BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DANIEL BRAITHWAITE, QuantumScape
Daniel Braithwaite is the Director of Capital Projects at QuantumScape (a publicly traded EV battery company) and previously was the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Ardica Technologies (a hydrogen fuel cell startup). He brings over 16 years of experience successfully bidding and delivering on contracts with Fortune 500 companies, the US Department of Energy, the US Army, and the US Navy. Daniel holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, where he was also the recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for doctoral studies in energy systems, but left the Ph.D. program to start Ardica. He is also the author of 20 US patents and patents pending.
ADELINE CHEAM, NVIDIA
Adeline Cheam is a seasoned global leader with over 20 years of experience driving innovation and building strategic partnerships in the tech sector. As Global Lead for the NVIDIA-Accenture Partnership, she spearheads the development of Gen AI solutions and Go-to-Market strategies, solidifying Accenture’s leadership in AI. With over two decades of experience at industry giants like NVIDIA, AWS, and Accenture/Avanade, Adeline excels in business development, IT strategy, and cultural transformation. Passionate about climate change and ocean conservation, she is committed to environmental stewardship, a dedication rooted in her early work on federal environmental policy and family sailing adventures. Adeline is excited to join the MARE Board to advance marine conservation and scientific research.
PATRICK DONOVAN, Subsea7
Patrick Donovan is an experienced leader in the offshore and subsea industry, currently serving as a Business Unit Director at Subsea7. With a diverse background in project management, operations, and corporate strategy, Patrick has successfully led large-scale projects and managed strategic assets and partnerships globally. He has also held leadership positions at Oceaneering and co-founded Meridian Ocean Services, where he contributed to significant technical advancements in subsea operations. Patrick is a Master Mariner and a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
JON GLASSMAN, Google
Jon Glassman is a Senior Product Manager at Google, responsible for launching new payment platform capabilities for millions of Google’s B2B customers in 200 countries. Previously at Apple, he led the initiative to keep the new Apple Maps up to date in a rapidly changing world. He brings over 15 years of product experience in the tech industry spanning hardware, software, and data products. As an Associate in Booz Allen Hamilton’s Strategic Innovation Group, he also consulted US federal agencies including the Departments of Energy and Transportation. He holds an MS and BS in mechanical engineering from Stanford and an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He once dedicated a summer to overhauling, launching, and sailing the R/V Magnet, a 65’ steel-hulled ketch. In his free time, he will take any excuse to get outdoors, often on (or under) the water.
MARK GORDON, Odyssey Marine Exploration
Mark Gordon is the Chief Executive Officer of Odyssey Marine Exploration. Mark has started, owned, or managed four entrepreneurial ventures, including Synergy Networks which he founded in 1993 and served as CEO until 2003 before selling the company to the Rockefeller Group. He continued serving as President of Rockefeller Group Technology Services Mid Atlantic, a member of Rockefeller Group International, until 2004. Past work experience includes a Management Consultant at Arthur Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). Mark holds a B.S./Business Administration and an MBA in Finance from American University. As a shipwreck diver with the National Diving Center in Washington DC, he has conducted hundreds of dives and explorations on shipwrecks and was the first person to discover and dive on the wreck of the S.S. Proteus.
TOM HOURIGAN, Ph.D.
Tom Hourigan worked for over 30 years for the U.S. federal government at the intersection of science and conservation in both the United States and internationally. At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he developed and led NOAA’s Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program. As the Program’s Chief Scientist, he built partnerships to discover and understand the oceans’ most diverse deep-sea ecosystems and to apply this knowledge to their conservation. Tom represented NOAA on marine issues at the Convention on Biological Diversity from 1997 to 2002 and coordinated NOAA Fisheries components of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program from 2000 to 2007. Before coming to NOAA, Tom was the Senior Policy Advisor for Climate Change and Biodiversity at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He received his doctorate from the University of Hawaii, working on the ecology of coral reef fishes, and was an Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, at George Mason University.
GABRIELLA LEVINE, Ph.D., Blue River Technology
Gabby Levine is currently the Senior Director of Hardware and Systems Engineering at Blue River Technology, a subsidiary of John Deere, working on computer vision, machine learning, and robotics to empower farmers to implement sustainable agricultural solutions. She came to Blue River from Mineral (formerly an Alphabet company), creating breakthroughs in robotics and AI towards a future of sustainable agriculture. Before Mineral, she led teams at Google X, launching new Alphabet programs in oceans, climate, and healthcare. Before that, she was COO of a startup she co-created, building robotic sailboats to clean up oil spills and monitor the ocean. She was President of the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA.org), promoting open-source accessible technologies worldwide. She holds a Ph.D. from the European Graduate School and a Masters Degree from NYU. In a past life, she co-founded a Brooklyn-based art studio creating public and interactive sculptural installations; and was a wildland firefighter.
MATS NILSSON, Complex NTWRK
Mats Nilsson is an accomplished executive with over two decades of experience in global business operations, product management, and technology. As Chief Operating Officer at Complex NTWRK, Mats oversees engineering, product design, and business operations. Previously, he held senior roles at StockX and StubHub, where he led global expansion efforts, optimized revenue management, and built high-performing teams. Mats also founded Zenseo, a product development consultancy, and was a Technical Director at Charles Schwab, leading large-scale digital transformations. With a passion for conservation, Mats leverages his expertise to support MARE’s mission to protect marine ecosystems.
CHRIS OAKES, ReefGen
Christopher Oakes, MA, is the CEO of ReefGen, an automated marine habitat restoration company building seagrass and coral reef restoration technology. Chris is a marine scientist, biotechnologist and professional scuba diver. During his career, Oakes also served as Chief Operating Officer at the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, as well as a Business Development Manager for Liquid Robotics. Oakes has dedicated this phase of his career to molecular tools and diagnostics, robotics, and the development of fish-free feeds using biotechnology. During his time at Occidental College, Chris worked with the Vantuna Research Group focusing on life history studies of nearshore marine fishes, marine environmental monitoring, time series analysis, and spatial modeling. Chris also enjoys capturing the diversity of the underwater world through photography.
ERIN O’TOOLE, San Francisco Community Land Trust
Erin O’Toole currently serves as the Development Director of the San Francisco Community Land Trust. She brings over 20 years of success leading teams and strategic development initiatives for such organizations as the Alzheimer’s Association, Habitat for Humanity, and Second Harvest. She has helped raise $30 million+ to advance causes of health, youth development, social and gender justice, and ocean health. In her previous staff role in the MARE organization, she has seen the impact of MARE’s work firsthand and is excited to work to expand and deepen MARE’s role in marine management and ocean sustainability.
LARISSA POMMERAUD, Agno Health
Larissa Pommeraud is a global growth strategy-oriented e-commerce executive and experienced non-profit Board member, currently based in Paris, France. She is currently the COO for Agno Health. Previously she held management roles at Minted, Art.com, Stubhub (part of eBay), Arnold Worldwide, and was a long-time strategy and management consultant at Bain & Company. She was also on the board executive committee for the Bay Area Discovery Museum for several years. She received her MBA from leading international business school INSEAD, and her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science, Public Policy and Economics Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University where she also led their environmental organizations. Larissa and her family are avid boaters and scuba divers, passionate about conserving (and restoring!) healthy oceans.
VILAS RAO, Cascade Climate
Vilas Rao has spent the past 13 years as an executive and strategist in the agriculture technology space. At Arable Labs, The Climate Corporation, Bayer Crop Science, and McKinsey & Company, he has helped build planetary-scale data platforms to help players across the food chain use technology solutions to grow more sustainably. At Arable, Vilas helped scale a network of thousands of environmental & plant sensing stations around the world to continuously monitor the impact of a changing environment on crop outcomes. Most recently, Vilas helped launch Cascade Climate, a field-building non-profit dedicated to accelerating progress on climate interventions that harness open earth systems to remove atmospheric carbon and mitigate the risk of climate-related tipping points. Vilas received his Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and his Bachelors in Economics from Stanford University. enjoys spending as much time as possible in wild places, whether while traveling, skiing, diving, or daydreaming.
DIRK ROSEN, MARE
Dirk Rosen has over 35 years of deepwater engineering experience. He founded MARE in 2003 and has run it ever since. Previously, he was president and director of Deep Ocean Engineering before selling the company in 2000. At DOE, he was project manager and test pilot for all three Deep Rover 1,000 meter-rated manned submersibles, and a designer/operator of the Phantom and Bandit ROV systems. Subsequently, at Hawkes Ocean Technologies he served as project manager for the 11,000-meter rated Challenger, a manned submersible designed to go to the deepest point in the ocean, the Marianas Trench. At the other end of the spectrum, he worked for Oceaneering as a contractor to NASA, co-authoring the Robotic Standards for Integration in Space, for the Space Station.