As part of the Planetary Embassy in Belém during the UN climate summit COP30, Science and Planet Connect is a networking reception hosted by the Frontiers Planet Prize, GESDA, and Swissnex. Taking place among the trees, plants, and animals of the Goeldi Museum’s zoobotanical gardens, the event brings together the global science community engaged in climate negotiations and planetary health.
This informal afternoon gathering offers a moment to pause, connect, and exchange ideas on how science can guide collective responses to planetary challenges. Participants will have the chance to meet peers from research, diplomacy, and innovation ecosystems while discovering the shared efforts of Swiss institutions working to advance science for the planet.
Attend Connected Events
This event belongs to a three-part series taking place at the Goeldi Museum on the afternoon of November 10. Guests are also invited to join Mobilizing Science for Planetary Impact from 13:00 to 13:45 and Anticipating Future Science for Ecosystems from 14:00 to 15:00 (separate registration required).
Bio
Gilbert De Gregorio is Associate Director of the Frontiers Planet Prize, the world’s largest science award dedicated to advancing planetary health and earth system science. He oversees the strategic deployment of the Prize and leads global partnerships with universities, academies of science, and international organisations to elevate research that safeguards Earth’s systems. Before joining the Frontiers Research Foundation, Gilbert worked across scholarly publishing, including as Head of Publishing Programs for Sustainability and Biological Sciences at Frontiers and later at F1000 (Taylor & Francis Group). Earlier in his career, he worked in innovation consulting and as a patent examiner in carbon capture and storage at the European Patent Office. Trained as a green chemist, Gilbert holds a PhD from Imperial College London, where his research focused on sustainable biofuel production using ionic liquids. He is committed to ensuring that the scientific communities striving to keep humanity within planetary boundaries are recognized, empowered, and connected to global action.
Bio
Marieke Hood is the Executive Director Impact Translator of GESDA. She joined the foundation at its inception in 2019. Her role is to implement the most advanced science diplomacy solutions ideated by GESDA, working towards their spin-off as independent institutions. This involves prototyping real-world activities, framing their governance and securing their funding. Marieke Hood led the incubation of the Open Quantum Institute, culminating with its launch in March 2024 as part of CERN with the support of UBS. Marieke Hood’s expertise covers emerging science and technology, futures and foresight studies, practice-led multilateral governance, start-up and corporate innovation. Before joining GESDA, she worked for 10 years for the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs. In her latest position, she headed the business section of the Embassy of Switzerland in London, where her projects focused on artificial intelligence and data-driven technology with applications in the financial sector, life sciences, and performance engineering. Marieke Hood holds Master’s Degrees in Business and in Dynamics and Economic Policy from the Sorbonne University and EMLyon Business School.
Bio
Benjamin Bollmann is CEO of Swissnex in Brazil since January 2025. He was previously CEO of Swissnex in Boston and New York, and Consul of Switzerland in Boston. He is the Chair of Swissnex’s CEO Committee, which coordinates strategic priorities across the global Swissnex network. Under his leadership, Swissnex has launched several long-term initiatives such as Project Quantum, Climate Collider, and more recently Swissnex for the Planet. Until 2020, Benjamin was Deputy CEO at Swissnex in San Francisco, where he led interdisciplinary programs ranging from science communication to humanitarian technologies and human rights in the digital age. Before joining Swissnex in 2015, he worked as a journalist and communications consultant at the interface of science and design in Switzerland. He is a graduate of ETH Zurich and has conducted research in neuroscience and artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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.
Learn more
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.
