Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand Patron

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand is the Patron of The Vetiver Network International. She is a keen conservationist, and has along with her father, His Majesty the King of Thailand, been deply committed to the research and development of the Vetiver System in Thailand and elsewhere in the world. She has participated in all the international Vetiver conferences. She has been patron since 2000.

Dick Grimshaw OBE Chairman

Dick Grimshaw, an agriculturist, founded The Vetiver Network International in 1994 having worked with the Vetiver System since 1986, when he and John Greenfield reintroduced the technology to Indian farmers during the latter part of the 1980s. Following his return to the US he promoted the Vetiver System world wide. He was responsible for its introduction to China and a number of other Asian countries. He lives in Bellingham located in the Pacific North West of the US.

Dale Rachmeler President and Director for Sub-Saharan Africa

Dale Rachmeler, agronomist, is President of the The Vetiver Network International and Director for Africa. He worked for many years with USAID mainly in Africa. He got involved with the Vetiver System when in Madagascar in the late 1990s. He was responsible for a vetiver based project in the Congo DR since when the Vetiver System has been used for highway stabilization and the reclamation of massive urban gullies. He is currently working in Ghana and is located in Accra.

Criss Juliard Director for North Africa, Europe and the Middle East

Criss Juliard, business specialist and project manager, is Director for North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He has managed many agricultural related projects for a number of bilateral agencies. He first used the Vetiver System extensively in Madagascar in the late 1990s, he then introduced it to Senegal, Mali and more recently in Morocco. He currently lives in Rabat where he owns and manages an environmental, vetiver based company with special emphasis on waste water management.

Paul Truong Director for Asia and the Pacific

Paul Truong is the Director for Asia and the Pacific. He is the leading vetiver reserach scientist and has especially focused on vetiver's ability to improve water quality and control pollution. He started working with vetiver in Queensland, Australia in the early 1990, and since then has promoted the technology world wide. He has been instrumental in most regional and international workshops and conferences, and has over the past 7 years initiated and supported extensive vetiver R&D in Vietnam. Paul lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Jim Smyle Director for North ,Central, and South America

Jim Smyle is a forester and natural resources/watershed management specialist. He is the Director for North, Central and South America. He started working with Vetiver Systems in the late 1980s and was editor of the Vetiver Network Newsletter. He has worked in Central America for the past 13 years and has been responsible for the introduction of the Vetiver System into many projects in that region. He now works as a consultant out of San Antonio, Texas.

John Greenfield Director

After farming sheep and cattle in New Zealand, John Greenfield worked in the tropical wet and arid zones of developing countries throughout the world for 40 years developing a system of soil and moisture conservation that would be sustainable in extremes of climate. The last 18 years were spent with the World Bank as Senior Agriculturist. In this period he has seen how inappropriate the accepted constructed systems of conservation are and made it his mission to develop a simple sustainable system that is eco-friendly and affordable to the poorest of the poor subsistence farmers world wide.  He introduced the Vetiver System concept to India in 1980s - he is the "Father of Vetiver". He authored the "Green Book", Vetiver Grass - A Hedge Against Erosion. He is a Director of the Vetiver Network International, and lives in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

Mark Dafforn Director and Secretary

Mark Dafforn is a Director of The Vetiver Network International and is its Secretary. He has worked on Vetiver Systems starting in 1990 when he researched information for the National Academy of Science's publication - Vetiver Grass - A Thin Green Line Against Erosion. Since then he has supported the Network's work on the genetics of vetiver grass and together with Bob Adams has done much to identify the many cultivars of vetiver world wide.

Tran Tan Van Coordinator: Vietnam Vetiver Network

Coordinator of the vetiver Network in Vietnam (VNVN). As Vice-Director of the Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources (VIGMR) in Vietnam, he is in charge of recommendations for natural disaster mitigation. Since being introduced to the Vetiver Systems six years ago, he has become not only an excellent practitioner of Vetiver Systems, but also a strategic leader, as coordinator of the Vetiver Network in Vietnam (VNVN). In these six years he contributed enormously to the widespread adoption of Vetiver Systems in Vietnam, now in nearly 40 out of the 64 provinces, promoted by different ministries, NGOs, and companies. His introduction of Vetiver Systems started with stabilization of coastal sand dunes, and now includes flood damage mitigation on coastal and river banks, sea dykes, anti-salinity dykes and river dykes, protection of slopes and roadsides against erosion and landslides, and applications to mitigate soil and water pollution. He was awarded the prestigious prize of vetiver Champion by The vetiver Network International in 2006 at the Fourth International vetiver Conference in Caracas, Venezuela.

Elise Pinners Associate Director

Associate Director of The vetiver Network International, who started working with vetiver Systems in NW Cameroon in late nineties, working in agriculture and rural roads projects. Since her arrival in Vietnam in 2001, as an Advisor to VNVN she contributed to the development and promotion of VNVN in Vietnam and internationally, with organisational advice, fundraising support, and by introducing VS (Vetiver Systems) to the world-renowned Dutch coastal engineers. She participated in the implementation of VNVN’s first project, funded by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, on coastal dune stabilisation and other applications in Quang Binh and Da Nang. In the last year and half she worked for Agrifood Consulting International (ACI) in Hanoi. In the summer 2007 she moved to Kenya, where she intends to continue her contribution to the promotion and development of Vetiver System. Elise has worked in other countries in Africa including Cameroon.

Joachim (Joe) Boehnert Associate Director

Joe is a member of a small national vetiver network in Peru led by Dr. July Alegre. His work involves the introduction of VS (Vetiver Systems) into natural resources projects in the province of Oxapampa, Selva Central Peru. He works with several institutions including the Institute for Natural Resources -- www.inrena.gob.pe

Joe has been promoting VS (Vetiver Systems) for many years in Central and South America, including the Dominican Republic and Brazil.

Narong Chomchalow Coordinator: Pacific Rim Vetiver Network

Narong Chomchalow has been involved with VS (Vetiver Systems) since its iinception in Thailand in the early 1990s.  He is the Coordinator of The Pacific Rim Vetiver Network, and the Continuing Committee Chairman for the International Vetiver conferences.  The latter are held every three or four years, and Narong has been closely connected with their success.

Oswaldo Luque Vetiver Consultant

Oswaldo Luque from Venezuela had a major role in the development of VS (Vetiver Systems) in Venezuela both in research and in practice (his brother has a vetiver company).  Oswaldo can be credited for persuading POLAR Foundation to host the Fourth International Vetiver Conference in Caracas in 2006.  He has promoted the use of vetiver grass for handicrafts and the involvement of women.

Mr. Roley Nöffke Associate Director: South Africa

Mr. Roley Nöffke  of  Hydromulch, South Africa is an Associate Director of the Vetiver Network with responsibility for South Africa.  Roley has a construction company that works in many parts of Africa, in the course of which he introduces VS.

Prof. Johnnie van den Berg Scientist

Prof. Johnnie van den Berg is Head of  Plant Protection, School of Environmental Science and Development , North-West University, Potchefstroom South Africa.  His research includes the use of grasses such as napier and vetiver grass in integrated pest management systems. Principle research responsibility is development of integrated pest management (IPM) systems for grain crops such as maize, sorghum and rice. Research functions include basic studies addressing the ecology and injuriousness of key crop pests and research on control mechanisms such as host plant resistance, cultural control and chemical control. Various research programmes on a diversity of insect pests and crops are conducted. These include: stem borers in maize and sorghum, panicle feeding pests and aphids of sorghum, termites in maize and maize streak virus.  He has received Vetiver Network awards for his research on vetiver’s potential in pest control.

Cameron Smeal Associate Director

Cameron Smeal, Environmental Manager, GELITA Australia Pty Ltd. , Beaudesert QLD 4285, Australia.  Cameron is an Associate Director of  the Vetiver Network and has been prominent in Australia for introducing VS for industrial waste water treatment.  He is currently developing vetiver “reed beds” as a constructed wetland for treating industrial effluent.

Suwanna Pasiri Director of RDPB

Suwanna works a director in the  Royal Development Projects Board of Thailand.  She has been closely connected with the Vetiver System from the early 1990s.  She has organized two international vetiver conferences in Thailand and has been associated with those in China and Venezuela.  She provides support to the Pacific Rim Vetiver Network, and arranges vetiver handicraft training of overseas participants.  She is very committed to the vetiver movement, and we are all indebted to her for her support and help to TVN.  Thank you Suwanna.

Oscar Rodriguez Coordinator: Latin American Vetiver Network

Dr. Oscar Rodriguez is the Coordinator of the Latin American Vetiver Network and a professor at the Central University of Venezuela where he is Head of Renewable Natural Resources Conservation and Conservation Agriculture.  He began working with vetiver as a researcher some twenty years ago and has done extensive work on soil and moisture conservation in farming systems, including the calibration of vetiver hedgerows for use in the Universal Soil Loss Equation.  Dr. Rodriguez was instrumental in the introduction of VS in Venezuela and in the organization of the Fourth International Vetiver Conference in Caracas in 2006.  In 1997 he won the Eureka/General Motors Venezuela prize for research on “Vetiver: a plant for environmental protection”.  In 2000 he won the King of Thailand Award for his work in dissemination of the VS for environmental protection and, in 2006, he shared the TVNI prize for Outstanding Country Program.

Ibrahima Diaw Vetiver Consultant

Ibrahima Diaw is an engineer who has worked with Vetiver since 2000 in all types of applications, research, and project management. He is a vetiver system pracioner, conducted successful applications of the Vetiver System for water treatment, soil erosion, watershed management, embankment stabilization and reforestation. He has provided training cycles in vetiver system in French speaking Africa and made numerous presentations to professional association and environmental groups. He presently heads a consulting firm in Senegal.

James Owino Vetiver Consultant

James O. Owino is a senior lecturer at Egerton University in the department of Agricultural Engineering where he teaches and conducts research in the area of Soil and Water Conservation. He has been working with the Vetiver systems since 1999, during which he carried out research on the effectiveness of vetiver grass in soil erosion control in Kenya. He has also been spearheading Vetiver systems promotion campaign in the country and is currently doing some work in the Rift Valley, Nyanza and Coast provinces of Kenya

Pottekad Haridas Coordinator: India Vetiver Network

Mr.P.Haridas has been working as Scientist at Research & Development Department of Tata Tea Limited, Munnar, Kerala since 1984. He played a lead role in establishing R&D Centre of Tata Tea at Munnar. He served as Head of R&D, KDHP Co. (P) Ltd., which is the new company after restructuring of plantation operations of Tata Tea at Munnar from 2005 to 2007.  Prior to joining Tata Tea he worked at UPASI Scientific Department from 1969 to 1983 first as Assistant Botanist and later as Advisory Officer. He was responsible for introducing Vetiver Systems in tea plantations in South India for soil and moisture conservation. Implementation of the Vetiver System in all estates of Tata Tea is one of his important contributions. Based on his work in environmental protection in Tea Plantations, TVNI (The Vetiver Network International) awarded certificate of excellence to him in 2005. Among 14 recipients of this certificate by end 2005, Mr.Haridas was first to receive it from India.  

He is the coordinator of the India Vetiver Network and convener of the First National Vetiver Workshop in India