Patron

• Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
  Thailand · Patron since 2000
  A keen conservationist who, with her father, the late King of Thailand, has long supported vetiver research and development in Thailand and worldwide. She has taken part in all the international vetiver conferences.

Board of Directors

• James Smyle
  US · President and Chairman
  A forester and watershed specialist who began working with vetiver in the late 1980s and edited the Vetiver Network Newsletter. Over 40 years in Asia, Africa and Latin America he has brought vetiver into many projects. Based in San Antonio, Texas.
• Dale Rachmeler
  US · Secretary and Treasurer
  An agronomist who worked for many years with USAID in Africa. He first used vetiver in Madagascar in the late 1990s and led a vetiver project in DR Congo on highway stabilization and urban gullies. Lives in Oakland, California.
• Richard (Dick) Grimshaw OBE
  US/UK · Founder and Director
  An agriculturist and former World Bank agriculture division chief, Dick has worked with vetiver since 1986, when he and John Greenfield reintroduced it to Indian farmers. He founded TVNI in 1995, led vetiver’s introduction to China, and curates TVNI’s Design Standards and Guides.
• Dr. Sumet Tantivejkhul
  Thailand · Director
  Secretary-General of the Chaipattana Foundation since 1988, Dr. Sumet worked closely with His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great on rural development and sufficiency economy projects. He holds degrees in political science from French universities and has served in national planning and security roles.
• Dr. Paul Truong
  Australia · Director; Technical Director
  The leading vetiver research scientist, with a special focus on water quality and pollution control. He began working with vetiver in Queensland in the early 1990s, has played a key part in most vetiver conferences, and has supported extensive research in Vietnam.
• Dr. Paul Zuckerman
  UK · Director
  An economist associated with TVNI since its start. A former World Bank Senior Economist and investment banker, he has chaired the Intermediate Technology Group and Bioversity International and served on the CGIAR Consortium Board.
• Elise Pinners
  The Netherlands · Director
  Elise began with vetiver in Cameroon in the late 1990s, worked on coastal dune stabilization in Vietnam, co-authored Vetiver System Applications: A Technical Reference Manual, and set up PLUS-Kenya. She now evaluates UN and bilateral programs.
• Limtong Pitayakon
  Thailand · Director
  A soil scientist specializing in soil conservation, land degradation and soil microbiology, he served as an expert with Thailand’s Land Development Department and as Thailand’s independent scientific advisor to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. His research covers soil carbon, organic matter and vetiver-based conservation.
• Yorleny Cruz Chavez
  Costa Rica · Director
  TVNI’s Costa Rica coordinator, with more than 15 years of vetiver work. She has advised the Ministry of Public Works and Transport on protecting highways from landslides, and the Costa Rican Electricity Institute on keeping sediment out of reservoirs.
• Jonathan Barcant
  Trinidad and Tobago · Director
  A civil and geotechnical engineer and TVNI’s Caribbean coordinator. He founded Vetiver TT Ecological Engineering Solutions and co-founded the NGO IAMovement, whose UNDP GEF project works with Trinidad’s largest hillside farming community and on quarry rehabilitation.
• Robinson Vanoh
  Papua New Guinea · Director
  Owner of Eagle Vetiver Systems and founder of the PNG Vetiver Network. Working closely with Dr. Paul Truong, he applies vetiver to plantations, highways and river banks, wrote the Vetiver System Training Manual for Fiji (2020), and has trained teams across the Pacific.

Associate Directors and Advisors

• Tran Tan Van
  Vietnam · Associate Director
  As past coordinator of the Vietnam Vetiver Network, Van led the spread of vetiver to some 40 of Vietnam’s 64 provinces, from coastal dunes to dikes, roadsides and pollution control. TVNI named him a Vetiver Champion in 2006.
• Joachim (Joe) Boehner
  Peru · Associate Director
  Joe has introduced vetiver into natural resource projects in Oxapampa, central Peru, and has promoted it for many years in Central and South America.
• Alain Ndona
  DR Congo · Senior Technical Advisor
  Alain began with highway stabilization and urban ravine reclamation in Kinshasa, showing how communities can organize around a simple technology and succeed. He now works on highways and gullies in Congo-Brazzaville.
• Ngo Duc Tho
  Vietnam · Farming Advisor
  An irrigation engineer and organic agriculture consultant, Tho built the Vietnamese Vetiver Farmers Community of more than 6,000 members. He advises NGOs, companies and cooperatives on vetiver for mulch, pest control and climate adaptation.
• Narong Chomchalow
  Thailand · Coordinator, Pacific Rim Vetiver Network
  Involved with vetiver since it began in Thailand in the early 1990s, Narong chairs the Continuing Committee of the International Vetiver Conferences.
• Suwanna Pasiri
  Thailand
  A retired director of the Royal Development Projects Board who has supported vetiver since the early 1990s, helped with the international conferences, and arranges handicraft training for overseas participants.
• Tran Van Man
  Vietnam and Australia
  Former coordinator of the Vietnam Vetiver Network, Man headed the organizing committee of the Sixth International Vetiver Conference and holds TVNI’s Certificate of Technical Excellence.
• J. Daniel Londoño G.
  Colombia and Australia
  A civil engineer with 20 years in bioengineering and vetiver in South America and Australia. He has worked with Dr. Paul Truong on wastewater and contaminated land since 2009 and organized the 2013 Latin American Vetiver Conference in Medellín.

Country and Regional Coordinators

• • Debela Dinka
    Ethiopia
    Debela introduced vetiver in Mettu, western Ethiopia, with Menschen für Menschen, then moved it through some 27 NGOs at the Sustainable Land Use Forum. He has coordinated the Ethiopian Vetiver Network since 2009.

• U Thein Maw
  Myanmar · Founder, Myanmar Vetiver Network
  U Thein Maw, mechanical engineer (Yangon Institute of Technology; Monash University), founded the Myanmar Vetiver Network in 2015 after using vetiver to control pipeline erosion at Total E&P Myanmar. He runs a nursery, advised on erosion control at Falam Airport, Chin State, and promotes vetiver daily on Burmese social media.
• Jane Wegesa
  Kenya
  Jane coordinates the Kenya Vetiver Network, based at PLUS-Kenya, where she is a founding member and Secretary, and is a proven field worker.
• Yoann Coppin
  Madagascar
  Owner of La Plantation Bemasoandro, Yoann supplies planting material and has developed vetiver-based soil and water conservation for small farmers as an alternative to slash and burn.
• Pottekad Haridas
  India
  A plantation scientist with Tata Tea in Munnar, Kerala, who introduced vetiver to south Indian tea estates. In 2005 he was the first Indian to receive TVNI’s Certificate of Excellence.
• P.N.Subramanium
  India
  A Serial Entrepreneur turned Regenerative Natural farmer currently focusing on Vetiver as the Vice President of India Vetiver Foundation . Managing Trustee of a NGO into Social Entrepreunership, social audit, organic farming training. Deeply involved in Sustainability, Renewable Energy, and Mentorship.
• Shantanoo Bhattacharrya
  Eastern India
  An engineer from Assam who started the Eastern India Vetiver Network. He has stabilized river banks and bridge approaches against severe Brahmaputra floods, applying the technology correctly from the start.
• Pablo Andrés Molina Bahamondes
  Chile
  An agronomist who first brought vetiver to Chile in 2000 and founded Bioingeniería Vetiver Chile, working for agricultural, hydroelectric and mining companies. He now supports small farmers at Chile’s INDAP.
• Piet Sabbe
  Ecuador
  Piet has used and promoted vetiver for soil and water conservation since 1997, including on his own citrus and pineapple farm, and became TVNI’s national coordinator for Ecuador in 2023.
• Antonio Carrillo Bolea
  Mexico
  Antonio became TVNI’s national coordinator for Mexico in 2023.
• Octavio Torres Jiménez
  Colombia (past coordinator)
  One of Colombia’s vetiver pioneers, working with it since 1995 on railways, roads, pipelines and high-risk zones, with nurseries on the north coast.
• José Luis Cortés Cortés
  Spain
  An architect and engineer who came to vetiver to solve a slope problem. He coordinates the Vetiver Network Spain, promoting correct use of vetiver to universities, government and industry.

Global Vetiver Farmer Program Team

The people leading the Global Vetiver Farmer Program in their countries. To join or to coordinate GVF where you live, email [email protected].

• Prof. Sara Parwin Banu Kamaludeen
  India · Leads GVF in Tamil Nadu; Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
  Leader of the Global Vetiver Farmer Program in Tamil Nadu, and an academic leader and researcher in environmental remediation at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), whose work spans nature-based solutions, climate resilience, biochar, coffee agroforestry, carbon sequestration and carbon credits.
• Nongpun Kosolsak
  Thailand · GVF contact; Office of the Royal Development Projects Board
  An official of the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board (ORDPB), the secretariat of the Thailand Vetiver Network and the Pacific Rim Vetiver Network. Since 2003 she has promoted vetiver, following the initiatives of members of the Royal Family, in Thailand and abroad, and she organized the Seventh International Vetiver Conference (ICV-7).

Vetiver Champions: Farmers, Researchers and Entrepreneurs

• Nhan Pham
  Vietnam · Entrepreneur, OlaFarm
  Nhan Pham, MSc, owns and manages OlaFarm, a woman-run vetiver company with a 6-hectare nursery in Bac Ninh, near Hanoi. Growing three sterile cultivars, OlaFarm has supplied over 600 projects in about 30 provinces, including refinery wastewater rafts in Thanh Hoa. She also founded Herbbank, which distills vetiver essential oils.
• Prof. Johnnie Van den Berg
  South Africa · Researcher
  Head of Plant Protection at North-West University, whose research on vetiver as a trap plant for maize and sorghum stem borers has won Vetiver Network awards.
• Dr. Oscar Rodríguez
  Venezuela · Researcher
  A Central University of Venezuela professor with more than 20 years of vetiver research on soil and moisture conservation. He won the King of Thailand Award in 2000.
• Roley Nöffke
  South Africa · Hydromulch
  Roley’s construction company brings vetiver into projects across Africa. A former Vice President of the International Erosion Control Association, he has sponsored workshops and built a collection of vetiver ecotypes.
• Oswaldo Luque
  Venezuela · Consultant
  Oswaldo helped develop vetiver in Venezuela, brought the 2006 international conference to Caracas, and has promoted vetiver handicrafts and the role of women.
• Ibrahima Diaw
  Senegal · Engineer
  Working with vetiver since 2000 on water treatment, erosion, watersheds and embankments, Ibrahima has trained practitioners across French-speaking Africa.
• Don Miller
  Vanuatu · Soil scientist
  Don uses vetiver hedges to re-establish native forest on eroded land in Vanuatu and to keep sediment off coral reefs, and is fitting vetiver into shifting cultivation.
• Irma Hutabarat
  Indonesia
  Known as Inang Vetiver, the Vetiver Mother, Irma leads thousands of volunteer Vetiver Warriors, with a focus on cleaning up the Citarum River in Java.
• Paulo Rogério
  Brazil · Geotechnical engineer
  Paulo has shown Brazilians how vetiver reduces damage from slope failures, and translated TVNI’s technical reference manual into Portuguese.
• Dr. Aloísio Pereira
  Brazil · DEFLOR Bioengenharia
  A soil scientist who founded DEFLOR in 1984. The company makes biodegradable erosion-control blankets and uses vetiver to rehabilitate degraded land and protect dams.
• Paula Leão Pereira
  Brazil · DEFLOR Bioengenharia
  An architect and civil engineer, Paula is DEFLOR’s project manager and has led vetiver erosion control projects in Brazil since 2009. She represents the International Erosion Control Association in Brazil.
• Mary Noah Manarang
  Philippines · Vetiver grower
  Mary runs one of the most experienced vetiver growing and application businesses in the Philippines.
• Russel Jardiolin
  Philippines
  An active promoter with special experience in stabilizing steep slopes with vetiver and coconut-fiber matting.
• Dr. Mohammad Shariful Islam
  Bangladesh · Engineer and educator
  Pro-Vice Chancellor and professor of civil engineering at BUET, and author of a standard specification for slope stabilization with vetiver. In 2026 his advocacy led Bangladesh’s government to move toward national adoption of vetiver for rivers, embankments and roads.
• Paul Kombo
  Kenya · Farmer and nursery owner
  From Voi, Paul is a leading supplier of quality planting material on the Kenya coast and holds TVNI’s Certificate of Technical Excellence.
• Caleb Omolo
  Kenya · Farmer
  A founding member of PLUS-Kenya and an early vetiver pioneer in western Kenya, whose vetiver food forest is one of TVNI’s best-known stories.
• Hassan Ali
  Ethiopia · Farmer
  In Mettu, Hassan’s yields rose by about half with vetiver, and soil loss and runoff almost stopped. He has passed the practice on to hundreds of neighbors.
• Gilbert Belneau
  Haiti · Entrepreneur
  A young Haitian introducing vetiver to his village of Cazal in the Artibonite region.
• Warren and Melonie Sullivan
  USA · Vetiver users, Texas
  Warren has introduced vetiver to many local, state and federal agencies in Texas, many of which have visited their site.

In Memoriam

• John Greenfield
  New Zealand · Former Director
  After 40 years in tropical soil conservation, 18 at the World Bank, John reintroduced vetiver to India in the 1980s and wrote Vetiver Grass: A Hedge Against Erosion. Often called the father of vetiver, he died in 2017, aged 85.
• Feng Ziyuan
  China · Former Technical Director
  Over 25 years Feng built Guangzhou City Vetiver Grass Industry Science Co., China’s largest vetiver company, proving vetiver could be sound business as well as sound technology. A leader in bioengineering and phytoremediation, he contributed greatly to TVNI’s Standards. He died in September 2026.
• Mike Pease
  Portugal · Founder, European and Mediterranean Vetiver Network
  A farmer, agriculturist and project manager who founded and coordinated the European and Mediterranean Vetiver Network and pioneered vetiver in Portugal, from where it spread to Spain.
• Criss Juliard
  Former Director
  Criss chaired TVNI’s Business Committee. He used vetiver extensively in Madagascar in the 1990s and introduced it to Morocco, Senegal and Mali.