Career Professionals in Botanical Sciences and Conservation

Our Team

Bent Creek Institute, Inc.

BCI Is helmed and supported by career professionals in botanical ingredients manufacturing and research who are committed to conserving plant biodiversity and advancing the integrative wellness economy of WNC and beyond through innovative botanical research and high tier business development and economic support. With diverse backgrounds in botanical sciences, conservation, whitepaper development, liaisoning FDA applications, our team collaborates with both emerging and leading institutions to ensure that their botanical therapies are safe, effective, accessible, and economically supported.

Bent Creek Botanical Technologies, Inc.

Bent Creek Botanical Technologies Inc. (BCBTI), established in 2012, is a for-profit entity wholly owned by Bent Creek Institute (BCI). BCBTI serves as a link, connecting businesses with opportunities to build new ventures both domestically and internationally. The company specializes in securing and sourcing unique and novel functional ingredients for food and dietary supplements, while also offering consulting services on new business development and regulatory affairs, including NDI compliance and product labeling. BCBTI coordinates a global network, fostering business partnerships and interacting with companies and government agencies in the United States, Germany, Brazil, and South Korea. Additionally, the company provides expert advice on exporting and importing products. BCBTI closely collaborates with BCI in various areas, including new product development and navigating regulatory challenges.

The North Carolina Arboretum

Bent Creek Institute, Inc. (BCI) has a close collaborative relationship with The North Carolina Arboretum (TNCA), an affiliate of The University of North Carolina. This partnership leverages the strengths of both organizations to create a productive environment for botanical research and innovation. Below you will find our major stakeholders and service implementers who lead BCI in its mission to create opportunities for botanical ingredients innovators.

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Dr. Hyonho Baek, Ph.D.

With extensive experience in the field of chemical and biomolecular engineering, Dr. Baek currently serves as the VP of Business Development & Scientific Affairs at Bent Creek Institute, Inc./Bent Creek Botanical Technologies, Inc., a position held since 2016. Prior to this role, Dr. Baek was a Visiting Scholar at Virginia Tech from 2014 to 2016 and led a team at Samsung Fine Chemicals in South Korea from 1996 to 2014. Dr. Baek holds a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Yonsei University, an MS in Organic Chemistry from POSTECH, and a BS in Chemistry from Chungnam National University.

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Chanel Kaminis

Chanel Kaminis is BCI’s Compliance Director with eight years of expertise in regulatory compliance and project management within the natural products manufacturing industry. She has been with BCI since 2016, where she specializes in consulting services for the preparation and submission of New Dietary Ingredient Notifications to the FDA. Chanel holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology and Ecology from the University of North Carolina, graduating Magna Cum Laude, and is certified as an ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor. Previously in her career she worked in consulting in the natural products sector and contributed to Appalachian forest dynamics research with the US Forest Service, as well as conservation work in Bolivia studying critically endangered blue-throated macaws.

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Greg Cumberford

Greg Cumberford has a 30+ year career as a natural products industry executive and thought leader in regenerative, vertically-integrated botanical wellness solutions including Ahiflower® oil. He serves as VP Science & Regulatory with Natures Crops International having joined senior management in 2013. He is the Vice Chair of Bent Creek Institute, Inc based at The North Carolina Arboretum. His career includes botanical products farming and sourcing, R&D, quality, new product innovation, clinical study management, and manufacturing. Greg regularly authors industry and peer-reviewed articles on plant-based health science, R&D, and supply chain sourcing. Greg has a BSc degree in Environmental Earth Science from Stanford University (Phi Beta Kappa).

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George Briggs

George Briggs is the Executive Director Emeritus and Founder of The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. Established in 1986 as an affiliate institution of The University of North Carolina System, the Arboretum is the most significant state-supported tourism facility in Western North Carolina, serving more than 600,000 visitors annually and more than 100,000 K-12 students across all 100 North Carolina counties. Briggs has been instrumental in developing the natural product, climate science and landscape sectors in North Carolina, including the co-founding of three natural product entities: the North Carolina Natural Products Association, the Bent Creek Institute, and Bent Creek Botanical Technologies, Inc. He is a member of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state’s highest honorary society, an honor bestowed by the North Carolina Governor.  

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Drake Fowler

Drake Fowler serves as the Executive Director of The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, an affiliate institution of The University of North Carolina System. His leadership at the Arboretum includes previously functioning as the Arboretum’s Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer and elected president of the Arboretum’s supporting non-profit organization.

During Drake’s nine years at the Arboretum, he has managed the Arboretum’s annual operating budget, currently $10 million, that includes public and private funding. A special interest has been institutional strategy, execution of over $5 million in capital funding for new and major renovation projects, and building effectiveness and teamwork in daily operations. Drake employed his long international experience as a licensed landscape architect in co-leading development of the Arboretum’s 20-year master plan, setting the future vision for the Arboretum’s ecologically complex and highly-utilized 435 acres that consist of federal, state and private ownership. In leading private support efforts, he has rebuilt the development program and expanded private support through donor relations and 21,000 member households.