As part of Planetary Embassy in Belém during the UN climate summit COP30, Swissnex in Brazil and the Leading House Latin America at the University of St.Gallen invite you for a dialogue on how biodiversity can become a catalyst for innovation while safeguarding ancestral knowledge and ecological balance.
The session will bring together diverse voices shaping the emerging bioeconomy of the Amazon region. Antonio Carlos Souza (Bactolac) will highlight how biotechnology and health applications can advance through the responsible use of Amazonian resources; Danielle Amaral (Tekohá) will share community-based perspectives on innovation and sustainable practices; and Fábio Santos (Cacaus) will present cacao entrepreneurship as a way to transform biodiversity into opportunity.
Together, these perspectives will reveal the forest’s chemistry as both laboratory and heritage, a source of inspiration for solutions that honor life, value local wisdom, and sustain the future.
Chemistry of the Forest is a continuation of nexBio Amazonia, a pioneering bioeconomy program held annually in the Amazon region, powered by Swissnex in Brazil, the Leading House Latin America (University of St. Gallen), and the Brazilian National Council of State Funding Agencies (CONFAP).
Bio
Antonio Carlos Souza is a researcher at the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research of the State of Amapá (IEPA) and the CEO of Bactolac Ltda, an award-winning startup developing innovative solutions for Amazonian aquaculture. He holds a PhD in Animal Science and works at the intersection of research, technology, and entrepreneurship, promoting sustainable and digital aquaculture in the Amazon. Antonio is also a startup mentor in national innovation programs and leads projects focused on the bioeconomy and the responsible use of the region’s aquatic resources.
Bio
Danielle Amaral is a food engineer, researcher, entrepreneur, and the founder of Tekohá, a startup producing vegan cosmetics and makeup formulated with Amazonian bioactives. Her work combines science, innovation, and socio-environmental impact, fostering income generation and women’s empowerment in extractivist communities across the Amazon. With a career dedicated to the Amazonian bioeconomy, Danielle develops solutions that highlight regional biodiversity and promote a conscious and sustainable approach to beauty.
Bio
Fábio Neves dos Santos is a professor in the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in Salvador, and the founder of Cacaus Biocosmetics, a startup redefining sustainability within the cocoa value chain. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Chemistry from UFBA, a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from UNICAMP, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Chemistry and Medicine at the same institution, where he developed diagnostic methods for Zika, dengue, and chikungunya with the support of FAPESP. A finalist at Falling Walls Lab and Falling Walls Venture 2019, Fábio also founded ZikaLab Diagnósticos to apply scientific innovation to public health. Drawing on over a decade of experience in the cocoa sector, he launched Cacaus Biocosmetics in 2019 to transform agricultural waste into sustainable bioproducts, connecting research to market-ready technologies. He has participated in more than 30 innovation programs with institutions such as Swissnex, RAEng, Adyen, DHL, Sebrae, BTG Pactual, Neoenergia, and Mercado Livre, and has secured over R$1.3 million in funding from FAPESP, the Cargill Foundation, and CNPq. Through his work, Fábio seeks to reimagine the cocoa chain—repositioning people and waste within a circular, inclusive, and sustainable economy.
Bio
Pedro Capra is the Academic Relations Program Lead at Swissnex in Brazil, where he helps connect universities, think tanks, research institutions, professors, and researchers to establish and strengthen science and technology partnerships. He holds a PhD in Political Science from UNICAMP and was a Visiting Researcher at both the University of Zurich and the University of Fribourg. Since then, Pedro has been working closely with Latin Americanists from Switzerland and abroad, fostering academic collaboration and exchange.
From November 9 to 21, 2025, the Planetary Embassy comes to life in Belém, Brazil, on the margins of the UN climate summit COP30. Part of a series of pop-up experiences across the global Swissnex network, this edition is hosted in the zoobotanical gardens of the Goeldi Museum, a setting that blends the Amazon's biodiversity, science, ancestral wisdom, and Swiss legacy.
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The Planetary Embassy in presented by Swissnex in Brazil with the support of Presence Switzerland, as part of the Road to Belém program led by the Embassy of Switzerland in Brazil.
