Art Froehlich (Chair)  
Partner & Strategic Advisor, AdFarm 
Calgary, Alberta
Mr. Froehlich is currently a partner in AdFarm, one of North America's largest agriculture and food marketing and communications companies. He is also still active in his farming operations in Saskatchewan. Over the last 30 years, he has held senior executive positions with Hoechst Canada Inc., Alberta Pool and Westcan Malting. He continues to work with Canadian food and agricultural companies to develop international markets for their products.

He is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of AVAC, and the Science Alberta Foundation. he sits on many corporate boards, including: ATB Financial, Prince Rupert Grain, and Canterra Seeds. In 2005, he was awarded the Distinguished Agrologist Award by the Institute of Agrologists, and the Alberta Centennial Gold Medal by the Province of Alberta.

Ray Price (Vice Chair)
President
Sunterra Meats
Trochu, Alberta

Mr. Price is President of the Sunterra Group of companies. Sunterra Markets has eight retail food stores in Calgary and Edmonton, and Sunterra Meats have two specialty meat processing plants that sell products both nationally and internationally. Sunterra Farms own and manage pig operations producing 300,000 pigs per year in Alberta, Ontario and Iowa as well as cropping 3700 acres of land in the Acme area. Ray joined the company in 1979 and prior to his appointment as President, he was the Chief Financial Officer of the Sunterra Group. He serves on a number of boards such as the Canadian Meat Council and Careers - The Next Generation.

Dr. Neil Cashman
Professor of Medicine
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia

Dr. Neil Cashman is a neurologist-neuroscientist working in neurodegeneration and neuroimmunology.  His special areas of work are the amyloid encephalopathies such as the prion illnesses and Alzheimer's disease, and motor neuron diseases, particularly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In July 2005, he was appointed Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Neurodegeneration and Protein Misfolding Diseases. He is Scientific Director to PrioNet Canada, a Network of Centres of Excellence focused on basic and applied research in the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. He is Founder and Scientific Advisor to Caprion Pharmaceuticals, a Montreal biotechnology company since 1998 (now Thallion).  Since 2005, he is also Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Amorfix Life Sciences.  He developed these two companies to commercialize his research on diagnostics and therapeutics of neurodegenerative diseases. Special honors received over the decade include his tenure of the Diener Chair of Neurodegenerative Diseases at University of Toronto's Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, the Jonas Salk Prize for "a lifetime of outstanding contributions to basic biomedical research," his Tier 1 Canada Research Chair at the University of British Columbia, and his election to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. 

Dr. Bruce German
Professor, Food Science Technology
University of California
Davis, California

Dr. German is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology and Director of the Foods for Health Institute at the University of California in Davis, California, USA. His research focuses on seeking to understand how to improve foods and their abilities to deliver improved health. He is a scientific advisor to Tethys Biosciences and also to the Nestle Research Center. He is on several boards including the International Milk Genomics Consortium, the Advanced Food Materials Network Canada and the Scientific Advisory Board, Physic Ventures, San Francisco.

Joerg Goetsch
Chief Forester and General Manager of External Affairs
Peace River Pulp Division of Daishowa-Marubeni International (DMI)
Peace River, Alberta

Mr. Joerg Goetsch is the Chief Forester/General Manager of External Affairs for the Peace River Pulp Division of Daishowa-Marubeni International (DMI).  Mr. Goetsch has held senior leadership positions within the company with significant accomplishments in managing company resources and initiatives. Mr. Goetsch is currently engaged in fostering Alberta's emerging carbon economy through various forest industry initiatives, working on diversification opportunities into alternative cellulosic bio-products and assisting in building a provincial framework for ecosystem services and enhancing Alberta's forest tenure system.

Brian Hesje
Executive Chairman
Fountain Tire Ltd.
Edmonton, Alberta

Mr. Hesje has been the Executive Chairman of Fountain Tire Ltd. Since 2005. He was the CEO from 2001-2005 and the President from 1991-2001. Fountain Tire has locations in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, along with a wholesale company and a mining service company. He is a member of several boards including STARS Society and the Alberta Recycling Management Authority.

Doug MacKenzie
President and Chief Executive Officer
Permolex International L.P.
Oakville, Ontario

Permolex International is a bio-fules company owned 50% Citi Corp (CVCI) and 50% Brent Mackenzie Group. The company owns and operates a grain fractionation facility in Red Deer Alberta (Permolex Ltd.). In addition to being a part owner, he also serves as President and CEO for the company. He is a Senior Executive with extensive experience in all phases of manufacturing, distribution, industrial and retail marketing.

Dr. John (Jack) Saddler
Professor of Forest Products Biotechnology/Bioenergy Former Dean, Faculty of Forestry
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia

Dr. Saddler is the endowed Professor of Forest Products Biotechnology (originally an NSERC Industry Chair) and also former Dean of the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia. His commitment to advancing the development and application of innovative biorefining technology for production of biofuels and chemicals from biomass feedstocks has positioned him as an international leader of scientists, advisor to governments, and facilitator to industry. He has been involved, for more than 30 years, in various national and international organizations that have advanced the global understanding of how woody biomass can be converted to useful fuels and chemicals. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canada's highest recognition for scientists. He serves on a number of review panels/boards including the International Energy Agency, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and the US Department of Energy.

Paul Schmidt
Consultant
Raleigh, North Carolina

Mr. Paul Schmidt is a consultant based in Raleigh, North Carolina.  He most recently served as President of Merck/EMD Crop Sciences until the successful sale of the company to Novozyme in February, 2011.  The company was a lead developer of crop-enhancing products used by producers to improve plant health and crop yields.  Mr. Schmidt previously served as Vice President and Global Head of New Business Ventures for Bayer Crop Science.  Mr. Schmidt has been engaged in leadership roles for global life science companies in Canada, the United States and Europe throughout his career.  These positions have included company responsibility for new business development, trait management, herbicide development and other roles. 

Dr. Jacqueline Shan
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer
Afexa Life Sciences Inc.
Edmonton, Alberta

Dr. Shan is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Afexa Life Sciences Incorporated (formerly CV Technologies Inc.), a leader in discovering, developing and commercializing evidence-based national therapeutics, originally a spin-off company from the University of Alberta in 1992. Under her leadership, Afexa has successfully transitioned from being a research technology company to a fully commercialized company with annual revenues nearing $50 million by establishing Cold-FX as the #1 brand in Canada in the cold and flu category. She has also established a portfolio of technology platforms and product pipelines for the company and developed extensive in-house research collaboration programs with national and international academic, clinical and industrial research and development organizations. She sits on a number of boards including BioAlberta and ChemBioPrint Asia.

Dr. John Webb
Director, Emerging Science
Maple Leaf Foods
Toronto, Ontario

Dr. Webb is Director of Emerging Science at Maple Leaf Foods Inc. In that role, he is the first point of contact for new science across the bakery, meat and meals business. He joined the vertical coordination group at Maple Leaf in 2001, and was part of a team that developed DNA traceability for pork. He has 35 years in the animal genetics and agri-food industries and research communities.