Leadership Team

Susan Sun

President

Susan earned her Ph.D. in Weed Science and Plant Physiology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA. She also holds an M.S. in Plant Pathology and a B.S. in Plant Protection from Shenyang Agricultural University in China. Since joining the agrochemical industry in 1998, Susan has focused on developing agricultural adjuvants, with particular expertise in understanding adjuvant mechanisms and modifying spray quality in agricultural applications, drawing on her extensive knowledge of surfactant chemistry. An active member of professional societies including ASTM, CPDA, WSSA, and ISAA, she has contributed through publishing, presenting, and reviewing technical papers, as well as holding numerous patents in adjuvant applications. Susan has held research positions at OSi Specialty/Witco and AkzoNobel, and she is currently the Research and Technology Manager for Crop Care at Croda, Inc. North America.

David Cameron

Past President

David Cameron has spent his entire education and career in chemistry and in particular the interface of chemistry with respect to biology. This was initially through the optimisation of formulations using surfactants and rheology agents, but for the last 30 years or so, via the improvement of plant protection and nutritional spray applications using novel tank-mix adjuvants based on the latest developments in surfactant and polymer chemistry. Together with his colleagues, he successfully introduced new adjuvant technologies to over 20 countries in Europe as well as many non-EU countries.

Education and Qualifications

• Classical Chemist (degree, PhD, Post Doc, 1977-1984)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
• Chartered Chemist (CChem)
• Chartered Scientist (CSci)
• Sloan Fellow of The London Business School

Career (condensed)

• 1984: Laboratory Manager in Stockholm (KenoGard, Nobel), ended as Export Director, 1989
• 1990: Berol Nobel (now Nouryon) Deputy General Manger Surface Chemistry, ended as General Manager Industrial Surfactants, 1994
• 1994 to Sept 2022:  Managing Director of De Sangosse Ltd (previously Loveland Industries Ltd.)
• Sept-2022 to date: Chairman of De Sangosse Ltd
• Sept-2023 to date: Director of Alpha Biopesticides Ltd.

Industry Appointments

• 1995 to date:  Chairman of the United Kingdom Adjuvant Association.
• 2008 to 2020: Chairman of the Metaldehyde Stewardship Group.
• 2016: Vice-President of the International Symposium on Adjuvants for Agrochemicals and elected Chairman of the 2020 ISAA Conference in Bordeaux.
• 2022-2025: President of ISAA.

Marcio Navega

Symposium Chair

Marcio Navega serves as the Head of Sales for North America at Nouryon, leading a dynamic team of sales professionals, technical experts, and support staff to drive growth in the Crop Protection Inerts, Adjuvants, Micronutrients, and Food Ingredients sectors. His passion lies in delivering value to customers by aligning innovative solutions with market needs, ensuring sustainable success for both clients and the organization.

With over 15 years of experience in the chemical industry, he brings deep expertise in sales strategy, team leadership, and customer relationship management. Prior to joining Nouryon, he spent 11 years at Clariant, where he held leadership roles in Brazil and China. His tenure included spearheading the Asia Pacific Crop Solutions business and successfully launching globally recognized product platforms. He has a background in chemistry, complemented by postgraduate studies in B2B sales. His global experience has honed his skills in cross-cultural communication, strategic planning, and driving results in competitive markets. As a leader, he is committed to empowering his team and fostering an environment of collaboration and innovation.

Based in Chicago, he is fluent in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, enabling him to navigate diverse markets effectively. In his current role, he focuses on building long-term partnerships, enhancing profitability, and achieving business excellence.

Ganesh Sanganwar

Treasurer

Ganesh Sanganwar, Ph.D., is an innovation leader with over 15 years of experience in agrochemical formulation development, scale-up, and product commercialization. He currently heads Agricultural Solutions R&D for Syensqo in North America, leading a team focused on co-formulants, adjuvants, seed coatings, and biological formulations that promote more sustainable farming practices. His work includes early-stage formulation design, pilot and manufacturing scale-up, and collaboration with industry and academic partners.

Ganesh’s career revolves around advancing formulation science and creating systems that enhance the speed, accuracy, and dependability of product development. He partners with cross-functional teams—including R&D, operations, regulatory, and commercial—to bring new products to market that fulfill customer needs. He has held technical leadership roles at Syngenta and Solvay before their separation into Syensqo and Solvay, gaining expertise in crop protection and specialty chemicals. Ganesh earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University and an Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. He is dedicated to supporting sustainable agriculture and actively contributing to the ISAA community.

David Allen

Board Member

Dave Allen is currently the Vice President of Crop Productivity at Stepan Company, focusing on the intersection of chemistry, biology and application technology to improve plant and soil health. He brings more than 15 years of commercial, technical and practical experience in the Global Agricultural Industry which included prior roles at Stepan Company, Albany Molecular Research, Great Lakes Chemical and Monsanto in Product Development, Technology Transfer, Research & Development Management, and as a grower of wine grapes. He was a past Board Chairman and current board member of Council of Producers & Distributor of Agrotechnology (CPDA). He holds Chemistry degrees from University of Illinois (BS) and Imperial College London (MPhil).

Priscila Castelani

Board Member

Priscila Castelani has a major degree in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Organic Synthesis, both from University of São Paulo, Brazil. She was a research scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA and got an MBA from FIA Business School in Science, Technology, and Innovation.
With 20 years of experience in the industry, she began her career in the industry working for companies like AkzoNobel and Shimadzu and, since 2008, she has been working for Indovinya (former Oxiteno), where she spent 10 years as a Specialist Scientist in Agrochemicals. Then she transitioned to managing positions and currently is the Global Director for Marketing and R&D for Crop Solutions in the company.
Priscila has a very active role on the Agrochemical industry. In 2013, she was the Chairman of the 10th International Symposium of Adjuvants for Agrochemicals (ISAA) and held the position of President until 2016. In 2024, she was awarded with the Latin American Women in Chemistry Awards, given by ACS (American Chemical Society). During her career, she has been a peer reviewer for technical publications such as ASTM Symposia papers (E35 Pesticides) and currently she is an active member at the CPDA (Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology) Board.

Ingo Fleute-Schlachter

Board Member

After earning a Master of Science in chemistry from Yale University and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Münster in Germany, Ingo joined Goldschmidt in 1995 which is now part of Evonik. After some years in technical service and development, he relocated in 1998 for its US subsidiary. Upon returning to Germany, he assumed responsibility for technical service and development of agricultural adjuvants before transitioning to global marketing. In 2008, he joined Cognis assuming a role as global platform leader for technical service and development for ag additives. After BASF’s acquisition of Cognis in 2011, he advanced to Principal Scientist for agrochemical additives within the application technology group of Industrial Formulators Europe.

Over the course of more than 25 years, his interest shifted from tank mix adjuvants to in-can additives with an in-depth understanding of solvents and the mode of action of adjuvants.

Jeferson Naue

Board Member

Dr. Jeferson Naue serves as Global Technology Team Leader for Agriculture at Momentive Performance Materials and is based at the company’s Global Innovation Center in Pearl River, NY, USA. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and brings extensive expertise in developing spray adjuvants, antifoams, and formulation ingredients for agrochemical and biological applications. Dr. Naue has also driven innovations in application-oriented products, including customized adjuvant solutions for drone technologies. Committed to advancing differentiated and sustainable technologies, he currently leads Momentive’s research and development efforts for new agricultural products.

Ubiratan Sousa

Board Member

Ubiratan (Ubi) Sousa is the Director of Active Ingredient and Formulation Chemistry at FMC, overseeing process chemistry and formulation development across the company’s agrochemical portfolio. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from UFSCar (Federal University of São Carlos) and an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of São Paulo, bringing over 25 years of industry innovation and leadership.

He began his career at Indovinya (formerly Oxiteno), where he developed adjuvants for glyphosate formulations and first attended ISAA in 2001—starting a long-standing engagement with the adjuvant scientific community. At Indovinya, he advanced through technical and managerial roles across Brazil, Mexico, and the U.S., delivering solutions to agrochemical manufacturers and adjuvant formulators.

In 2014, Ubi joined FMC as Formulation Innovation Manager. Since then, he has held key roles spanning Formulation Development, Brand Protection, and Procurement, before being appointed to his current leadership position in early 2024.

A dedicated advocate for ISAA’s mission, Ubi views the organization as the premier forum for adjuvant science and is committed to expanding its reach—particularly by strengthening connections with formulation scientists across industry and academia.

Brett Symonds

Board Member

Brett Symonds serves as Chemistry Compliance and Technical Manager at De Sangosse, with responsibility for product development and registration in the UK. Brett also collaborates with colleagues globally to bring De Sangosse adjuvants to worldwide markets – including in the EU, Brazil and Australia.

As a chemistry undergraduate at the University of Surrey Brett spent several months working abroad as a trainee at BASF’s Ludwigshafen Verbund. Brett went on to earn his PhD from the University of Reading in 2016. Brett’s PhD, in collaboration with researchers at Syngenta’s Jeallott’s Hill International Research Centre, was centred on developing novel methods to determine rainfastness and looked at why certain materials, particularly polymers, may enhance rainfastness of spray deposits. This project led to two publications and Brett was able to present his work at international proceedings in Kraków and St Petersburg.

Brett joined De Sangosse in 2021 and first attended ISAA in Bordeaux in 2022 where he jointly presented on the subject of a thixotropic adjuvant.