This keynote address will be delivered by Sarah Brunel, Implementation and Facilitation Unit (IFU) lead at the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).

This talk will be followed by an opportunity for an audience Q&A and discussion, chaired by Professor Jeremy Pritchard FRSB, University of Birmingham.

Sarah Brunel leads the Implementation and Facilitation Unit (IFU), which coordinates implementation, facilitation and capacity development activities such as the production of IPPC guides and training materials, phytosanitary capacity evaluations and capacity strengthening activities to address emerging pests. Sarah's focus is on the coordination of implementation projects and management of the IFU's workplan, including staffing, budgeting, resource mobilisation and strategies. She is the IPPC Secretariat's lead on One Health. Sarah is also the secretariat's liaison with organisations such as the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), Comité de Liaison Entreprenariat - Agriculture - Dévelopement  (COLEAD), the European Union and the Europead Feed Safety Authority (EFSA). 

Sarah is an agricultural engineer from the Institut Supérieurr d'Agriculture Rhône-Alpes (ISARA). She has a master's degree in international affairs and another in anthropology from the Sorbonne University and the French Museum of Natural History, respectively. She has more than 20 years of national, regional and international experience in plant protection, pest and disease control policies and legistaltion, implementation of standards for phytosanitary measures, environmental protection and capacity development. She is a French national and speakers English, French, Italian and Spanish.