Meet The Team
Chief Executive Officer
Sam has over 10 years experience across the academic, humanitarian and private sectors. He completed a PhD in aeronautical engineering and went on to do a PostDoc and lecture at the University of Tasmania, where he received a teaching excellence award.
His expertise in participatory approaches and innovation management marries well with his experience in strategic leadership and change management to support teams create and deliver novel, strategically aligned, and impactful solutions.
Sam is motivated by the role appropriate technology can play in delivering sustainable, scalable, and meaningful solutions to complex challenges. He is passionate about animal rights and the rights of disadvantaged communities around the world.
Founder & Chair
Bianca is a cell biologist who is passionate about the capacity for science to do good. She completed her PhD in Anatomy and Developmental Biology at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University.
She has experience in STEM policy from the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, where she contributed to national policy projects spanning women in STEM, waste management and science diplomacy. Bianca is also a science communicator, and has previously given public talks, spoken on radio, and published articles on various topics including science policy, diversity in STEM, ecology, biomedicine, and cellular agriculture.
In 2018, Bianca was elected Treasurer for Effective Altruism Melbourne, a nonprofit dedicated to using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others most effectively, and taking action on that basis.
Director
Chloe is a recent graduate of Peking University’s Yenching Academy and currently works in the office of the CEO at Minderoo Foundation and Tattarang.
Chloe’s Master’s thesis examined the market for cultured meat in China and was funded by the Cellular Agriculture Society. Chloe also holds undergraduate degrees in law and international relations from the University of Western Australia.
Resident in China from early 2016-2020, Chloe has contributed to the bilateral relationship through leadership roles with the Australia China Youth Association and Australia China Youth Dialogue.
Chloe is passionate about democratising the application of technology to promote broad social and environmental impact.
Director
Declan is a graduate of the University of Oxford and Peking University’s Yenching Academy. He currently works for himself as a freelance strategy consultant after spending ~4 years working at Bain & Company.
Declan has long been passionate about cellular agriculture and alternative proteins. During his time at Bain, he took three months leave in order to work for the Good Food Institute. At GFI, Declan worked directly with the team that provides strategy support to their international affiliate organizations across five global regions.
Outside of cellular agriculture, Declan is passionate about human rights advocacy (serving on Amnesty International Australia’s NSW Leadership team and as Secretary of the Amnesty’s National Refugee Network) among other policy and political campaigns.
Operations Manager
Joanne Tunna
Jo has a breadth of commercial experience working with emerging start-ups through to established companies as well as government and the not-for-profit sector. She started her career in corporate sustainability before spending several years with New Zealand’s economic development agency, supporting NZ companies to build capability, define their growth strategies and expand internationally. More recently, she has worked with several early-stage, purpose-driven businesses across operations, market validation and business development. Joanne is experienced in project management and certified in PRINCE2.
Jo’s lifelong interest in food, nutrition and the environment has led her to being captivated by the potential for cellular agriculture and other alternative proteins to help transform our current food system for the better.
Jo hails from Aotearoa New Zealand and currently lives in Burleigh Heads, Queensland with her partner and two young children.
Secretary / Research & Education Lead
Lisa is a PhD candidate at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland where she is working on cultivated crustacean meat.
She completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biotechnology & Biochemistry at USC in 2021 and has a BA in History & Geography from the University of Western Australia. Her early career involved roles in Quality Assurance, Systems Management and Customer Relations. She re-discovered a passion for science later in life and this coincided with increased awareness about the terrible environmental and animal welfare impacts of our food system. Learning about cellular agriculture and its potential inspired her to return to university to pursue a new career in this field.
Lisa is passionate about increasing cell ag awareness amongst students and helping them find ways to get involved. When not being a cell-ag nerd, she loves jogging, cooking plant-based meals and hanging out with her dogs, family, and friends.
