Geoffrey Kabat
USA
Retired epidemiologist who serves on the advisory board of the industry front group the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) and on the board of directors of the Science Literacy Project, the parent organisation of the Genetic Literacy Project, which worked with Monsanto and is funded by Bayer. A Kabat study, co-written with one of ACSH's trustees and partly funded by Philip Morris, was cited by the judge in a US racketeering lawsuit as "a prime example" of how tobacco companies "engaged in criminal racketeering and fraud to hide the dangers of tobacco smoke."
Profiles: USRTK
Articles: Forbes retracts attack on paper showing link between glyphosate and cancer
Linked to: American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), Genetic Literacy Project, Elizabeth Whelan, Henry I. Miller, Dennis Avery, Gordon Ross, Hank Campbell, Alex Berezow, Cameron English, Jon Entine
Kate Kelland
UK
Science writer. Formerly Reuters Health and Science Correspondent. Gained notoriety for collusion with Monsanto and its PR firm Red Flag on a series of Reuters' articles (2016-2018) critical of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Close ally of the Science Media Centre.
Articles: Monsanto Spin Doctors Target Cancer Scientist in Flawed Reuters Story
Monsanto Fed Reuters Reporter Kate Kelland Info to Discredit IARC Researcher
IARC Responds to Reuters Article
Linked to: Monsanto, Red Flag, Science Media Centre, Bob Tarone
Julie Kelly
USA
Pro-GMO food blogger who co-authors articles with Henry I. Miller - some of which were deleted by Forbes after Miller was caught using a column ghost-written by Monsanto as his own work in Forbes. Her husband (John Kelly Jr) is a lobbyist for the agribusiness giant ADM. In an award-winning series on the agrichemical industry, Le Monde labelled Julie Kelly a propagandist for Monsanto. Writes for the industry funded Genetic Literacy Project. Breakthrough Institute speaker. Self-proclaimed member of the Kevin Folta fan club. Senior contributor to American Greatness, an advocacy group promoting the agenda of Donald Trump.
Profile: USRTK
Article: An Incoherent Salad Bar of Attacks
Linked to: Henry I Miller, Kevin Folta, Stephan Neidenbach, Genetic Literacy Project, Breakthrough Institute
Drew Kershen USA
Retired law professor. Board member of the Genetic Literacy Project, which worked with Monsanto and is funded by Bayer, and of its parent organisation the Science Literacy Project. Secretary to Academics Review, a group that claimed to be independent while receiving funds from agrichemical companies. Reviewer for Academics Review's organic attack report. Co-authored several articles that were deleted by Forbes and Project Syndicate after Kershen's co-author, Henry I Miller, was caught using a column ghost-written by Monsanto as his own work in Forbes. Kershen has also co-authored articles with Miller for the industry front group the American Council on Science and Health.
Profiles: USRTK
Linked to: Henry I Miller, Jon Entine, Genetic Literacy Project, American Council on Science and Health, Academics Review
Ketchum Inc USA
Global PR firm headquartered in New York that, like FleishmanHillard, has done considerable work, some of it highly controversial, for the agrichemical industry. On the industry's behalf it hired a private security firm (Beckett Brown International (BBI) - subsequently changed to S2i) to spy on groups working to expose GMO safety and other concerns. In 2013, the Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) - a trade group funded by Bayer (Monsanto), Corteva (DowDuPont), Syngenta and BASF - hired Ketchum to launch a marketing campaign called GMO Answers. This was supposed to provide articles written by "independent" experts to "clear up confusion and mistrust" about GMOs, with a Ketchum spokesperson offering the assurance that, "We're not going to be editing the answers... these will be their answers." But evidence emerged of Ketchum not just editing but scripting answers, as well as of experts being far from independent. Similarly, when Ketchum was the PR firm for Russia and Vladimir Putin it was caught placing pro-Putin op-eds under the names of seemingly independent professionals in various news outlets. In its social media work on GMOs, Ketchum claims to have "successfully balanced 80% of interactions with detractors" on Twitter.
Articles: Bayer and Monsanto's shady PR firms
Russia's former PR firm runs the agrichemical industry's PR salvo on GMOs
Black Ops, Green Groups
Greenpeace finds itself in cross hairs
Dogged for years by bad press, Monsanto hit reboot with Ketchum
Video: Greenpeace Spygate lawsuit breaks on CNBC
Linked to: FleishmanHillard, Beckett Brown International (BBI), Nichols Dezenhall, Red Flag Consulting, Lincoln Strategy Group, Alison Van Eenennaam
Gurdev Khush
USA
Consultant at the International Rice Research Institute. Strong supporter of public-private collaborations.
Profiles: Powerbase
Linked to: International Rice Research Institute
Kisan Coordination Committee
India
One of a cluster of farmer unions in India that, in close coordination with the biotech industry and pro-corporate lobbyists, has promoted GM crops.
Profiles: Powerbase
Linked to: Federation of Farmers Associations, Sharad Joshi, Chengal Reddy
Dean Kleckner
USA
Former president of American Farm Bureau Federation who championed free trade and GM crops as the key to solving hunger. Chairman of Truth about Trade and Technology (2000-2012).
Profiles: Powerbase, SourceWatch
Linked to: American Farm Bureau Federation, Truth about Trade and Technology
Keith Kloor USA
Pro-GMO journalist and blogger known for assisting industry public relations efforts behind the scenes.
Profile: USRTK, SourceWatch, Polluter Watch
Article: Keith Kloor: Trash-Talking the Enviros – Or Just Talking Trash?
Keith Kloor's Enduring Love Affair with GMOs
Linked to: Jon Entine, Kevin Folta, Mark Lynas, Stephan Neidenbach, Genetic Literacy Project, Breakthrough Institute, Bruce Chassy, Henry I Miller
Aaron Klug
UK
Former president of the Royal Society who was to the fore in the attacks on Dr Pusztai.
Profiles: Powerbase
Book chapter: The 'Star Chamber' (Chapter 6 of Don't Worry, It's Safe to Eat, by Andy Rowell)
Linked to: Royal Society
Muffy Koch
South Africa
AgBios employee and member of South Africa's GM regulatory bodies at the same time as running her own biotech consultancy, Golden Genomics
Profiles: Powerbase
See also: Golden Genomics, SAGENE, Jennifer Thomson
Emma Kovac USA
Worked with the Monsanto-funded Genetic Literacy Project, where she wrote "narratives for Anti-GMO Advocacy Funding Tracker", before joining the Breakthrough Institute as a "Food and Agriculture Analyst" with the aim of enhancing "understanding and appreciation of the environmental benefits of agricultural biotechnology." Her boss at Breakthrough, Ted Nordhaus, has appeared on tax forms as a board member of the Science Literacy Project - the parent organisation of the Genetic Literacy Project.
Article: The New Denial is Delay at the Breakthrough Institute
Linked to: Breakthrough Institute, Ted Nordhaus, Jon Entine, Genetic Literacy Project
Lord (John) Krebs
UK
Used his position as first chairman of the Food Standards Agency to promote GM food and attack organic farming. Sits on the Lords' Science and Technology Committee. Member of the industry-funded All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture.
Profiles: Powerbase
Linked to: Food Standards Agency, Social Issues Research Centre
Wilhelm Kremer-Schillings (or "Farmer Willi")
Germany
"Farmer Willi" has become one of Germany’s best known farmers through campaigning against pesticide restrictions, in favour of GMOs, and in defence of companies like Bayer/Monsanto. But his career turns out to have involved very little active farming and a great deal of working with agrichemical interests.
Articles: Fake "Farmer Willi" part of an international fake parade
Bauer als Chemie-Lobbyist: "Chemie-Willi" statt "Bauer Willi"
Linked to: Vincent Guyot, Agriculture et Liberté, Raum für Landwirtschaft, Free to Farm, Liberta di coltivare, Libertad para consultar, Rolnictwo Dobrej Praktyki, Vrijheid om te Boeren