Dr. Semones is a distinguished research and development director whose recent work has focused on the applied discovery of microbial technology for agriculture.
Dr. Semones has more than 18 years of experience at Novozymes Biologicals, Inc., where he helped build its BioAg R&D Application Division. Most recently, he was Director of BioAg R&D Application Development and Novozymes Biologicals Site Lead, directing R&D efforts across three sites within North America, as well as a global field R&D team. He has been the R&D lead for the BioAg Alliance, the strategic alliance between Novozymes and Monsanto tasked with the development of new microbial technologies for agriculture, since its inception in 2014.
He holds a doctorate in biology – plant physiology/mycology from Virginia Tech, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees in biology from Virginia Commonwealth University.