership and teamwork skills. Over the past several years, she has served as the Co-Chair of the Young Global Leaders and the Director of Monaco Private Label Young Leaders Global. She speaks fluently in French, English and Spanish. Living in Boston, and having close ties in Monaco and Mexico, she is a fabulous addition to our team.

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MARIA BELEN BENITEZ CARRANCO, Eng.
SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR MONACO

Maria is passionate about the environment, as evidenced by her studies: she holds two Masters degrees, one in Science, Conservation, and Valorization of Marine Resources and the other in Climate Change and Environmental Negotiation. She has worked as a Geographer-Urban Planner in Nice and as a Consultant of Blue-Carbon Research and Scientific Communication in the Department of Marine Biology in Monaco amongst other positions in recent years. Maria's understanding and expertise of Blue Carbon Credits is extremely valuable as Grogenics works to protect coastal ecosystems in order to mitigate the effects of global climate change.

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DR. MOHAMED HIJRI
SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR MOROCCO

Mohamed is a full professor of soil microbiology with a focus on mysorrhizal symbiosis research at the department of biological sciences at the University of Montreal, where he has established The Hijri Lab at the Plant Biology Research Institute. Mohamed initiated over $30 M in research grants, including a large-scale project funded by Genome Canada and Genome Quebec, and has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in high impacted journals. Mohamed obtained a BSc, MSc and PhD in Biochemistry, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics from the University of Burgundy, Dijon France, and  worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Molecular genetics and genomics with Dr. Ian R. Sanders at the University of Basel and the Sanders lab at the University of Lausanne.

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JOSÉE DANCAUSE
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

After earning her degree in economics, Josée started her career as the marketing director of a downtown Montreal shopping complex. She afterwards took a two-year contract job as a representative for a foreign relations project. Her early love of creativity brought her back to the field of marketing.

In her new executive marketing employment, she was able to develop and lunch entire advertising campaigns in the financial, medical and manufacturing sectors, as well as create web sites and corporate images, design logos, brochures and copyright publicity for magazines. In recent years, she has volunteered on several committees at a private school in Montreal, including marketing, scholarship & bursaries, and the board of governors.

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ALEXANDRA KAINE
SOCIAL MEDIA CREATOR

Our newest and youngest team member, Alexandra, is currently enrolled in school in British Columbia and will enter her first-year university class in the fall. Alexandra has established herself as a key player on our team. Her meticulous attention to detail and keen understanding of technology's applications have aided the organization's advancement. She created Grogenics' website, came up with its concept, and prepared significant, updated reports for various organisations. In the fall, she will begin studying Engineering, and we are eagerly awaiting for Alexandra to complete her education and join our team permanently.

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DR. SOON-JAE LEE
SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR SWITZERLAND

Since 2019, Soon-Jae has worked as a First Assistant at the Ecology and Evolution Department at the Université of Lausanne, Switzerland. His expertise in the field of mycorrhizal symbiosis—the relationship between the soil microbiome and plants—and his publication history span more than ten years. In 2017 and 2019, he was awarded Best Research. Soon-Jae has two bachelor's degrees in science, one each in physics and life science and biotechnology, from Kyungpook National University in Korea. He also has a PhD and a master's degree in philosophy from Montreal, Canada. He is our microbiology expert at Grogenics and has shown us the way to manage the heavy metals in the Sargassum collection.

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MARIE DURON RATAGNE
INTERN MONACO

Marie is a 18 year old bilingual student currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Management at the prestigious ESCP Business School, located in Torino. ESCP Business School provides her with a unique opportunity to develop a comprehensive cultural background through its 3 years, three-country policy. Presently, she is studying at the Turin campus, and in the following years, she will transition to the Paris campus, ultimately culminating her studies in Berlin. So far, she has been exposed to a diverse range of subjects, including Business Organizations and Strategy, European Institutions and Comparative Political Systems, among others. At Grogenics, we value here foundation and Marie has been a wonderful addition to our team as an intern for the summer.

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DR. TIMOTHÉ CROTEAU
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Disciplined and passionate about working the land and preserving the environment, Timothé founded in 2011 a small scale organic farm in Quebec, named Les Jardins d’Inverness, which was quickly recognized as a model of efficiency and profitability. An outstanding educator, Timothé has developed a training component in order to transmit his knowledge and skills to market gardeners from all backgrounds wishing to succeed in making a living with bio-intensive market gardening or simply improve their home garden. Since 2015, Timothé has also developed a partnership with Argentinean market gardeners in El Bolson, Patagonia (Rio Negro province), in order to help them develop more efficient farming practices and better their life standards. As a team member at Grogenics, Timothé will be establishing his methods in DR. Timothé holds a PhD degree in physical chemistry from the University of British Columbia.

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PAOLA CANDELARIA
FIELD OPERATING OFFICER

Since 2018, Paola has worked at Fundación Tropicalia first as a project assistant, from where she collaborated in the activities of the different programs carried out by FT, then she became responsible for the Productivity area, where she is in charge of the execution and monitoring of the programs corresponding to this area. Paola is an Agricultural Engineer from the Higher Institute of Agriculture University (UISA), in Santiago, DR; has a diploma in Social Entrepreneurship, and certifications in Development Project Management, Inclusive Agri-Food Systems, Controlled Environment Production and Organic Production. She is originally from Miches and was a beneficiary of FT’s scholarship program. She is now officially part of Grogenis's team and will not only be with us, but will be participating in her own garden.

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CONNOR GREAUX-TAYLOR 
PROJECT DIRECTOR ST. KITTS

After having studied in G. 9 at Trinity College School in Port Hope Ontario, Connor returned to his home country of St.Kitts and Nevis to pursue his studies at SKI Academy until G. 11. He then started to work full-time as a Travel Director for Sunlinc, where he remained until the Covid Pandemic struck. Grogenics was the ideal stepping stone for him to follow his passion of working in nature and supporting its ecological growth and ecosystems, because he was raised in St. Kitts and cared about the environment. 

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