Team & Contact

From January 1, 2019, the CIOPORA Academy will be managed by Ms Katrin Huhnholz, the CIOPORA’s new Project Manager.

Born and raised in Germany, Katrin is an experienced event manager and a PR professional. She started her career organizing large-scale trade fairs in Argentina and later worked for a number of clients in the area of Event & PR, including a sports photography agency, the Italian designer brand Alessi and Reemtsma in Hamburg. Katrin’s choice of profession truly reflects her personality and early academic interests: being fluent in Dutch, English, German, French and Spanish, she has always been fond of languages, human communication and intercultural cooperation. Katrin holds a degree in European Studies from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At the CIOPORA office, Katrin will be in charge of the CIOPORA Academy program.

Email Katrin

As the Member Relations Manager/China Consultant, Stephanie Mitzschke supports CIOPORA with a variety of tasks including but not limited to the member/supporter relation and acquisition, research, organization of the CIOPORA Academy webinars, communication, and event management. Stephanie is fluent in German, English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

Stella Negraes, a native of Brazil, has been living and working in Hamburg, Germany for the past 20 years. In the course of her professional life, Ms. Negraes has acquired various experiences at BASF, the Consulates of Portugal and Brazil in Hamburg. At the administrative office of CIOPORA, Stella is in charge of the event management, bookkeeping, and member relations. Stella speaks English, German, Portugese and Spanish.

Email Stella

Please contact Stella on questions of membership, payments, bookkeeping, general infomation queries and event management.

Andrés Velásquez is a Chilean journalist specializing in Strategic Communication, Brand PR, and Social Media. For ten years, he has developed his professional career in different companies and agencies, responsible for the creation, development, and maintenance of the image of brands such as IBM, Scania, SMU, Xiaomi, and others. He has a strong experience generating online and offline communication channels, as well as building bridges with authorities, organizations, and different audiences of interest.

Born and raised in Bari, Italy, Selena is an Italian qualified lawyer with a deep passion for Intellectual Property for plants. With five years’ experience at top-tier law firms in Italy (Barletta, Bari, Turin) and abroad (Copenhagen), throughout her career she has worked with both domestic and international clients, representing their interests before administrative bodies, national courts, and the European Court of Justice. Before joining CIOPORA in September 2021, Selena was a Legal Trainee at the Legal Unit and the Registry of the Community Plant Variety Office in Angers, France. Selena speaks English, Italian, and French.

Paulo Peralta
Technical Expert at CIOPORA

Born and raised in Costa Rica, Paulo is a horticultural specialist with a robust background in plant breeding. He studied Plant Biotechnology at the Costa Rica Institute of Technology and graduated from an Erasmus Mundus joint Master program in International Horticulture. With several years of experience in a global leading fresh produce company, he joined the team that successfully developed and commercialized the first GM pineapple with improved nutritional characteristics. Before joining CIOPORA, Paulo worked as Senior Researcher for the famous Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, where he had the opportunity to contribute to the scientific needs of the organization and its ornamental breeding program. Most recently, he became passionate about agriculture, and he has dedicated himself to hands-on farming projects and consulting on different topics related to horticultural production.