Howard Shapiro
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Howard-Yana Shapiro, Global Director Plant Science and External Research, Mars, Incorporated
Howard Shapiro has been involved with sustainable agricultural and agroforestry systems, plant breeding, molecular biology and food production systems for over 40 years. A former college professor, he was one of the founders of Seeds of Change at Mars, Incorporated. He is now responsible for their plant science globally, investigation of potential new plant-based solutions for use in their brands, review and oversight of existing and future plant-based research.
Howard Shapiro is a founding member of the Keystone Roundtable on Sustainable Agriculture, co-chair of the 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry and is Chairperson of the External Advisory Board of the Agriculture Sustainability Institute at UC Davis where he maintains a full plant science research portfolio at the University of California. He has presented at science meetings globally and is frequently quoted in the international press. He is an award winning author of 4 books including ‘Chocolate: History, Culture and Heritage’. He is currently co-authoring two books ‘The Science of Theobroma Cacao: Botany, Chemistry & Medicine’ and ‘The Future of Agroforestry and Landuse Globally’.
In 2007 Howard was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organic Trade Association and was recognized by USDA for his work on the international cacao breeding project. Howard was made a Fellow of the World Agroforestry Centre, organized the Kumasi Cacao Consensus Symposium, authored the IAASTD chapter on Biotechnology and Biodiversity and is member of the National Research Council Committee on Citrus and Greening.
Howard Shapiro is also adjunct Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, at the University of California.