Jean Hollebone

Director, Science Division
Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Dr. Hollebone is the Acting Director of the Science Division in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, with responsibility for animal and plant health risk assessment for the Animal Health and Plant Protection programs, management of the CFIA Research Partnership Strategy and Technology Development research funding programs and for the development and provision of science policy and advice. She has held a number of senior management positions within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the most recent being Assistant Vice President of Programs from 1998 to 2002.

Dr. Hollebone trained as an entomologist and holds degrees from Carleton University, Ottawa, a Master of Science from the University of Wisconsin, and a doctorate from the Imperial College, University of London, England. She has held positions in pesticides regulation in Agriculture Canada. After the transfer to the CFIA, she oversaw the implementation of the biotechnology regulatory framework for Canada and the development of guidelines for agricultural products of biotechnology, for which she was honored by the federal government. In 1994, after secondment to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) where she worked on international standards for the regulation of biotechnology, she took the position of Director of Plant Protection, which she held until to the Vice President’s office. During this time she reorganized and strengthened the Canadian plant quarantine service, managed many controversial issues, negotiated many international agreements and was active at the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). Over the course of her career, Dr. Hollebone has won several awards and distinctions. She is a recent recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, awarded for distinguished and outstanding service to the people of Canada for her contributions as a career federal servant.

Currently, Dr. Hollebone is Co-Chair of the Biological Cluster of federal laboratories under the CRTI, a Canadian S&T initiative to enhance capability and capacity to prepare for, and respond to, a terrorist threat.

BS, Carleton University, Ottawa
MS, University of Wisconsin
PhD, Imperial College, University of London, England