Meet Presenters: Julien Bras and Neil Leveridge

Julien Bras, University Grenoble

Dr Julien Bras has directly supervised 35 PhD, 23 Post-doc and more than 60 master students focusing on research on Nanocellulose, Biomaterials & Specialty papers. He is member of Institut Universitaire de France (IUF junior, 2016-2019 and IUF Senior, 2022-2027, top grant for 2% of French professor). He received the French “Academy of Science” Major Prize of Innovation (IMT Espoir) in 2017 and the international mid-career award from Tappi Nano in 2019. He is head of the “Multiscale Biobased Material” group (ab. 40 pers., 8 years) and was deputy director of LGP2 (Laboratory of Pulp & Paper Science) during 3 years.

During two years (2019-2021), he has worked with Nestle thanks to a disponibility sabbatical period as Senior Expert and Department Head in the Institute of Packaging Science in the global Nestle Research Center at Lausanne, Switzerland. He has contributed to the creation of this institute, its project portfolio and led some key projects on cellulose based packaging materials and barrier properties. He was also in charge of science, sustainability, food safety, innovative technologies and academic alliance in the institute before coming back in academia.

Neil Leveridge, The University of British Columbia

Dr. Neil Leveridge is an Asst. Professor and Communication Strategist in the Department of Wood Science in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC. He has been a language and literacy educator since 2000 and has worked as an English writing instructor for graduate students focusing on scholarly/journal publications. His expertise is in Educational Technology with a focus on Communication in academic and professional contexts. His published research centers on how language learners attain comprehension in multi-modal environments. He has recently been focusing on second/additional language learners’ writing for sciences in multi-modal venues, multi-modal instruction, and innovative uses of technology for communication.

Dr. Leveridge holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Victoria, an M.A. in Teaching Second Languages from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, and a PhD. in Educational Technology from National Central University in Taiwan.