Advisory Board
Microbiology, Food Composting, & Waste Energy
Jere Northrop, Ph.D.
Dr. Northrop co-founded Bion Technologies Inc. (OTC: BNET) in 1989 and is the inventor of the Bion technologies for which he holds a number of patents. He has been a Director for the entire history of the company and served as President for its first ten years of operation. More recently he has served as Chief Technology Officer and as Senior Technology Director. He has extensive experience in the environmental sector having been involved with the design, construction, and operation of large manure management systems for the dairy and hog industries. He also has been involved with the design, construction, and operation of a number of agricultural and industrial food processing wastewater treatment systems. He has managed environmental testing and research laboratories, worked as an environmental chemist, and spent over nine years as a process superintendent at a large advanced wastewater treatment plant. Dr. Northrop has a PhD in biophysics from Syracuse University, an AB in biology from Amherst College, and has done postdoctoral work at the University of California at Davis and at the Center for Theoretical Biology at the University of New York at Buffalo.
Green Chemistry
Pamela G. Marrone, Ph.D.
Dr. Marrone is currently CEO/Founder of Marrone Bio Innovations, a company with 45 employees she started in 2006 to discover and develop natural products that fill unmet needs for pest, weed and plant disease management. The company has launched two products, Regalia® Biofungicide and GreenMatch® organic herbicide, with six more products in the pipeline (including two insecticides, a rice/turf herbicide and microbial biopesticide for controlling invasive zebra and quagga mussels.) The company received the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award in 2008 and was one of ten California “Innovation All Stars” in 2009. Dr. Marrone founded AgraQuest in 1995 and served as its CEO, Chairman and President until March 2006. At AgraQuest, she commercialized seven biopesticides, which are now growing rapidly worldwide AgraQuest received the Presidential Green Chemistry Award for small business in 2003. Before AgraQuest, she was founding president and business unit head for Entotech, Inc. in Davis (CA), a biopesticide subsidiary of Denmark-based Novo Nordisk. At Monsanto, she led the Insect Biology group, which was involved in projects to find alternative ways to control insect pests. She is president of the Board of the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists and Board member-Treasurer of the Organic Farming Research Foundation. She is a member of CAL-DPR’s Pest Management Advisory Committee. She is Founder of the Biopesticide Industry Alliance (BPIA), a trade association of more than 50 biopesticide companies. She is also on the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and Cornell’s UC Davis Ag & Life Sciences, and UC Davis Ag and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Advisory Councils and on the UC President’s Board on Science and Innovation. She was elected by her peers as a Fellow of AAAS (American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science). She has a B.S. in entomology with Honors and Distinction from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in entomology from North Carolina State University.
Aquaculture & Aquaponics
Martin P. Schreibman, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology at the City University of New York’s Brooklyn College, Dr. Schreibman has perfected a model for sustainable urban aquaculture using the newest technology, re-circulating aquaculture systems (RAS), to breed and quickly grow fish species in controlled environments, using fish food derived from soy and controlled lighting and water temperatures to ensure maximum growth. Professor Schreibman directs Brooklyn College’s Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center (AREAC), a research facility devoted to the study of aquatic organisms— how they grow, adapt, reproduce, and live in all temperatures and environments. Its multidisciplinary team of researchers seeks to answer questions about medicine, nutrition, pollution, aquaculture, fisheries, and marine ecology. AREAC’s projects include bivalve and fish aquaculture, captive breeding of horseshoe crabs, educational outreach, and product commercialization.
Rob Wilder
A successful entrepreneur with a passion for gastronomy, Rob Wilder has been a force in the DC restaurant scene for more than two decades. Over 21 years in the business, Rob has developed a reputation for bringing intelligence, integrity, and a strong sense of responsibility and stewardship to all of his enterprises. In 1993, he opened Jaleo with José Andrés and original partner Roberto Alvarez, leading to the companies that have helped transform downtown Washington and evolved into today’s Think Food Group, producing such brands as Jaleo, Zaytinya, Oyamel, Cafe Atlantico and minibar, The Bazaar by José Andrés and Made in Spain on PBS. Rob was awarded the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s Restaurateur of the Year award in 1999. An honors grad of Yale University and New York Restaurant School, Rob also created other successful food ventures including Austin Grills and Amy’s Ice Creams in Austin,Texas. Austin Grills, Inc., a six unit restaurant company, was sold in 2006 to Thompson Hospitality. In addition to Rob’s leadership of the TFG companies, he has contributed much to the DC community. He currently serves as President of the Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association, Director of RAMW and Downtown DC Business Improvement District, and has served as Chairman of the Board of DC Central Kitchen, Board member of Beauvoir School, Tougaloo College and as Chapter Chair of the US Capital Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization.
