Ben Conner

Jul 19, 2024

Ben Conner is a partner at DTB AgriTrade, an agricultural trade policy consulting firm that helps clients pursue their international policy goals, including assistance with trade negotiations, monitoring and analyzing compliance with trade commitments, trade enforcement, and policy advocacy. Before joining DTB AgriTrade, he was the Vice President of Policy at U.S. Wheat Associates, where he worked to address tariffs, trade-restrictive sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and other non-tariff barriers to U.S. wheat exports. Prior to that, he served as the agriculture and trade legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska. Conner holds a joint MS-MBA in food and agribusiness management from Purdue University and Indiana University. He also has a master’s degree in international commerce and policy from George Mason University and was an undergraduate at Miami University in Ohio.

Austin Vaillancourt

Jul 11, 2024

Austin Vaillancourt is a business development professional with 15 years of experience in the renewable fuels and energy space. Since joining Gevo, a next-generation “low-carbon” fuel company focused on the development and commercialization of renewable alternatives to petroleum-based products, Mr. Vaillancourt has held several roles within the business, both technical and otherwise. In his current role as a Senior Business Manager, Mr. Vaillancourt leads the biofuels and bioproducts channel as part of the Verity Carbon Solutions business unit where he works to identify and nurture strategic relationships with partners or potential customers as well as assist in the development of a strong pipeline of new business opportunities through direct or indirect customer contact and prospecting. Prior to joining Gevo, Mr. Vaillancourt held several positions at Southern Research Institute where he served as the Analytical Leader on Fulcrum BioEnergy’s pilot-scale process development unit designed to catalytically convert synthesis gas to mixed alcohols. Mr. Vaillancourt has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

David Ripplinger

Jul 07, 2022

David Ripplinger is an Associate Professor, Extension Bioproducts, and Bioenergy Economist with North Dakota State University (NDSU). Ripplinger received his B.S. in Agricultural Economics from NDSU, his M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State…

Jacob L. Shapiro

Jul 07, 2022

Jacob oversees geopolitical analysis at CI, working with the CI research team to integrate geopolitics into CI’s investment strategies. He also authors the “Global Situation Report,” a weekly intelligence brief on the world’s most…