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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, 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.

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, 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.

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.