WEBINAR RECORDING: Creating a Sustainable Future for Agriculture: Lunch and Lessons from Two Award-Winning Researchers

Webinar RECORDING

Originally Aired: September 10, 2025

Presenters: Thomas P. Selby, PhD, Corporate Fellow, Retired FMC/DuPont and Winner of the ACS AGRO International Award for Research in Agrochemicals; and
William Mitch, PhD, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University and Winner of the 2025 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Research Article of the Year

Moderator: Dena Barrett – Vice Chair, Agrochemicals Division, American Chemical Society

Webinar Recap:
Thanks to everyone who joined our AGRO Lunch and Learn webinar featuring two of the top minds in agricultural science, Dr. Thomas Selby and Dr. William Mitch.

The session was a fantastic look into the “art” of agrochemical discovery, as Dr. Selby walked us through his career-long process of developing new products like the groundbreaking diamide insecticides. He shared that true innovation is a continuous, collaborative effort, a concept that perfectly transitioned into Dr. Mitch’s talk on his pioneering work.

Dr. Mitch shared his team’s fascinating research on developing a novel, environmentally friendly method to control the potent greenhouse gas sulfuryl fluoride. He showed how they effectively used an electrochemical process to capture and degrade this gas, preventing its release into the atmosphere.

If you missed the live event or want to watch it again, you can find the full video below.

[Link to YouTube Video Here]

A special thank you to our moderator, Dena Barrett, our tech host, Kyle Sawyer, and our sponsor, Eurofins Agroscience Services.

We hope to see you at our next webinar!

Presenter Bios: In a career spanning 45 years (DuPont/FMC), Tom Selby has pursued a lifelong interest in the discovery of new biologically active molecules. He received his B.S. in chemistry from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Indiana University. His research interests have included herbicides, fungicides and insecticides.

He is co-inventor of four agrochemicals: the fungicide proquinazid, the diamide insecticides: chlorantraniliprole (Rynaxypyr®) and cyantraniliprole (Cyazypyr (TM)), and more recently, the new mode-of-action rice herbicide tetflupyrolimet. He holds 65 issued US patents and has 60 published world patent applications.

Bill Mitch is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. He obtained a BA in Archaeology from Harvard University and MS and PhD degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. His work focuses on environmental chemistry, with applications in municipal drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment and recycling and agriculture.

For past webinar recordings, please visit the Lunch and Learn Webinar Archive.