Why us?
Simple things are already done, now it’s time for tough…
For tough, (life)scientists must step-out into the real-world to guide product development and its applications and commercialization. This is our duty to society.
We are a team of polymaths
Dr. Dragana Vukasinovic
Dr Vukasinovic is an Entrepreneurial Scientist who stepped out from Academia to commercialize cutting-edge academic findings to transform the oldest and the biggest industry in the world – Agriculture.
Dragana is a passionate lecturer, inspirational speaker and in 2021 was part of the digital book “60 Leaders on Innovation” where selected innovative leaders across the globe shared their views on the innovation potential and visions of the future. As an experienced Crop Protection Scientist (18+ years) with Agricultural Entomology as her field of expertise, Dragana has a broad knowledge of Crop Production Systems across European landscapes, but her focus lies in high value crops within Horticulture: orchards and vineyards.
Dragana did her PhD in Agricultural Entomology on the effects of Climate Change on insect-pest species (University of Copenhagen (KU), Faculty of Science), and this PhD thesis has a great potential to be commercialized, when the market is ready for this type of innovation. Dragana also held positions of a Research Scientist and Board Member at KU. Dragana worked at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture, as Researcher and Lecturer and at the same time working on her 1st self-financed PhD thesis in Agricultural Entomology where she developed and commercialized AgroDNA-as-a-Service (quite entrepreneurial!).
Dragana always did her research in direct collaboration with fruit growers, working from the perspective of a Customer Oriented Scientist. Fauna Smart Technologies is partly based on Dragana’s research and unique know-how of agro-ecosystems that came out from a strong growers’/customers’ need for precise, fast and cost affordable pest management.
As the Visionary one, Dragana will maintain the long-term vision of Fauna Smart Technologies, and will be responsible for leading R&D, product innovations and ongoing industry commercialization efforts.
Dr. Jenifer Clausell Tormos
Seasoned professional with 15+ years of experience. Jenifer started as a biotech researcher building med-tech-platforms, mostly for cancer. She was developing her career across Spain, France, UK and DK before she decided to take action on diversity and inclusion topic when she founded Develop Diverse in Copenhagen, DK – it turned out to be a great success! Jenifer has a proven track record in fundraising both private and public funds, she built a team of 25 people and reached €1M on ARR. After 7+ years in a CEO position, she exited her company, and joined Fauna Smart Technologies to support and increase the growth and impact.
Dr. Samira Kolyaie
Seasoned professional with 15+ years of experience in Remote Sensing and Geospatial Engineering, working in diverse industries. During her career she analyzed remote sensing data at various scales including images taken by handheld cameras, drone images, and Landsat satellite images for mapping and monitoring vegetation changing due to global warming and consequent climate change. She works on image classification and is linking information at various scales using mathematical, statistical models and machine learning.
Samira has profound programming skills, and was involved in the development of several tools to help decision-making based on facts, in automating several tasks, and in providing clear and measurable commercial insights. In Fauna, Samira leads the technical part of product development related to Remote Sensing & Data Science, creating/improving Pest Risk Map for Early Warning Prediction and Prevention Platform for pests and diseases in apple and pear orchards of Denmark.
Miguel Crozzoli
Miguel Crozzoli, APD in Artistic Research, currently pursuing a PhD in Reykjavik University. Miguel explores multi-display systems for big data, using AI and embodied cognition to uncover emergent patterns and deepen interactive understanding. He focuses on the art of sonification and data harmonization, specializing in transforming complex data sets into sound, offering a novel approach to analysis and interpretation. Miguel’s work bridges the worlds of data science and perceptualization, delivering innovative solutions for visualizing and experiencing data. His creative yet analytical perspective enriches our multidimensional analysis of tree health, providing fresh insights.
Calum Builder
Calum Builder, APD in Artistic Research, specializes in recording and exploring acoustic spaces. His work captures soundscapes to deepen our understanding of acoustic environments. Calum’s research plays a crucial role in developing structured procedures for data collection and executing field tasks for the projects. He is contributing to Fauna’s projects both as a field researcher and a desktop engineer, thus bringing his expertise in environmental acoustics to the team.
Rene Arum Rafael Lee
Rene has a solid foundation from his MSc in Geoinformatics from the University of Copenhagen, Rene specializes in analyzing satellite data from sources like Sentinel 2, Landsat 8, and Planet. His expertise lies in leveraging Google Earth Engine for efficient data processing, including cloud computation and optimization of pre-processing steps. His experience in remote sensing, Python programming, and automating data workflows makes him a key asset. Rene is passionate about sustainable agriculture, and is committed to drive innovation and sustainability in the sector.
Dr. Sevasti Maistrou
Dr. Sevasti Maistrou is taking the role of the key Crop Protection Advisor and transitioning to (future) R&D Lead. Sevasti and Dragana have worked together for over five years at the University of Copenhagen, building a strong professional relationship and sharing a clear alignment in their mission and vision of Fauna.
Sevasti comes with 10+ years of experience in Crop Protection Science, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Biological Control. Throughout her career, she has worked across Greece, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, collaborating with esteemed research groups and learning from leading experts in the field. Her research focuses on plant-pathogen interactions, delving deeply into the fundamentals to uncover connections with applied agroecosystem management. Her expertise spans plant immunity responses, insect immunity, and particularly induced systemic resistance. Sevasti’s contributions ensure that our innovations are grounded in rigorous science within her niche and tailored to meet the practical needs of modern agriculture via product design and solutions we offer.
Key advisors
We are proud to have experienced, hands-on advisors working alongside us, all united in our mission to create value together:
Tegan Spinner
A true entrepreneur at heart, made the move from Silicon Valley to Copenhagen and has spent the past eight years working with some of Denmark’s top startups. At Fauna, he plays a key role in shaping our business strategy, fundraising efforts, communication strategy and negotiation tactics.
Dr. Constantine Anagnostopoulos
An Adjunct Professor at the University of Rhode Island and former Executive at Kodak, brings invaluable expertise to our team. With a distinguished career focused on high-resolution imaging, he plays a key role in guiding our product development, particularly in all aspects of strategic R&D, from early innovation to late-stage execution. Dr. Anagnostopoulos holds over 75 patents, numerous awards, and has successfully developed and commercialized products with the support of both national and federal grants.
Dr. Lerke Johansen
Currently serving in Denmark’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, provides valuable insights on new regulations and their impact on Fauna’s business. Her expertise is instrumental in navigating policy changes, and she plays a key role in connecting us with agri/horti advisors and growers, strengthening our industry network.
