OUR TEAM

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CEO, Founder

Sarah's vision for Root Applied Sciences is to distill excellent science into easy-to-interpret products that deliver immediate value to customers. Her background as the scientist at two microbe-centric startups informs the company's strategic development of new products.

Sarah has a BA in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD from UC Berkeley in Environmental Science, Policy and Management where she focused on microbial ecology and soil biogeochemistry. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Michigan State's Kellogg Biological Field Station, and later at the Ecology and Soils unit of INRA in Montpellier, France, compliments of an Agreenskills Fellowship through the Marie Curie Foundation.

Chief Product Officer

Andrew is excited to bring his experience in hardware startups and product strategy to Root. Previous co-founder of Dash Robotics, he has led the development and launch of several mass-market consumer robotics products, including Kamigami - an educational robot for children, which sold hundreds of thousands of units .

Andrew completed his PhD in biomechanical engineering at UC Berkeley, researching bio-inspired robotic systems and controllable adhesive materials, publishing 14 peer reviewed articles.  More recently, Andrew has been consulting with Ag Tech robotics startups, developing proof-of-concept prototypes for various automation tasks in both row-crop and specialty greenhouse operations.

Scientist

Brittney is passionate about applying her expertise in microbiology to create products that have a positive impact on the world. At Root, Brittney is leading the development of accurate, in-field molecular biology assays for pathogen detection. She is excited to integrate her work into an in-field sensor to help farmers quickly identify airborne fungal plant pathogens, enabling more effective and environmentally-friendly pest management.

Brittney earned a BS in Biology from Stanford University and a PhD in Microbiology from UC Berkeley. At UC Berkeley, Brittney researched how pathogens cause disease and worked on translating her research toward the development of improved vaccines.

Science Advisor, Co-Founder

Rodrigo has devoted his career to understanding pathogens of vineyards and other perennial crops. He has been engaged in the biology, ecology and management of plant pathogens for over 20 years. Rodrigo decided to found this company to help the science in his laboratory reach the people who can benefit from it.

The Hildebrand-Laumeister Chair of Plant Pathology at UC Berkeley, Professor Almeida has been the recipient of Fulbright and Marie Curie Fellowships as well as the early career award from the American Phytopathological Society. Current research in the Almeida group focuses on the ecology and management of grapevine leafroll-associated viruses and Xylella fastidiosa diseases, especially Pierce's disease of grapevines.