Corteva Agricscience announced that Sam Eathington has joined the company as its new senior vice president and chief technology officer, leading Corteva’s research and development organization. According to a news release, he will lead the company’s R&D as it works to advance its portfolio and drive global agricultural innovation. Eathington began his new role on Jan. 1. He previously served as chief science officer at the Climate Corp. (part of Bayer Science). Before that he worked at Monsanto, where he focused on quantitative traits and molecular breeding. “We are excited to have Sam take over as the leader of our R&D organization,” Corteva CEO James Collins Jr. said in a release. “Sam has a long history of driving commercially successful scientific innovation and his insights and experience will be a tremendous advantage for Corteva.” Collins said. “Eathington’s leadership and expertise will help “launch transformative solutions that will meet the evolving needs of consumers and empower farmers to produce more, building on the success of recent key product launches while further diversifying our portfolio across crops and geographies.” Eathington succeeds Neal Gutterson, who retired at the end of 2020.