Cameron Dowd is the Co-Founder and CTO of Inverto Earth, a startup enabling the restoration and conservation of coastal ecosystems, such as the mangrove forests by local communities with innovative technology. Born and raised in sub-tropical Australia, he brings his background in humanitarian robotics to Inverto’s mission of turning around the collapse of the planet’s biodiversity.

Chinwe Ifejika Speranza is Professor of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of Bern. She heads the research group Land Systems and Sustainable Land Management at the Institute of Geography. Her teaching and research focuses on land systems and sustainable land management including forests and agricultural land use dynamics, social-ecological dimensions of land, resilience of food production, protected areas, and related environmental governance and policies at international and national levels.

Christine Brombach is Professor at the School of Life Sciences and Facility Management of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). She studied Nutritional and Household Sciences in Giessen (Germany) and Knoxville, TN (USA). After completing her diploma in Giessen, she obtained a Master of Science in Nutrition with a focus on Gerontology in Manhattan, KS (USA). She earned her doctorate at the University of Giessen on the topic of “Nutritional Behavior of Women over 65 Years of Age.” For four years, she served as the project coordinator for Germany’s National Consumption Study II at the Max Rubner Institute in Karlsruhe.

Khalil Berro is a Swiss-Lebanese artist challenging human perception and the concept of “nature”, addressing humanity’s impact on the natural world through the combination of scientific research and artistic interpretation. His work spans from making interconnectedness tangible through air probes to inducing rainfall by altering cloud structures with rockets.

Lithic Alliance is a more-than human collective predominantly working with the lithological realm and the energies and vibrations that emerge in this mineralized entanglement. Their research digs into the ecological and geopolitical foundation of co-existence, animisms and the rights of nature resulting in multifaceted projects that investigates connections spanning over vast temporalities to identify phenomenological correspondence and queer kinship.

Benjamin Bollmann is CEO of Swissnex in Boston and New York and Consul of Switzerland in Boston. He is also 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, which connects Switzerland and the world in quantum science and technology; Climate Collider, a startup exchange program powered by Swissnex and Innosuisse; and more recently Swissnex for the Planet, which explores the potential for a new planetary diplomacy. Benjamin Bollmann was previously Deputy CEO at Swissnex in San Francisco, where he led interdisciplinary programs spanning from science communication to humanitarian action and human rights in the digital age. Before joining Swissnex in 2015, he worked as a journalist and communication specialist at the interface of science and design in Switzerland. He is a graduate of ETH Zurich and has conducted neuroscience and AI research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jonas Brunschwig is CEO of Swissnex in India and Consul General of Switzerland, where he connects Switzerland’s education, research, and innovation ecosystem to India with the aim to foster activities that pursue inclusive prosperity, urgent progress, and a vibrant exchange. Prior to joining the team in India, he led Swissnex’s academic portfolio in Boston for six years. He is a graduate of MIT, where he studied innovation ecology, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. He also held positions at MIT in fundraising, at the Boston Global Forum in international affairs, and at Uncharted Play (now Uncharted Power) in social entrepreneurship. Before moving to India, he has lived in Switzerland, Egypt, Argentina, and the United States.

Emilia Pasquier’s overarching goal is to connect Switzerland and the world in education, research, and innovation. She does so by taking unconventional roads, as she believes they often lead to the most extraordinary destinations. Before joining Swissnex in San Francisco as CEO, she was an Advisor to the Swiss Federal Council. She holds a MA in Political and Economic Philosophy from the University of Berne.

Philippe Roesle is CEO and Consul at Swissnex in China, and Head of the Science, Technology, and Education Office at the Embassy of Switzerland in China, located in Beijing. He has been working at the intersection of science and diplomacy in various positions and locations. As Head of Bilateral Relations at the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, he was responsible for implementing Switzerland’s international strategy for education, research, and innovation. And in his postings in Kazakhstan and London, he spearheaded the creation of new platforms to support the internationalization strategies of Swiss universities and high-tech startups. Philippe Roesle holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Basel and a Master of Arts and PhD from King’s College London, UK.

Felix Moesner is CEO and Consul at Swissnex in Japan, the first science consulate of Japan. He holds a PhD in robotics and is a graduate of ETH Zurich, MIT, and the University of Tokyo. He acquired comprehensive experience in working with professionals of governmental, private, and academic sectors in the economic superpowers that are the US, Japan, and China. From 2003 t0 2012, he worked as Science Counsellor at the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan (Tokyo). He continued as CEO of Swissnex in Boston and New York from 2012 to 2017, and as CEO of Swissnex in China from 2017 to 2021. He chaired four Science and Technology Diplomatic Circles and contributed as board member to four Swiss chambers of commerce. Earlier in his career, he worked for Credit Suisse Life Japan, Toshiba, Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology, Synpulse, and Egon Zehnder.