Management

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.

David Frank was appointed CFO in October 2007. Previously he served as President and General Manager of TekCel LLC, a subsidiary of Magellan Biosciences, after serving as Magellan’s CFO since the company’s founding in 2004 and as TekCel’s CFO since 2003. Mr. Frank has over 28 years of financial-management experience, including as CFO of SmartEnergy during its period of rapid growth from less than $1 million in revenue in 2000 to more than $45 million in 2002. He served as the corporate controller for Moldflow when the company completed its successful public offering and his earlier experience includes financial roles at PerSeptive Biosystems, Lotus Development Corporation, Apollo Computer, and Honeywell. He has a BS in finance and accounting from Boston College and an MBA from Babson College.

Alejandro Rojas joined AquaBounty as the Chief Operating Officer of its AquaBounty Farms division in February 2014. He formerly was the Production and Technical Manager for Marine Harvest from 1988 to 2000. Mr Rojas has a doctorate in veterinary medicine and for the past 14 years has been a technical advisor and consultant to numerous global aquaculture and biotech companies working with marine fish.

David F. Melbourne, Jr. was appointed Chief Commercial Officer in June 2019. Previously he served as Senior Vice President of Consumer Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility for Bumble Bee Foods. During his 14 years with Bumble Bee, he managed consumer marketing, media relations, corporate communications, innovation, government relations and the CSR program. Earlier in his career, he served for a decade as Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning for Castleberry/Snow’s Brands and held positions with U.S. Tobacco Sales and Marketing Company and Junior Achievement of Southwest Connecticut. Mr. Melbourne has been actively engaged in a variety of industry based initiatives including the: National Fisheries Institute; Grocery Manufacturer’s Association; International Seafood Sustainability Foundation; Shelf Stable Food Processors Association; Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation; and Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. He holds a BS in Marketing from the University of Maryland College Park and completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Mark Walton was appointed Chief Technology Officer in August 2019. Prior to taking on the CTO role, he served as Vice-President for R&D and Regulatory Affairs, and the Global Director of Regulatory Affairs. Before joining AquaBounty, Dr. Walton held positions as President of ViaGen, a leading animal cloning company, Chief Business Officer for Recombinetics, the company that has developed Polled Holstein cattle using TALEN gene editing technology, and Executive Vice-President for Research and Technology at RiceTec, a global hybrid rice seed company. He began his career in agriculture biotechnology in the 1980s and in 1990 started Linkage Genetics, the first DNA testing company to provide molecular marker services to plant and animal breeders. Mark is deeply involved in the on-going discussions between industry and governments on the regulation of genetically engineered livestock and played an active role in obtaining the Cloning Risk Assessment and the Guidance on Regulation of Genetically Engineered Animals from the US Food and Drug Administration. He earned a Ph.D. in Agronomy from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Angela Olsen was appointed General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in November 2019. Prior to joining AquaBounty, Ms. Olsen served as Senior Advisor and Associate General Counsel at E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company for nine years, where she worked extensively on legal and commercial matters relating to biotechnology. She also served for six years on USDA’s Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture. Before joining DuPont, Ms. Olsen spent over a decade in private practice in Washington, D.C. at Jones Day, followed by Latham & Watkins, LLP. She also was an appellate trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. Ms. Olsen holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College, a Master of Science in cellular and molecular biology from the Catholic University of America, and a Juris Doctor from American University, Washington College of Law. Ms. Olsen also has completed Yale University’s Global Executive Leadership and Management Program.