Two new arrivals join the team.
When you think of people in the European seed sector, the team members of Euroseeds are probably some of the first to jump to mind. Euroseeds continues to be the voice of the European seed sector, and to ensure that voice is speaking to the right people, the association recently hired two new faces to join the team.
European Seed recently corresponded with the two newest Euroseeds team members: Claudius Marondedze, Technical Manager Plant Health and Seed Trade, and Erika Maugeri, Manager of Communications.
Long Way from Zimbabwe
Marondedze joined Euroseeds in September 2021 as Technical Manager Plant Health and Seed Trade. He is a graduate of the University of Zimbabwe with a degree in biochemistry, followed by a postgraduate degree at the University of Western Cape, South Africa, completing his PhD in Biochemistry and Plant Biotechnology in 2010. He focused his research on characterizing fruit quality traits in apples (Malus x domestica Borkh) using functional genomics. In the last few years he has completed research in the areas of cell and RNA biology, biochemistry, proteomics, transcriptomics, mass spectrometry, systems biology and RNA binding interactome in plant stress responses.
From 2015 to 2016, he worked as Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge. There he developed the plant RNA-interactome capture technology that helped him unveil the first mRNA interactome in plants and the post-transcriptional gene regulation modifications to abiotic stress.
This technology is now widely used in plants and has been tailored for various research including seed biology studies.
Motivated by the research experience acquired during his academic life and desire to apply his research, Marondedze worked at Rijk Zwaan for almost two years as a Researcher Seed Technology.
His new drive? An interest in political affairs. He believes taking part in policy formulation from a technical point has been part of the drive to join Euroseeds. Marondedze is the interlocutor towards all relevant plant health and seed trade administrations (EU Commission, EU Member States’ and international authorities) and is the spokesperson of the EU seed sector on all related matters.
Bringing Passion to the Position
A young professional with strong communication and marketing skills with her future sights set on a communications director position, Erika Maugeri is passionate about energy, the environment, climate change and green technologies.
From Italy, Maugeri studied languages and liaison Interpreting at the University of Catania during her bachelor’s and holds a master’s degree in political sciences and international relations from the University of Pavia.
Always interested in politics, public affairs and EU law, Maugeri has a passion for communication trends and technologies. Due to her deep interest and passion towards environmental affairs and related issues, she took courses in environmental communication at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Brussels.
Maugeri started her career in strategic and digital communication by working in several non-profit associations, as part of the “Brussels bubble”, dealing with energy and environmental topics. Before joining Euroseeds, she had the opportunity to explore the cogeneration, insulation and bioenergy sectors by working in COGEN Europe, Eurima and Bioenergy Europe. A while after, Erika joined EEIP (Energy Efficiency in Industrial Processes) where she worked as a Communication and Project Manager and EuroGeoSurveys, where she worked as a Communication Officer.
Maugeri worked on Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation funding programme from 2014-2020 with a budget of nearly €80 billion. Her special focus was on sustainability, biodiversity and soil and land management.
At Euroseeds, Maugeri deals with internal and external communication, digital and offline, events management, communication and dissemination for H2020 projects and the implementation of communication and advocacy strategies and campaigns.
Make sure to stay tuned to see how Maugeri and Marondedze will affect and strengthen Euroseeds’ voice throughout the seed sector and support their members endeavors.
Read More About Euroseeds:
Euroseeds, Copa Cogeca and FEFAC Demand a Competitive and Resilient European Plant Protein Sector
Euroseeds Recruiting Technical Manager Variety Testing and Registration
