
Our Team
A&L Biologicals Team
Greg Patterson
Co-Founder A&L Biological Inc., Founder and CEO A&L Canada Laboratories Inc.
A&L Canada Laboratories, the largest full-service agriculture, environmental, cannabis and plant disease laboratory in Canada. Greg actively delivers recommendations and valuable information in soil and plant nutrition to agriculture - greenhouse and field crop - producers to help them maximize crop productivity. Greg founded A&L Biologicals in 2009 with Dr. George Lazarovits with a vision to better understand soil health, the soil microbiome, and to develop new innovative solutions to address agricultural production issues around the globe. Greg Patterson has been working in agriculture and an advocate for best agriculture practices and sustainability for over 35 years. He has strong ties in the Canadian agriculture community as the founder of
Rob Field
VP Business Development & Marketing, A&L Biological Inc.
Mr. Field joined A&L Biologicals Inc. in 2020 and brings over 30 years of experience as a leader and entrepreneur in the agricultural industry. Rob has successfully started and grown new businesses in various agricultural sectors and with companies such as Nu-Gro Corporation, Plant Science Inc., Brett Young Seeds Ltd. and NutriAg Ltd.
Rob is a graduate of the University of Guelph.
Steve Warren
Project Manager, A&L Biological Inc.
Mr. Warren joined A&L Biologicals Inc. in 2021 and brings over 30 years of experience managing commercial R&D projects in fertilizer production for the agriculture and horticulture markets globally. Steve brings broad experience in operations and strong technical knowledge in the area of fertilizer product development. He has worked with and consulted for a wide range of companies on product development, sales, field trials, regulatory and product commercialization.

Dr. George Lazarovits
Director of Research
Dr. Lazarovits is a Plant pathologist (University of Toronto) with extensive experience on soil health and its microbiome. Before joining A&L Biological Inc. as Director of Research, Dr. Lazarovits worked as Research Scientist at Agriculture and Agrifood Canada for over 30 years. Dr. Lazarovits’ research over the last decade has focused on examining plant health from an ecological perspective where both beneficial and detrimental organisms in soil are considered to affect plant vigour. He developed innovative model systems for studying soil processes and interactions between microorganisms and plants, as well each other. Dr. Lazarovits’ studies now focus on identifying how populations of soil microorganisms impact plant health. He works closely with growers and industry and his efforts have benefited producers through improved produce quality and more sustainable cropping systems.

Dr. Soledad Saldías
Research Lab Director & Special Projects
Dr. Saldías is a Biochemist with extensive experience in molecular microbiology. Over the last 20 years Dr. Saldias has been working on microbial – host interactions, first focusing on human pathogens and their strategies to evade our immune system, and lately studying the impact of microbes on plants. Dr. Saldias joined A&L Biological in 2013 and is working on understanding the role of microbiology in soil health and crop productivity and developing sustainable solutions for agribusiness.

Dr. Keri Wang
Microbiology Laboratories Director, Senior Scientist
Dr. Keri Wang graduated with Ph.D. degree in molecular plant pathology from the University of Alberta. Dr. Wang has worked on molecular mechanism of plant disease resistance and plant-microbe interactions by functional genomic approaches like virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) and gene expression profiling, functional genomics and microbial ecology of plant growth promotion rhizobacteria, molecular epidemiology and biodiversity of phytoplasma diseases. He has expertise in plant pathology, microbiology, molecular biology, and biotechnology with 25 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 34 presentations in national and international conferences. He has developed and modified many methods for research and services. Currently, his work covers development and validation of methods for the rapid and sensitive detection, identification and enumeration of foodborne pathogens; plant disease diagnostics; development of attenuated viruses for management of virus and bacterial diseases; isolation and characterization of glyphosate degrading bacteria. Keri has recently reported two new viruses in cannabis, first reported cannabis phytoplasma disease in Canada. More cannabis viruses are being identified in his research.

Dr. Saveetha Kandasamy
Research Scientist
Dr. Kandasamy has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and a PhD in plant pathology. She brings to the team over 10 years of experience on developing and leading both basic and applied research projects in agricultural sciences. She joined A&L Biological in 2015 and since then she has been leading research projects related to agricultural innovation, soil & crop health, regenerative & precision agriculture and the development of tools and bioproducts for sustainable agriculture.
Dr. Ruyi Xiong
Research Scientist
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Doctor of Philosophy, Plant Pathology
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Master of Science, Plant Pathology,
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Bachelor of Science, Plant Protection

Technical Staff
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Kristen Thomas, MES (Masters in Environment & Sustainability)
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Yulia Kroner, MSc. (Biology; Plant Eco-Physiology, Global Change Biology)
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Jesse Hoage, MSc. (Biology)
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Yibin Liu (Bachelor of Science, Genetics)
Yulia Kroner, MSc.
A&L Biological Inc.

Jesse Hoage, MSc.
A&L Biological Inc.