Meet the Judges

The 20th DuPont Awards judging panel, assembled from around the world, brings its perspective, expertise and independence to the packaging industry's longest-running and most prestigious recognition program.

Introducing the 12-member panel:

John Bernardo is the manager of Sustainable Innovations LLC, and a former member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition executive committee.  He has more than 13 years experience in providing pollution prevention, energy conservation, recycling and sustainable operations assistance to businesses ranging from grocery retailers to copper smelters to packagers and coaters, and to the U.S. Air Force.  He was instrumental in many of the packaging initiatives launched by Albertsons Food and Drug to enhance container recycling and resource conservation.

Since 1993, EUROPEN has grown under Carroll's leadership to become the recognized voice of industry on issues of packaging and environment in Europe. EUROPEN acts as a catalyst of stakeholder dialogue to promote greater understanding and acceptance of the function and vital contribution of packaging to resource efficiency and sustainable development.

Before assuming responsibilities at EUROPEN, Carroll was director of corporate affairs/ Europe for Lawson Mardon Group, a Canadian company now part of Alcan Packaging.

Sara Hartwell is an Environmental Specialist in the Municipal and Industrial Solid Waste Division of the EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW), leading the OSW's program to increase the recycling rate of packaging. Prior to joining EPA, Hartwell spent 18 years as an environmental chemist conducting and managing hazardous waste methods development, and was a development chemist with a flexible packaging converter.

Masanobu Ishikawa is a professor at the Graduate School of Economics at Kobe University, with more than 20 years' experience in the areas of recycling, energy savings, greenhouse gas emission reduction and packaging. He has worked with numerous councils and committees within the Japanese government, including the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry, and Tokyo Metropolitan Government. In 2006, he established Gomi-jp, a nonprofit organization that aims to reduce waste through social redesign.

Ishikawa is president of Packaging Science and Technology, Japan, and an advisor to the Japan Containers and Packaging Recycling Association.  He is also a member of the Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, the Japan Society of Energy and Resources, and The Japan Society of Chemical Engineers.

Alessandro Mendes heads the Packaging Technology department for Natura Cosméticos, where he is responsible for developing sustainable solutions for cosmetics packaging. He has also worked in environmental impact modeling for Natura, not only adapting existing models but also developing new ones such as the Intrinsic Carbon Model.

Mendes is a member of the Brazilian group responsible for translating the ISO 14.040 standards into Portuguese, helping local industry assess environmental impact using standard methods. He is one of the founders of the Life Cycle Assessment Brazilian Association.

Mark Kitzis leads Alcan Packaging Food Americas Research and Development Center located in Neenah, Wisconsin, USA. The Center supports flexible packaging R&D activities related to the Food and Specialty business unit and Meat and Dairy business unit for North and South America, as part of Alcan, Inc.’s global packaging business group.

Alcan Packaging Food Americas is a leading supplier of flexible packaging for food, meat, dairy, beverage and specialty markets. It is one of the world’s most diverse manufacturers of plastic packaging, including a wide range of single and multilayer plain and printed films, laminations, bags, pouches, labels and thermoformed food containers.

GreenBlue is a research and design institute aimed at stimulating the creative redesign of industry. It focuses on the expertise of professional communities to create practical solutions, resources and opportunities for implementing sustainability. GreenBlue provides tools to help leaders make well-informed choices about the long-term ecological and human health impacts of their design decisions. Pearson is a specialist in the field of applied design innovation, with particular emphasis on design as an instrument for positive social and environmental change.  He has coordinated design grant making at the National Endowment for the Arts and served as a program director for The Summit Foundation, supporting sustainable design innovation.

Keith Pearson is Chairman of the Institute of Packaging South Africa, and President of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO). An engineer, he has worked for a major South African packaging company in various management positions for more than 30 years.  He was involved in numerous packaging disciplines and held the position of Divisional Chief Executive. Pearson has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Dr. Roberts heads a team of 30 packaging professionals for one of the U.K.'s leading retailers of clothing, food and home products. Marks and Spencer operates 155 stores under franchise in 28 territories. Roberts has worked for the Food Group since 1997, and is part of the Food Technical Management team, responsible for the commercial management of food packaging across the business. She and her team manage technical standards and the retailer's delivery on its sustainability plans for packaging.

Before joining Marks & Spencer, Roberts earned a PhD in Polymer Engineering and worked at an ICI research and technology centre. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials (FIMMM).

Dr. Selke specializes in environmental impacts of packaging systems and materials, and in plastics packaging. Her research activities and expertise include life cycle analysis, biodegradable and bio-based plastics, plastics composites, active packaging, microcellular foaming of plastics, and plastics recycling. She has authored or co-authored nine books and more than 170 publications on these and related topics.
In addition to her academic role, Selke serves on the editorial boards at Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Elsevier Science, Oxford, England, and the Journal of Biobased Materials and Bioenergy, American Scientific Publishers in California.

Brian Wagner co-founded PTIS in December 2000 with Dr. Michael Richmond. The company helps clients achieve strategic and tactical results across the packaging and technology value chain, through consumer and channels insight, technical knowledge, strategic organizational work, and development of new growth and productivity initiatives. PTIS clients include global consumer packaged good companies, retailers, raw material suppliers, converters and trade associations.

Wagner previously held leadership positions at Kellogg's, Sara Lee, Multisorb Technologies, Carton-Kraft, Burger King, and General Foods.  He is past president of the Michigan State University School of Packaging Alumni Board of Directors, and is a frequent guest lecturer and expert speaker.

Roger Zellner is responsible for creating and implementing global sustainability strategies for package and product design at Kraft Foods. He is a member of the company's cross-functional sustainability leadership team, and was formerly Director of GTQ New Product Development for Kraft Foods Cheese & Dairy.

Zellner has worked with Kraft Foods for more than 20 years, on numerous packaging and product developments in the United States and Europe. He was recognized in 1992 with a DuPont Award Environmental Citation for helping reduce Oscar Mayer Lunchables packaging by 50 percent.