NECi Team

      The Nitrate Elimination Co., Inc.
    Green Chemistry for Nitrate Detection
                              Biotechnology People Can Use

The Nitrate Elimination Company, Inc. (NECi) was founded in 1993. NECi develops and manufactures Green Chemistry Reagents and Kits for nitrate analysis and testing based on the enzyme Nitrate Reductase.

See: Current On-line Store

Wilbur H. (Bill) Campbell, PhD
President

NECi President - graduated from Pomona College, Claremont, Calif., with a BA in Chemistry in 1967, and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1972. After post-doctoral studies at the Univ. of Georgia, Mayo Clinic, and Michigan St. Univ., he joined the faculty of the Chemistry Dept., St. Univ. of New York, Syracuse NY, in 1975. In 1985, he moved to the Biological Sciences Dept., Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI, was Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 1986 until his retirement in August, 2003. Bill had sabbatical leaves in "West Germany", in 1981, Sweden in 1991-92; and England, 1998.  He was on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Biological Chemistry (2000-2005) and is now Executive Editor of Protein Expression and Purification.
     Bill's academic research on the enzyme nitrate reductase, which was supported by research grants from the National Science Foundation and US Dept. of Agriculture, was begun in 1974 and ended in 2003. He has published over 100 scientific papers from his research studies carried out with undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists. See: Bill's Curriculum Vitae See more recent publications in NECi list of publications.
     Bill enjoys living with his wife, Ellen, in the rural setting found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where wild-life abounds. They also enjoy international travel, opera and classic music, art and literature, and baseball.

Ellen R. (Bernstein) Campbell
Vice President and COO

NECi Vice President - holds a BS in Chemistry from the St. Univ. of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY. She has been involved in biotechnology research since 1982. Early career business experiences include retail sales, bookkeeping, inventory management and purchasing, and owner/manager of a British sports car parts and service shop. Ellen has more than 12 years of R&D laboratory management experience in both academic and industrial settings. Industrial R&D experience began in 1992, as Laboratory Director of the Enzyme Products Division of Agrecol, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin. In that capacity, she designed, equipped, and staffed a biotechnology facility, and initiated Agrecol’s enzyme products R&D program.
   Ellen co-founded NECi with her husband, Dr. Bill Campbell, in 1993. She has the lead role in business development and financial management at NECi. Ellen is also involved in experimental design and performance, supervision of lab and administrative personnel, contract management, and proposal preparation. She is Principle Investigator or Co-PI on NECi’s competitive research awards and grants.  See: NECi publications for list of those authored by Ellen.
   Ms. Campbell began her research career as an undergraduate, working on the pharmacology of acetazolamide diuretics under Dr. I. M. Weiner, Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, Upstate Medical Center. During her years in Syracuse she developed skills in HPLC method development including electrochemical detection, organic synthesis including experimental design, small animal surgery, enzymatic assays, and a wide variety of sample preparation and analytical techniques. During her tenure at Michigan Technological University as Lab Manager for Dr. Campbell’s research group, she acquired a thorough grounding in molecular biology methodology, including RNA isolation, construction of cDNA libraries, cloning, and PCR methods, and in protein purification and characterization. In addition, she has worked in laboratories in Bayreuth, Germany and Stockholm, Sweden.
   Ellen is active in the Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology Section of BIO (the Biotechnology Industry Organization); the Michigan Biotechnology Assoc.; the Keweenaw Industrial Council, which she serves as Vice President; and as Treasurer of the Lake Linden Downtown Development Authority. She is a member of the American Water Works Association, the Water Quality Association, AOAC International, the National Ground Water Association, and the Water Environment Federation.
    For sanity, Ellen relies on music (especially classical), reading (literature and mysteries), satisfaction of curiosity (about almost everything), Bill, and various contemplative pursuits. Cats, gardening, travel, and baseball help make life interesting and pleasant.

Guillaume Barbier, PhD
Biotechnology R&D

Melanie Barbier, PhD
Regulatory Associate
 

Guillaume (Gui) Barbier first worked for NECi as an intern in 2000, planning to stay for six months. Then he was asked to do a Ph.D. in Biochemistry with NECi President Wilbur H. Campbell, and so he did, receiving his degree in 2003. Gui's Master of Biochemical Engineering degree comes from the Ecole Supérieure d'Ingénieur de Luminy in Marseilles, France (2000); his Bachelor of Biochemistry/Cell Biology from the Université Joseph Fourier, in Grenoble, France (1997).

Melanie Barbier began as an employee of NECi during the summer of 2002, working for a few months.

Following a post-doctoral research term at Michigan State, Gui worked for one year at the INRA/CNRS (the French equivalent of the USDA) in Evry, France.  He came back to NECi from his position at a French biotech startup – Metabolic Explorer – this summer with the intent to settle here in Michigan’s UP, Melanie’s home town. 

In January 2004, the couple moved to Lansing for three years where Melanie worked on her Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife, with an emphasis in Environmental Policy.

Gui and Melanie have been married since 2003 and have a bilingual daughter, Amelie. 

Jake Ladd, PhD
Biotechnology Technician

Jake earned his B.A. in Biological Sciences from The Ohio State University in 2008.  After growing tired of life in a big city, he fell in love with the Keweenaw, and became interested in the research occurring at Michigan Tech.  He was accepted as a graduate student and has just received his M.S. in Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology.  Jake works as a Biotechnology Technician where he works on the research and development of new products for NECi.  He and his wife, Michelle, live in Calumet where he tinkers with all things mechanical, enjoys the outdoors, and plays guitar.

Nicolas Plumere, PhD
Post-Doctoral Research

   Nicolas Plumere earned a degree in biological engineering from the University Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France in 1999, a BSc and Honours degree in Chemistry from the University of Paisley, Glasgow, UK in 2004. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Tuebingen, Germany in 2008.
   Early interest in electrochemistry and nitrate biosensors led him to work at NECi in 1999 and 2000 as a research technician. After gaining more experience in surface chemistry and electrochemistry during his doctoral work, he has been back at NECi since December 2008 to work on a new nitrate sensor project.
   At home in Alsace, France, Nicolas enjoys looking after his trees, small vineyard and flock of sheep as well as canoeing, biking and the outdoors with his girlfriend, Stephanie.

Troy Kinnunen-Skidmore
Research & Production Technician

Troy earned a B.A. in Zoology from Northern Michigan University after the snows of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula called him from his native Maryland. Prior to their return to the U.P., he and his wife spent 8 years in Idaho and Montana, where they both attended graduate school. His employment has varied from work in the sciences to field work with the U.S. Forest Service to cross country ski instruction. As a laboratory technician, most of his time at NECi is spent on enzyme production, testing, stability, and handling. He and his wife, Barbara, live close to Lake Superior west of Calumet, where they enjoy cross country skiing, paddling on the big lake and shoveling snow.  Troy is an author on some of the publications of NECi

Melissa Richards
Research & Development Technician

Melissa received a B.S. in Ecology from Northern Michigan University and an M.S. in Biotechnology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has over nine years of laboratory experience that combines both quality control and research and development. At NECi, she focuses on developing new applications for the nitrate test kits as well as researching alternative methods and technologies to help strengthen the product portfolio. Melissa and her husband recently moved back to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan after almost 10 years in Wisconsin. Together with their Labrador retriever, they enjoy the bounty of the outdoors.

Darlene Basto
Marketing

Darlene uses her teaching and media experience to help the NECi team reach out to its varied clients and to keep communications current with the ever-evolving company. She received an M.S. in Rhetoric and Technical Communications from Michigan Technological University, and a B.S. in French from Grand Valley State University. She and her husband, Bob Orton, enjoy the changing seasons at their home on Lake Superior's shore.

NECi Lab and
Office Building

217 Calumet St., Lake Linden Michigan

NECi Lab Addition
2002

217 Calumet St., Lake Linden Michigan

NECi Products Cited in Other Publications