OUR PEOPLE

Karen has 25+ years of strategic planning, partnership development, brand building and marketing communications experience in New York and London with organisations including (RED), Comic Relief, NFL and USTA. Prior to co-founding Oceanium, Karen was founder of LUCZA, an international ecommerce business.  Karen was a finalist in The Economist’s Women and the Ocean: Changemakers Challenge. Most importanly, Karen is passionate about ensuring the seaweed industry grows in a sustainable manner.

Andy has had an extensive career in the Agri-foods sector with senior executive positions at Cargill and Bunge prior to joining Oceanium. Andy holds degrees in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s in Occupational Psychology. Andy enjoys applying his experience and cultural best practices to an emerging innovative and sustainable industry .

Ian has a PhD in Chemistry and is an Industrial Material Scientist with more than 30 years experience across a broad range of industries, covering large scale petrochemicals to small scale biomedical. Throughout his career he has successfully worked with a wide selection of both natural and synthetic polymers toward the development of products, as well as processes.

Joanne holds a joint honour’s degree in Immunology and Pharmacology from the University of Strathclyde. Joanne has over 10 years industry experience developing and screening marine based products for commercialisation and she has worked in academia at the University of Dundee.

Andre has a Master’s in Biotechnology and a first class Bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University of Strathclyde.  Andre has a keen interest in the environment, sustainability, and circular economy.

Thomas holds a first class Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Heriot-Watt University. He has over three years of industrial and client facing experience gained from working for a global engineering consultancy firm. Having grown up on the Shetland Islands, Thomas has a strong connection to the ocean and his career at Oceanium fits well with his values for sustainability.

South African by birth, Peter brings great experience in operational and people management gained through a career in the Armed Forces in Africa and the UK, haulage and logistics, and the last five years in hospitality general management in the Scottish Highlands, with expertise in customer services, HR, health and safety, food safety management and process development. Peter is always here to kelp.

Rob holds an Integrated Master’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde. With a keen interest in the environment and sustainability, Rob has previously co-founded a vegan initiative group which gave vegan food to thousands of people for free. In his spare time he likes playing chess and at the age of nine he competed for Scotland at the World Youth Chess Championship. 

Steve is a recognised and respected organic food pioneer and a leader in “right livelihood” business practices. He was the co-founder and former president of White Wave Foods – the largest producer and marketer of soy and non-dairy beverages in the US, sold to Danone in 2016 for $10.4 billion. Steve then went on to co-found NextFoods; developing and marketing functional foods and products that have scientifically proven nutritional benefits. Steve is now retired and living the dream in the Costa Rican rainforest.

Jeff is an investor with Green Angel Syndicate and joined the Board as a Non Executive Director following Green Angel Syndicate’s participation in Oceanium’s Seed II fund raise. Jeff’s career has been in the marine environment focusing on energy and sustainability, and he has lived and worked in some of the most environmentally sensitive locations around the world. In addition to an investor’s perspective, Jeff brings experience of capital project definition, delivery and safe and environmentally respectful operations.