Sabine Parrish is an anthropologist of food, with a particular research focus on the cultures and political economy of coffee consumption, as well as the environmental futures of coffee production. She holds a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Oxford, where her dissertation was an ethnography of specialty coffee consumption in Brazil.
Currently, Sabine is the Principal Investigator (PI) for the UK-Brazil collaborative research project 'Cross-cultural taste: Exploring sensory language disparities in coffee evaluation for the global market.' She has taught on the cultures of specialty coffee at the University of Oxford, Stanford University, the University of Gastronomic Sciences, and the University of London.
In addition to her academic work, Sabine has been involved in the specialty coffee industry since 2007 and has been a staff writer at Standart Magazine since 2015.

André Eiermann is a global coffee innovator and marketing strategist whose journey spans from coffee sourcing to scientific research. His experience encompasses origin work in East Africa, specialty coffee development, and cutting-edge equipment innovation. A World Barista Championship semifinalist and published researcher, André bridges the gap between coffee science, practical application, and strategic marketing. His groundbreaking work with the Zurich University on coffee extraction dynamics, combined with leadership roles at Victoria Arduino and Eversys, has positioned him as a thought leader in modern espresso evolution. As a future coffee consultant, he helps businesses thrive through data-driven approaches and strategic brand positioning.

Dr. Verônica Belchior is WCR's Research Scientist for Coffee Quality Evaluation. She provides scientific expertise and technical leadership for coffee quality evaluation within WCR's varieties-focused research and development (R&D) programs. Verônica comes to WCR with 10 years of experience in coffee research and nearly 15 years of experience in the coffee industry overall. Most recently, she has served as an educator and consultant, leading courses on Q-Grader Preparation, Roasting Chemistry, and Coffee Extraction Kinetics worldwide. She holds a Ph.D. in Food Science from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), where she also served as a postdoctoral candidate and spearheaded a project to build roast profiles of coffee samples across different roasting equipment using evaluation by Fourier Transform Medium Infrared Spectroscopy and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.
Verônica has been a Q-grader since 2013 and has acted as a taster in coffee quality contests throughout Brazil. In 2014, she created her version of the Specialty Coffee Sensory Analysis course and taught it at the best specialty coffee shops and roasters across the country. Even further, she was a partner in the Coffee Sensorium Project.

Gloria Pedroza Labin is Head of NKG Quality Service at Neumann Kaffee Gruppe. Gloria is originally from Guatemala where she started her coffee career at NKG’ coffee export company back in 1998. She's now based in Zug, Switzerland and manages NKG’s quality lab, offering consultancy services related to green coffee quality and sensory analysis to NKG’s companies and customers worldwide. She's an AST for SCA Sensory Skills and Green coffee as well as Q-Grader Instructor for Arabica and Robusta. Gloria also serves the coffee community in her roles as WCE representative and judge and as Board member of SCA Switzerland and CQI. 
 

Sebastian Opitz has been working at the ZHAW CEC for 13 years, where he has built up research on green coffee. His research focuses on the effects of post-harvest processing and the impact of coffee species on the aroma composition of roasted coffee. In particular, the relationship between the precursors in green coffee and their role in roasting the coffee is an important topic. The analytical methods used to quantify precursors and aroma compounds are also used in more technical processes, such as the effects of the decaffeination process on roasting and in the new field of coffee cell cultures.
Sebastian's educational background includes graduate studies in biology and chemistry and a PhD in chemical ecology with a strong expertise in analytical chemistry. His interdisciplinary expertise helps him to understand the plant seed and the microbial processes during fermentation, as well as the organic chemistry during roasting.

Selçuk Yildirim

Raphael Studer

Andrew Tolley has built a distinguished career in the specialty coffee industry, holding roles that span barista, trainer, café manager, multi-site café owner, green buyer, and head of coffee. He co-founded two of London’s pioneering specialty café businesses, Taylor St Baristas and Harris+Hoole, which collectively operated more than 55 locations at their peak.
Since 2020, Andrew has collaborated with the Simonelli Group to develop the Coffee Knowledge Hub. His responsibilities include course development and teaching, platform enhancements, content creation, and communications strategy, contributing to the Hub’s growth and influence in the coffee education space.
Andrew has a long history of volunteer leadership within the specialty coffee community. As a founding member of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Barista Guild of Europe, he served as Chair in 2018 and represented the Guild on the SCA Board of Directors. Beginning in January 2021, Andrew joined the SCA Board for a two-year term, during which he was elected as 2nd Vice President. He is set to become President of the SCA in 2026.