Born in Singapore, Dr Jean Yong (aka “John”), 52, is working at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) as a Professor of Horticulture since 2018. He obtained his PhD in biochemistry and plant physiology at the Australian National University (ANU), and worked in various universities in Singapore (NTU, SUTD), United States (Brown University, MIT) and Australia (ANU, University of Western Australia, Curtin University). With a multi-disciplinary mindset, he operated successfully across the triple realms of academia, governmental and commercial sectors. Pragmatic and yet learned in his approach towards innovation and problem solving, Jean provides effective solutions and inspires many staff and students under his charge, to meet contemporary scientific and societal challenges with clarity. After 25 years of research, teaching and consultancies, a major theme emerges over time: developing sustainable cultivation approaches for horticultural, agricultural, architectural and ecological applications.
As a multi-disciplinary minded Professor, Jean Yong spearheads the revolutionary transformation of cultivation and incredibly sustainable food production in Sweden and internationally through the science-based use of Defined Organics – Biostimulants.
Organizations benefit from this renaissance in understanding plant nutrition by using natural biostimulants while reducing their footprint and improving efficiency. For example, Splendor Plant AB (Sweden leading producer), PT Great Giant Pineapple (Indonesia, world 2nd largest producer), Centre for Mine Site Restoration, Australia.
Several nature-based solutions in Singapore like the Jurong Lakes’ floating wetlands, PUB’s Active-Beautiful-Clean programme, Pulau Tekong coastal protection and other plant-linked projects continued to grow and are supported by his research. Due to his familiarity with mangroves, he was appointed as the IUCN Mangrove Specialist Group (MSG) Red-List coordinator to support global conservation, education and restoration; recently, the paradigm-changing Green Listing of mangroves to drive global impetus to save them was launched.