Dr. Morven McLean

Dr. Morven McLean received her B.Sc. (Agr.) from McGill University, M.Sc. in environmental biology from the University of Guelph, and Ph.D. in molecular plant virology from the University of British Columbia.  She has held the position of Chief of Canada’s Plant Biotechnology Office, the federal regulatory authority for the assessment and release of genetically modified plants, and was President of AGBIOS, a consultancy that works internationally with governments, non-governmental organizations, and the public and private sectors on issues of policy and regulation pertaining to genetically modified foods, crops, and forest tree species.

Morven has also served as a technical expert on biosafety risk assessment, regulation and policy for a number of organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the United National Environmental Program and the Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as many national governments.  In 2009, Morven joined the ILSI Research Foundation in Washington D.C. as Director of the Center for Environmental Risk Assessment, and in 2013 was additionally appointed Director of the Research Foundation’s Center for Safety Assessment of Food and Feed as well as ILSI co-lead for sustainable agriculture and nutrition security across the organization internationally.  Morven assumed her current position as Executive Director, ILSI Research Foundation, on 1 January 2015.