
many biochemical processes in the soil.

We improve AG from the ground up.
ABOUT US
Catalyzing the future of agriculture.
Elemental Enzymes brings together cross-disciplinary scientific expertise to develop novel solutions for complex problems in commercial agriculture and research and development services in the fields of biotechnology and enzymes.
We harness the power and potential of enzymes, peptides, and biochemistries to create products aimed at improving crop performance, soil health, plant health and quality, fertilizer efficiency, and increased production of quality food.
Our patented products are field proven and visionary using practical biotechnology and biochemistry.
Elemental Enzymes is committed to creating high-performing novel biochemical solutions that are both eco-friendly and sustainable because when our planet and our crops flourish, so too do we.

OUR VALUES
Innovation | Respect | Integrity | Delivery





always possible.


WHAT WE DO
Our products and processes can be grouped into four distinct categories:
1. Disease Prevention & Treatment: These are biochemical pesticide products that work to treat and prevent a broad range of diseases across many crops and can be applied by a number of different delivery methods. These solutions leverage peptides, with direct action to trigger an immune response in the plant. Some examples include Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and Asian Soybean Rust in soybean crops and Huanglongbing, also known as HLB or citrus greening disease currently devastating the USA and global citrus industry.
2. Nutrient Efficiency: These are non-pesticidal enzyme products designed to improve plant nutrient uptake by converting unavailable forms of nutrients into forms that the plant can uptake.
3. Carbon Kickstart: These are another class of non-pesticidal enzyme products that kickstart the native soil microbiota into action. Soil microbes produce enzymes to catalyze key reactions in the soil to provide nutrients to the crop. The Carbon Kickstart class targets 5 different carbon sources in the soil that can be broken down to foster root growth and for use by the native soil microbes.
4. Osmotic Stress Prevention & Remediation: These are naturally occurring biochemical products that work to prevent or reverse osmotic stress in plant cells by increasing water retention and providing protein stabilization. They can be used to supplement other Elemental Enzymes products used in soil and foliar applications for improved crop nutrition and to prevent disease.

PROVEN, PATENTED PRODUCTS & PROCESSES
We specialize in enzyme, peptide, protein, and biological chemistry solutions
that contribute to plant health, yield and profitability.
Vismax, formerly known as Falcon, is the first truly effective product for Citrus Greening. It is a disease prevention and treatment, also with proven efficacy for Asian Soybean Rust, Sclerotinia, and other crop diseases. Read more.
Res+ is a novel patented technology that kick-starts enzyme activity to significantly improve soil health and fertility. Read more.

LEADERSHIP
Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson, Ph.D. 
Co-Founder
Chief Executive Officer
Brian received his Ph.D. from Kansas State University before continuing his research in microbiology in his postdoctoral work at the University of Missouri. While at the university, Brian co-discovered key processes that would become the VersaShield® platform technology of Elemental Enzymes.
As President and CEO, Brian is focused on growing Elemental Enzymes into a company that can take complex developing technologies from bench to market. He has worked to establish partnerships with key academic and industry partners to identify and validate next-generation solutions for a variety of industries.
Katie Thompson

Katie Thompson, Ph.D. 
Co-Founder
Chief Operations Officer
Katie studied molecular and cellular biology at the University of Missouri and received her Ph.D., specializing in the characterization of proteins involved in signaling.
Katie has performed several key roles in her 10+ years at Elemental Enzymes, including running the day-to-day operations, product development and expansion of the innovation pipeline, investor and partnership establishment as well as driving of the strategic mission and culture development of Elemental Enzymes.
Ashley Siegel

Ashley Siegel, Ph.D. 
Co-Founder
Chief Science Officer
Ashley brings a multidisciplinary background to Elemental Enzymes. Ashley has performed extensive research in muscle regeneration, enzymatic optimization and developmental biology. After completing her Ph.D. at the University of Missouri, Ashley was a research fellow at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute. She has experience in oncology modeling, genome editing, cell motility and microbial cell interaction.
Ashley joined Elemental Enzymes as a Senior Scientist Adviser, providing input on technology diversification and niche marketing, and has transitioned into the role of Chief Science Officer to focus more on product development, patent writing and product efficacy.
Michelle Leslie

Michelle Leslie, Ph.D. 
Senior Scientist
Michelle is a plant cell biologist by training, with 15 years’ research experience in peptide-receptor signaling.
Michelle received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, where she worked with a team to dissect the genetics of flower development and discover a trio of receptors that control the release of cell wall degrading enzymes. During her postdoc at the University of Missouri, Michelle turned her attention to the plant immune system, and the spatial regulation of peptide-receptor signaling required for pathogen resistance.
At Elemental Enzymes, Michelle leads a research team focused on novel peptide and natural biochemical solutions for protecting plants from disease and abiotic stress. Michelle’s areas of interest span across peptide discovery, translational field research, and regulatory testing to ensure product safety and efficacy.
Jörg Augustin

Jörg Augustin, Ph.D. 
Senior Scientist
Jörg is a biochemist by training with specialization in plant biochemistry. During his PhD he worked on unraveling the biosynthetic pathway of triterpenoid saponins in the Brassicacea Barbarea vulgaris, which are involved in conferring insect resistance. His postdoctoral work was focused on exploring strategies to bioengineer mono – and sesquiterpene biosynthetic pathways into seed of the Brassicacea Camelina sativa to improve its applicability as a biofuel crop.
In Jörg’s current position at Elemental Enzymes he is working on microbial expression system optimization and leads a research group aiming to identify novel seed and soil treatment solutions to improve plant growth. In addition, Jörg takes over bioinformatics projects such as microbial genome assembly, parsing and reformatting of third party datasets.
Scott Keuhn

Scott Keuhn 
Controller
Scott brings 20 years of experience from a range of financial industries: healthcare and public accounting to start ups and financial regulatory reporting.
Prior to joining Elemental Enzymes Scott worked with International Marketing Group as their CFO. Scott also spent 11 years with Edward Jones where he led accounting, reporting and regulatory functions as well as implementing and maintaining the strategic planning and budgeting processes.
Scott is responsible for the management of the financial department including policies and procedures, management of outsourced functions and operations of the accounting.
Guy Perriman

Guy Perriman 
Global Business, Development Lead
Guy Perriman is a highly experienced agribusiness professional with a 35-year background in commercial agronomy and agribusiness in Australia and globally.
Guy has worked at all levels in agriculture from the farm to CEO in building business partnerships, running sales and cross-functional teams to develop strategic new business segment categories and product solutions.
Guy is based in Melbourne, Australia and leads Elemental Enzyme’s international expansion initiatives and activities. Guy has a Diploma of Applied Science (Agriculture) from Hawkesbury Agricultural College, Richmond, NSW, Australia.
Keith Reding

Keith Reding, Ph.D. 
Vice President of Regulatory Affairs
Keith brings over 27 years’ experience in the agricultural regulatory and compliance industry to Elemental Enzymes.
Before joining Elemental Enzymes, Keith worked for USDA as a regulatory bio technologist and then 23 years at Monsanto working in various regulatory roles including affairs, policy, and compliance.
Keith oversees the development and implementation of international and domestic regulatory strategies as our Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Keith received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia where he studied soil microbiology, microbial physiology and microbial ecology.
Jeff Kammermeyer

Jeff Kammermeyer 
U.S. Commercial Lead
Jeff brings 20 years of multidisciplinary experience to Elemental Enzymes with a background in operations, commercial sales, and R&D for organizations of all sizes.
Prior to joining Elemental Enzymes, Jeff worked as Senior Director of the US Poultry Business Unit for Elanco Animal Health where he led the commercial business that delivered over $100 million in annual sales. Jeff also spent over 11 years with Monsanto and held various roles of increasing responsibility in Commercial, Manufacturing, and Global R&D.
Jeff is currently responsible for Elemental Enzymes US strategy development, partnership expansion, and commercial operations.
Bret Gygi

Bret Gygi 
Technical Services Lead
Bret brings 20 years of experience in many agricultural fields ranging from horticultural production, agricultural microbiology research to seed treatment development.
Bret will lead the Elemental Enzymes technical services team in the US, trialling and developing additional innovations from the field towards commercialisation. Bret is excited at the potential for Elemental Enzymes to bring a step-wise change to agriculture, using biochemistry and developing products with well-understood modes of action to solve specific problems – plus a transformative approach, using ‘nature’s own machinery’ to solve big problems in nutrient availability, plant defences or new modes of pesticidal action.
Elsa Smith

Elsa Smith, aPHR 
Human Resources Manager
After joining the company in 2015 as our Office Assistant, Elsa grown with us into her role as Human Resources Manager. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville and after joining EE, attended Webster University to receive her Masters in Human Resource Management.
In her years at EE, Elsa has implemented many of the benefits and programs we have today. Currently, Elsa leads HR activities including providing leadership and guidance to management on strategic staffing plans, compensation, benefits, training and development, payroll, employee relations, and performance management.

COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS
If you’re a commercial grower, you may already be using an Elemental Enzymes product.
To learn more about Helena’s commercial products, click here.

CAREERS
BE PART OF CREATING
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Our rapidly growing St. Louis-based team is looking for energetic, challenge-driven staff to continue support of current products and lead its’ innovative pipeline to market. We are a true life sciences company that discovers, develops and produces innovative products to increase crop yields. Elemental Enzymes was founded in 2011 on technology to make and stabilize novel enzymes and has grown to address the agriculture market with enzyme and chemical technologies that have an “outside in” approach to address crop needs. We hope you will join us in delivering world-class products to top agricultural companies through license and sales opportunities.

FOLLOW & CONTACT US
USA / Head Office:
1685 Galt Industrial Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63132
[email protected]
General Office: +1 314-429-2885
International Inquiries: +61 419-662-497
Columbia Research Facility
University of Missouri Life Science Business Incubator
1601 S. Providence Road, Suite 120
Columbia, MO 65211
Jacksonville Research Facility
Jacksonville, FL