Molecular biologist Richard Jefferson is one of the most prominent scientists in global agriculture, inventor of major enabling technologies in biotechnology, and a pioneer in public participation and transparency in innovation. After a role as senior molecular biologist for the Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN, in 1991 he founded the non-profit social enterprise Cambia to democratize science-enabled innovation, and to bring efficiency and equity to problem solving using science & technology. Jefferson founded the Biological Open Source (BiOS) Initiative, a patent-based commons, and the Patent Lens, the world's leading non-profit patent search and analysis site. In 2009, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lemelson Foundation, Richard became Professor of Science, Technology & Law at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, where he leads the Initiative for Open Innovation, promoting open "innovation cartography", enabling an inclusive innovation ecosystem 'informed by evidence, but inspired by imagination'.
