The management team and Board of Directors of NSIP includes people with distinguished careers in a diverse array of disciplines.
Alfonso Romo Garza Laguera, Ing.
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Romo has a degree in Agricultural Engineering from ITESM (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico). He has participated as an executive in various companies such as Vector Casa de Bolsa, Agromod and now NSIP. In 2006 he founded the company EducarUno where he leads several educational projects. He works with the Business Development team of NSIP as well as being the Chief Executive Officer.
Steven Tanksley, Ph.D.
Advisor
Steven Tanksley holds a B.S. in agronomy and a Ph.D. in genetics. He was a co-founder of Nature Source Genetics, and is an Emeritus Professor of Plant Breeding at Cornell University. He was one of the pioneers of genome mapping and molecular breeding in plants and spear-headed the first successful DNA map-based gene cloning in plants. Steve has received many awards for his work, including the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Award, the Wolf Prize in Agriculture, and the Japan Prize. He is an advisor to NSIP and on the Board of Directors.
Theresa Fulton
Director, Plant Breeding & Genetics Division
Theresa Fulton holds an MS in Plant Breeding and Genetics, and a Ph.D. in Science Education. She worked in plant breeding for 14 years before becoming the Director of Education & Outreach for the Institute for Genomic Diversity, a non-profit, where she worked to develop educational materials for both plant breeders and the general public, and taught short courses in plant molecular breeding in countries across Africa for many years. She was a co-founder of Nature Source Genetics, and was the Director of Operations there before helping co-found NSIP. She directs the Ithaca division of NSIP and is on the Board of Directors. Theresa is also Vice-Chair of the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission and the Coordinator of the Mutual Aid Tompkins Food Sharing Cabinets.
José Antonio Mena Castillo
Director, In Vitro Division
Antonio joined our company in July 2009 as Sales Manager and was promoted to Director in 2021. He has vast experience and skills in the commercial and operational areas of agave, blueberries, bananas, plantains, and coffee. To date, he has helped our customers plant over 60 million unique plantlets, and provides product support to our prestigious clients both national and international.
In addition to sales management, in his current role Antonio will be directly managing the areas of Planning, Quality Assurance, In-Vitro Lab Production, as well as our greenhouses and nurseries. Antonio’s extensive experience and customer relationship skills will help us serve you at the highest level.
Liana Nice
Director of Breeding Sciences
Liana Nice holds a Ph.D. in Applied Plant Sciences, Plant Breeding and Molecular Genetics from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining NSIP in 2016, she studied genomic selection and breeding in soybean and wild barley germplasm. She now leads NSIP’s Breeding Sciences team of breeders and plant scientistswho work across Ithaca and Tapachula divisions to implement NSIP technologies. The team is adept at translating NSIP’s powerful computational technologies into effective breeding strategies for diverse crop systems.
Jason LaCombe
Director of Research & Development
Jason LaCombe joined Nature Source Genetics in 2011 after having received his PhD in Statistics at the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology from the University of Rochester, NY. He now leads NSIP’s Research and development team, both managing and participating in the strategic development of new computational technologies. Jason also provides support for internal training in methodologies, internship outreach, and the application of data analytics in developing solutions for current and prospective clients.
Steve Zembek
Associate Director of Software Development & IT
Steve Zembek was one of the earliest employees of Nature Source Genetics, starting in 2008 as a Software Engineer and Systems Administrator. Steve has a B.S. in Information Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). In his current position as Associate Director of Software Development & IT, Steve not only leads the software development team but also manages all our IT needs and supervises the IT team in Tapachula.
Jorge Fenyvesi, M.S.
Board of Directors
Jorge Fenyvesi holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from Instituto Tecnológico and from Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, with an MS degree in Parasitology and business and entrepreneurship studies at Babson College, Boston. He has 44 years of experience in managerial and directive jobs with The Dow Chemical Company, DNA Plant Technology and Savia and PLENUS Groups. He is also CEO of Agracast, a global company in the breeding of castor and related agrotechnologies; as well as serving on the Board of Nature Source Improved Plants.
Francisco Garza, CPA, MBA, MBL
Board of Directors
Francisco Garza is a member of the Board for a number of companies, non-profit organizations and professional organizations. He is a CPA and holds a MBA and MBL, with strong experience in finance and planning for private and public companies. Francisco participates as a tutor for students involved in leadership programs at two of the main universities in Monterrey, Mexico. Currently, he is the Corporate Business Development VP at Grupo PLENUS as well as being on the Board of Directors for NSIP.