HPTA 2024-2026 Board Member Voting

David Chinn is the Vice President of Corporate Compliance for Huma®, Inc. David now has over 16 years of experience in the area of fertilizers, soil conditioners and biostimulants and has spoken at several conferences in the U.S. and Canada. Prior to working in the fertilizer industry, David spent over 20 years practicing general business law in Louisville, Kentucky.

As an HPTA Director, David has spearheaded work on by-law changes, helped shepherd and defend our humic substances definition at AAPFCO, and represented HPTA® in the USDA Biostimulant Workgroup alongside biostimulant trade organizations, USDA, FDA, EPA, and state fertilizer and pesticide regulator organizations. David has served as HPTA’s Secretary/Treasurer since 2022.

Dr. Ben Pease has designed and implemented studies to measure the impact of humates for years. In his time as a golf course superintendent, he utilized humates to maximize his courses’ turf health. As a research agronomist at Iowa State University, he studied the role humates can play in lessening nitrogen requirements while maintaining turf quality, color, and overall health. As PhD Agronomist for The Andersons Plant Nutrient Group, his focus on golf, sports turf, lawn & landscape, and horticulture applications allow him to further humate research while helping to design technology-enhanced, humate-based products helping to deliver carbon more efficiently while building healthier soil and stronger plants. He is currently a member of many local and national turfgrass end-user organizations.

Mo is a co-founder of BioLiNE Corporation a manufacturer of fulvic acids. He is a process engineer with more than fifteen years of experience in research and technology development. As the lead researcher behind the development of BioLiNE’s technology, He was the chair of the  executive committee in the Biostimulant Council of TFI from 2021 to 2023 and continues to serve on the executive committee. Mo graduated from Western University with a Bachelors (2001) and Masters (2005) in Chemical Engineering. Since joining the HPTA in 2017, Mo has been contributing to the science committee, and attends most board meetings.  In addition to his involvement with the HPTA, Mo is highly active in the industry, leading work groups and making contributions to task forces and committees working with AAPFCO, the USDA, and EPA. He is the current chair of the executive committee in the Biostimulant Council of TFI. He is an active member of the BPIA, and dedicated to improve the education, adoption, and regulatory environment for humic substances.

Dr. Fernando L. Rosario-Ortiz is a Professor and Director of the Environmental Engineering Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Rosario received his BS and MS in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico and the California Institute of Technology, respectively. He received his doctoral degree from UCLA in environmental science and engineering in 2006. His current research focuses on environmental photochemistry, impact of watershed perturbations on water quality and characterization of organic matter in different environments.

Jeff Sangalli has spent nearly 30-years in the areas of product development, supply chain and logistics, manufacturing, and organizational leadership. Jeff was a product engineer for General Electric, managing parts suppliers for various appliance lines. He then joined Ford Motor Corporation as a production manager at Ford’s largest heavy truck production facility. His passion for semiconductor manufacturing of MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) devices was realized when he joined Lexmark International. He spent 13-years in various leadership roles including Global Quality Manager, North American Inkjet Printer Assembly and Customization Manager, Global Printer Supply Manager, Product Development Manager for new Inkjet printhead technology, and Business Unit Strategy Manager. Jeff’s work at Lexmark resulted in over $1B in supplies revenue and multiple awards from key suppliers like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Dell.

 In 2009, Jeff joined the ownership team of OrganoCat LLC. as Vice President, General Manager, where he learned Humic Substance Science and Technology from Dr. Alexander Shulgin. It was in the process of developing the sales and marketing materials that he developed a passion and deep appreciation for humic substances. In 2018, Jeff was named CEO of Monty’s Plant Food Company where he has led the company though rapid growth including a re-branding of the company; corporate strategy and direction; P&L and cash management; executive oversight of the Research and Development, Product Development, International Development, and marketing teams; board member; and change agent.

 Jeff has an M.B.A. from Xavier University (Williams College of Business & Administration), and a Master of (Electrical) Engineering from the University of Louisville (Speed Scientific School). Jeff holds five U.S. patents.

Dr. Alexander Shulgin has been instrumental in the development of solutions to clean up contaminated soils after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster using humic substances and their derivatives. He developed innovative solutions to remediate soil contaminated with heavy metals, polycyclic and polychlorinated hydrocarbons and other harmful organic and mineral pollutants, including soil remediation in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Alexander was a senior executive in the work conducted by the CRADA treaty with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee by order of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Dr. Shulgin has dedicated his time to developing innovative solutions to agricultural and environmental problems. These include creating new forms of nitrogen bearing compounds that are stabilized and buffered by complex polyelectrolyte-enhanced biopolymers, other plant nutrient stabilization and activation of their uptake by the plants root system, and CO2 sequestration through improving of carbon natural cycle. New effective materials and technologies were developed and commercialized for remediation of soil, process and waste water and neutralization of harmful industrial/municipal waste.

Mike Steffeck has been the CEO of HGS BioScience for over two years.  Mike has had an extensive career in agriculture both internationally and domestically.  His first 10 years were spent with FMC Corporation in sales and marketing roles as well as general manager of Latin America North based in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Following that Mike joined Loveland Products as commercial director and later president of the business unit.  Later he was a co-founder of Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings and founder of the Innvictis business unit all of which were purchased by Simplot in 2020.  While at Pinnacle, Mike was a board member of Croplife America.  Originally from Wisconsin, Mike lives in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife Nicki.  He has two grown daughters who live in the Denver, Colorado area. 

Russell Taylor is Vice President of Live Earth Products, Inc., headquartered in Emery, Utah. He has spent 25 years mining, extracting, and marketing humic acid-based products. Areas of experience with humic isolates include: agriculture, turf management, organic fertilizers, animal feed, and soil applications. Russell is the current HPTA President and Board participant and has been deeply involved since HPTA was founded in 2010. Russell is a Certified Crop Advisor and raises organic beef as a hobby.

Mark grew up working on the family farm as a third-generation cotton farmer in Arizona. As a young 16-year-old, he was forced into the farm foreman position on their 4,000 acre farm by his father due to employee problems with the other foreman. He learned to work with people much older than himself, and barely spoke their language. After attending Yavapai junior college in Prescott Arizona, he transferred to the University of Arizona to major in Agronomy.

He spent two years with Valley National Bank of AZ, as a crop and cattle inspector for the Ag loan department and traveled across 14 different states evaluating crops and cattle operations. Because of Mark’s farming background, he became instrumental in helping to write policy that was put into effect to help farmers.

In 1990 he started in the humate business as a broker. In 1993 Mark started, The Catalyst Product Group (TCPG). TCPG is licensed and registered in 12 different states as a manufacturer of organic fertilizers. TCPG now has two manufacturing plants one in Arizona (headquarters) Idaho; and a warehouse in California.

David Wittekind has been with WestMET-Ag for nearly three years, playing a key role in the company’s transition from a coal mining operation to a humalite processing and humic-based products company. With a background in civil engineering and extensive experience in product development, David has focused on researching the uses and benefits of humics, driving innovation in the agricultural and environmental sectors.

 As part of his efforts to advance the humic industry, David initiated a comprehensive third-party product trial program. This program involves formal trials across multiple sites to demonstrate the efficacy of humalite-based products. His dedication to evidence-based research and product validation helps ensure that humic products meet the highest standards of quality and performance.

 David is committed to promoting sustainable agriculture using humic products, which offer significant potential to improve soil health and plant productivity while supporting environmentally responsible practices.