AgWired

I thought it would be appropriate to make my last post from Syngenta Media Day include an interview with Mary-Dell Chilton. Mary-Dell says she’s way past retirement age but still gets in early each day to get to work. Why? Because she thinks it’s exciting and important.

In my interview with her she talks about the turning point in the development of what we now know as biotechnology. She also thinks that the safety of the food made from the products developed by Syngenta is completely safe. She says the testing is rigorous for example.

You can listen to my interview with the first Executive Director of this facility here: Mary-Dell Chilton Interview (5 min MP3)

Besides the work that Gibbs & Soell did in putting together today’s Syngenta Media Day it also takes some work inside the company. The person doing that is Jane Bachmann, Scientific Communications Manager.

Jane was a scientist first and now handles communications work. She’s involved with a media interview of a Syngenta scientist in the picture. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about what she does for the company and what her challenges are.

For one thing, she says that communicating what Syngenta does to consumers is important so that they can feel confident about the safety of the food that’s produced by growers who plant their seeds.

You can listen to my interview with Jane here: Jane Bachmann Interview (5 min MP3)

Roger Kemble is head of crop genetics research for Syngenta. Here he’s being interviewed by AgDay TV.

After they were done, I got to ask Roger a few questions. One of the things we talked about was the facilities and investment Syngenta makes in R&D each year. He called the facility we visited the “discovery engine” for the biotechnology business.

You can listen to my interview with Roger here: Roger Kemble Interview (6 min MP3)