Board of Directors

Non-Executive Director
Chairman of the Board

Mr. Clothier has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of AquaBounty since April 2006. He has served as the Chairman of Robinson Plc from 2004 to 2018, of Spearhead International Ltd from 2005 to 2015. Mr. Clothier retired as Group Chief Executive of PGI Group Plc, an international agricultural products producer, following 20 years with Dalgety Plc, where he was chief executive officer of the genetics firm Pig Improvement Company until 1992 and then Group Chief Executive Officer until 1997. Since 2005 Mr. Clothier has served as an advisor to the board assessment company, Boardroom Review Ltd. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Natal University and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Mr. Clothier’s extensive experience, both as an executive in the food industry and as a director of public and private companies, provides considerable operating, strategic, and policy knowledge to our Board of Directors.

Sylvia Wulf was appointed an Executive Director, President and CEO of AquaBounty Technologies in January 2019. Previously, she was President of the Manufacturing Division and SVP of Merchandising for US Foods, a $23 billion broad line foodservice distributor with responsibility for the P&L of the $10 billion Meat, Seafood and Produce operations and the $1 billion Manufacturing Division of U.S. Foods. Her expertise spans a diverse set of company environments including start-up, rapid growth, mature, consolidation and traditional businesses ranging in size from $100 million to $10 billion in revenue. Her success in growing revenue and market share coupled with her strengths in strategy development, mergers & acquisitions, environmental & social governance and operations positively impacted respected brands such as US Foods, Tyson, Sara Lee and Bunge. Sylvia was named one of the most powerful women in Illinois by the National Diversity Council in 2016.

Non-Executive Director
Chair, Audit Committee
Member, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Christine St.Clare joined the Board of AquaBounty in May 2014. She is a former Audit Partner at KPMG LLP, and served a four-year term on KPMG’s Board of Directors. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Tilray, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company, and is the Chair of the Audit Committee and also serves on the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Compensation Committee. She formerly served as a Director on the board of Polymer Group, Inc., a global manufacturer of engineered materials, and on the board of Fibrocell Science, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company. She was the Audit Committee Chair for both companies until their sale to strategic buyers. Ms. St.Clare holds a BS in accounting from California State University at Long Beach and held CPA certificates in California, Texas and Georgia.

Non-Executive Director
Member, Audit Committee
Member, Compensation and Human Capital Committee

Rick Sterling has served on the Board of AquaBounty since September 2013. He has served as the Chief Financial Officer at Precigen Inc. since 2007, including leading them through their initial public offering in 2013. During his term at Precigen, Mr. Sterling was responsible for multiple private and public equity and debt capital raises, financial diligence for and integration of over a dozen acquisitions, SEC reporting and compliance, divestitures of businesses, budgeting, and negotiations of facility leases as well as oversight of human resource and information technology functions. Prior to joining Precigen, he was with KPMG where he worked in the audit practice for over 17 years, with a client base primarily in the healthcare, technology and manufacturing industries. He has a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from Virginia Tech and is a licensed CPA.

Non-Executive Director
Chair, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Member, Compensation and Human Capital Committee

Dr. Ricardo Alvarez joined the Board of AquaBounty in March 2021. Dr. Alvarez is currently the CEO of J&K Ingredients, a leading manufacturer of bakery ingredients globally. Prior to J&K Ingredients, he served as President and CEO of various food manufacturing companies including Passport Foods (SVC), LLC, Richelieu Foods, Ruiz Foods, Anita's Foods, Overhill Farms and Raymundo's Food Products. In his 25 years as a leader in the packaged food industry, Dr. Alvarez has implemented growth strategies including new go-to-market initiatives, geographic expansion and innovations of both product and packaging. Dr. Alvarez also has extensive board experience, having served on the boards of Bush Brothers Inc., Clement Pappas Inc., Ruiz Foods and Clear Springs Foods. He currently serves on the board of Phelps Pet Products Inc.

Non-Executive Director
Chair, Compensation and Human Capital Committee
Member, Audit Committee

Ms. Sharps Myers joined the Board of AquaBounty in May 2021. She has been Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Chief People Officer at Denny’s Corporation since February 2021. She previously served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Denny’s since September 2020 and as Senior Vice President and General Counsel from June 2020 to September 2020. Prior to joining Denny’s, she served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary of American Tire Distributors, Inc. from May 2018 to May 2020, as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Snyder’s-Lance, Inc. from January 2015 to March 2018 and as Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Chief Compliance Counsel and Assistant Secretary from 2014 to 2015 at US Foods, Inc. She received her Doctor of Jurisprudence from The Washington College of Law at The American University, her Master’s in Business Administration from Arizona State University's W. P. Carey School of Business and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Howard University.

Non-Executive Director
Member, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Dr. Michael Stern joined the Board of AquaBounty in May 2022. He is the former CEO of The Climate Corporation and Digital Farming for Bayer Crop Science (OTCMKTS: BAYRY) (“Bayer”) and was a member of the Crop Sciences Executive Team. Before joining Bayer, Dr. Stern had a 30-year career at Monsanto Company (“Monsanto”), where he was a member of Monsanto’s Executive Team and led their Row Crop Business in the Americas. In addition, Dr. Stern served in a variety of leadership roles at Monsanto, including Vice President of U.S. Seeds and Traits, President of American Seeds, CEO of Renessen LLC, a biotechnology joint venture with Cargill, and Director of Technology for Agricultural Productivity. Dr. Stern also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Missouri Botanical Garden and served on the board of the Monsanto Fund and the board of Clara Foods, a San Francisco based company focused on developing novel animal proteins from cell culture. Dr. Stern received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University, a MS in Chemistry from the University of Michigan and a BS degree from Denison University. Dr. Stern brings broad experience in the food industry and biotechnology to our Board of Directors.

Non-Executive Director
Member, Audit Committee

Erin Sharp joined the Board of AquaBounty in May 2022. Ms. Sharp recently retired as Group Vice President of Manufacturing and Enterprise Sourcing for The Kroger Co., where she was a Senior Officer having responsibility for companywide manufacturing, food safety and sourcing. Prior to her 10 years with The Kroger Co., Ms. Sharp had increasing leadership roles in operations and finance with several large consumer product companies; including Sara Lee, Nestle Dreyer’s and Frito Lay. She served as a board member for the national nonprofit organization Feeding America as well as several industry boards including American Bakers Association, where she was the first female Chair, MilkPEP and the International Dairy Association. Ms. Sharp earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Texas. Ms. Sharp brings operational and food industry experience to our Board of Directors.