Enabling Sustainable Aquaculture
Our Board of Directors
Jess is an angel investor and member of Launchpad Venture Group. Her family has been investing in and mentoring startup companies for over 20 years in both Canada and the United States. Her portfolio companies fall into many sectors including manufacturing, IT, medical devices and consumer goods. She is an observer or serves on the board for various non-profits as well as portfolio companies including 3Play Media, CPL, KnipBio, 99Degrees Custom and others.
In a 35 year career with appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp,
Jerry held officer-level globally responsible executive positions in
operations and manufacturing. This included six years living and
working at the northern Italy European headquarters, where he was
in charge of all operations of the European business. In these roles,
he ran a number of multi-billion dollar global businesses.
Jerry was elected President of the 15,000 member international
Institute of Industrial Engineers (their professional society) for 2004-2005, where he also served a term on the Board of Trustees (2003 - 2006).
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Jerry Weinstein is an engineer by education. Jerry received a BE (Mechanical) degree from The City College of New York and an MSIE degree from Purdue University. He obtained a PhD in Industrial Engineering from Purdue with research on the theory and control of a steelmaking process. Purdue University recognized him as a “Distinguished Engineering Alumnus” in 1993. He has been a Lecturer at Michigan State University and has served on advisory boards for a number of colleges and universities. Jerry has published several articles, and co-authored the book, "Computers in Manufacturing" (1977).He relocated to RI in 2009, where he runs a small private investment company focused on early stage companies.
Dr. Jeremy S. Weinstein
Board Member
Lucien Agniel
Board Member
Lucien Agniel is the Managing Director at Agniel Commodities, a full service cash grain and feed ingredient brokerage company founded in 2005 providing sourcing and sales expertise in grains, oilseeds, cereal feed ingredients and marine proteins and oils. He was the past President (and before that Deputy President, and vice president) of GAFTA, The Grain and Feed Trade Association - London. From 1998-2005, he was Division Manager of the Specialty Commodities Division of Commodity Specialists
Company of Minneapolis, MN (formerly part of The Pillsbury Company). He has held positions as a broker at Pasternak, Baum and Co., Inc. and a trader at Chilewich Corporation.
Before embarking on his commercial career in 1981, he served as the Scientific Director for the Corn Refiners Association and Technical Director of The Millers’ National Federation in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Rhode Island Food Bank Advisory Committee.Lucien received a Bachelor of Science in biology and Masters of Science in microbiology from The American University in Washington, D.C. in 1972.
Our Advisory Board
Scott spent over a decade as founder and managing director of
Verlasso, a joint venture between DuPont and AquaChile. Through
their development and employment of an omega-3 producing yeast
technology, Verlasso’s product became the first ocean-raised salmon
to receive a buy ranking from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood
Watch program. In recognition of his efforts to communicate the
value of sustainable seafood, he was named the 2015 Seafood
Marketer of the Year by IntraFish.
He is an inventor on 43 patents in a variety of plant and crop science areas and a thought leader in the field of food production speaking frequently at industry events. Since his recent retirement from Verlasso, Scott has launched a new project called Foods' Future (www.foodsfuture.org), working collaboratively to address our planet's needs growing in the face of constrained resources. Scott’s education includes the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from UCLA.
Lucien Agniel
Board Member
