Mudnakudu Nandeesha (Chair AwF)

Prof. M.C.Nandeesha is currently serving as Dean, Fisheries College and Research Institute under the Tamilnadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Thoothukudi, Tamilnadu. He has over 26 years of experience in aquaculture teaching, research and development in India, Cambodia and Bangladesh. He worked for over six years as Professor of Aquaculture at the College of Fisheries, Central Agricultural University, located in the state of Tripura, India. He also worked for another decade at the College of Fisheries, University of Agricultural Sciences in Karnataka, India. He has spent nearly a decade at the grass-roots level on aquaculture projects supported by OXFAM in Cambodia and CARE in Bangladesh. He has worked with organizations like EU, FAO, World Bank, and NACA on short-term assignments and has traveled widely to different parts of the world.

Prof. Nandeesha has a Ph.D. in Aquaculture Nutrition with several papers published in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings. His contributions to the field of fish nutrition, fish reproduction, developing aquaculture technologies for small farmers, promoting farmer-led innovations in aquaculture, mainstreaming gender in aquaculture, and efforts in improving fisheries education systems are recognized and appreciated through a number of national and international awards. Some of the recent recognitions include: 2008 - “Sahameitrrei Award” of the Government of Cambodia in recognition of his contributions to human resource development and developing sustainable small-scale aquaculture programs; 2007 - Gold Medal Award of Asian Fisheries Society in recognition of his contribution to the Society and mainstreaming of gender in fisheries; 2008 – Prof. H.P.C.Shetty Award of the Indian Branch of Asian Fisheries Society for the best contributions made in aquaculture.

Prof. Nandeesha served on the Board of Directors of the World Aquaculture Society from 2006 to 2009. He is currently serving as a member of the Oversight Committee for Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) of the Global Aquaculture Alliance. He is very involved in philanthropic work and specifically in programs that focus on improving the livelihoods of people.

Barry Costa-Pierce (Chair-Elect AwF)

Geoff Allan (AwF and AwF-UK)

Dr Geoff Allan is employed by Industry & Investment, NSW as the Research Leader, Aquaculture, and he is Director of the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute (PSFI), NSW, Australia. He conducts and supervises aquaculture research on freshwater and marine fish, molluscs and crustaceans within NSW and has coordinated major national and international projects on aquaculture feeds and feeding with a particular emphasis on replacing fishmeal. He was a project leader for the Australian Aquafin Cooperative Research Centre on developing feeding technology for temperate marine fish and he leads NSW DPI involvement in the Seafood Cooperative Research Centre (SCRC). Geoff is the Theme Leader for Finfish in the SCRC. Geoff is coordinated a national program to help develop commercial aquaculture industries using inland saline water. Geoff has published over 150 scientific manuscripts and reports and presented more than 50 papers at National and International Conferences over the last eight years.

Geoff is also a Program Consultant on Aquaculture for the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and helps that agency develop collaborative research projects to benefit Australia and developing countries. In this capacity, he has worked in Southeast Asian and Pacific countries, particularly with projects on aquaculture nutrition. Geoff is a founding member and Trustee of the charity, Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF). He is a Past-President of the World Aquaculture Society (2003/04) and the Asian Pacific Chapter of the World Aquaculture Society. Geoff serves on the editorial board of Aquaculture Research, Asian Fisheries Science, International Aquafeed and the Korean Journal of Aquaculture.

Sungchul (Charles) Bai (AwF)

Sungchul (Charles) Bai is a professor of Marine Bio-materials and Aquaculture Dept (MBMAD), and the Director of Feeds & Foods Nutrition Research Center (FFNRC) at Pukyong National University (PKNU) in Busan, Korea. He has MS in Animal Nutrition from Calif State Univ, Freson, and PhD in Nutrition /Physiological Chemistry from the School of Vet Med, UC Davis. He has also worked and experienced in nutritional biochemistry and feeding of fish as a research associate at Texas A&M and as a visiting and/or adjunct professor at Ohio State Univ and UC Davis in US, at Tianjin Agricultural Univ in China, and at Andres Bello Univ (08) and at Ponificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Chile (06).

He joined at PKNU in 1993, and has published over 200 manuscripts and reports and 18 books or book chapters as well as over 400 abstracts & articles, several patents, and has given a numerous special seminar and lectures internationally and domestically. He currently hosts graduate students and research associates from Korea, Nigeria, Iran, Bangladesh, India, China, Philippine and Sri Lanka.

He is a Past President of World Aquaculture Society and Vision 21 Korean Aquaculture Forum, Also, he was a Board of Director of WAS, a Member of the Nat’l Vision 2012 Committee of Ministry of Sci. and Tech., and the Chairman of MBMAD, PKNU. Also, he has been serving as an Associate Editor of JWAS since 2001, as Editor-in-Chief for the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (2009-2010, English Journal) and the Journal of Aquaculture (2003-2006, Korean with English Abstracts), as one of the Editorial Board Members for the Journal of Asian Fisheries Society since 2005, and for Aquaculture Research, Blackwell Science Ltd., since 2000.

John Cooksey (AwF and AwF-UK)

John Cooksey is the Executive Director and Director of Conferences of the World Aquaculture Society (WAS), where he has managed all of the Society’s international conferences for over 15 years in destinations all over the world.  He has an MBA from City University and Certified in Exhibition Management Professional Designation from the IAEE (International Association of Expositions & Events).  He has managed many businesses and organizations – both profit and non-profit organizations.

Pierre Erwes (AwF)

Pierre Erwes is an entrepreneur who has over twenty years of international experience, primarily in the areas of business development in new technologies, biotech, pharmaceuticals, as well as in the marine bio resources. He exercised managerial responsibilities at several companies.

From May 2005 to November 2008, Pierre Erwes worked as CEO of BioEvents, a subsidiary of the Scientific Foundation of Lyon, whose goal is to manage and organize international business convention.

This structure has provided help and support in the development of many innovative projects as well as in the organization of events of global significance such as BioVision – a world forum on life, BioSquare – a business convention, and finally in 2007 and 2008 : BioMarine.

Given the success of BioMarine, it was jointly decided that Pierre Erwes, founder of the event and owner of the trademark, would develop it under an independent structure. In January 2009, he started BioTopics SAS, a company at the crossroads of research, business, and investment. It operates and manages several international platforms about marine bio resources and marine issues with a scientific, economic and business approach, and is designed to optimize and accelerate business opportunities and the development of small innovative companies.

Jose Ferrnandez Polanco (AwF)

Jose Ferrnandez Polanco has a PhD in economics and management and is Professor of marketing research at the University of Cantabria (Spain). During the past 15 years he has been focused on seafood consumption and marketing, participating in national and international public and private research projects. As a result of this research activity he has published several official reports and articles and regularly presents at the most relevant international conferences on aquaculture and fisheries economics. Main research topics are, consumer behaviour, market development, species substitution and seafood retailing.

Kevin Fitzsimmons (AwF)

Dr. Kevin Fitzsimmons is a Professor and Extension Specialist of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona, teaching, conducting research and extension work in aquaculture. His research and extension work have focused on integration of aquaculture and agriculture. He has developed freshwater systems to rear fish and shrimp in irrigation systems with effluents going to irrigate a variety of field and tree crops as well as hydroponic vegetables. Internationally he has developed integrated marine systems to rear fish, shrimp, seaweeds, and halophytes in more sustainable aquaculture. He also serves as the Director of International Programs for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona.

Kevin is a Past President of the US Aquaculture Society and World Aquaculture Society. He also serves as the Sec-Tres. of the American Tilapia Society, organizes the biennial International Symposia on Tilapia in Aquaculture, and recently stepped down as Chairman of Aquaculture without Frontiers, a global charity supporting small-scale sustainable aquaculture projects in developing countries. He also holds an adjunct professorship at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand where he spent a sabbatical as a Fulbright Fellow in 2004. Kevin also serves as a consultant to the China Department of Agriculture and other groups on the development of tilapia production and processing.

Kevin has an international research portfolio of aquaculture research and development with current grants to work in Guyana, Indonesia, Philippines, China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, as well as the US. Research grants come from US government, international agencies, and the private sector. His lab group currently hosts graduate students and visiting faculty from the US, Mexico, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

John Forster (AwF)

John Forster worked on shrimp aquaculture for the UK government from 1965 to 1973 and then joined The British Oxygen Co. for whom he established and ran a commercial trout farm and an international technical services business. In 1984, he moved to the U.S. and set up Stolt Sea Farm’s West Coast salmon and sturgeon farming operations before starting his own consulting practice in 1994. In that year also John founded Columbia River Fish Farms LLC, the largest U.S. producer of steelhead trout. As a consultant he responds to the needs of public and private sector clients, serves on the boards of some aquaculture companies and is a recently retired member of NOAA’s Marine Fishery Advisory Committee.

David Little (AwF)

Dave Little is a teacher and researcher within the Sustainable Aquaculture Group at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Scotland. He has 30 years experience working in tropical aquaculture with a career focus on Asia. He is currently the Professor of Aquatic Resource Development through which he is coordinating a range of different research and educational programmes. He maintains a particular interest in hatchery systems development, maintaining his interest in both intensive and small-holder-orientated tilapia hatchery techniques he developed earlier in his career; he has published widely in this area in addition to working with both private sector and developmental organisations to commercialise and scale-up the outcomes.

Current research initiatives include a large coordinated research project funded by the EU aiming to enhance the sustainability of international trade in farmed fish and shellfish, assessment of Vietnam’s Pangasius sector, and the integrated production of sea cucumber in shrimp systems in Thailand. He spent more than 15 years based in Thailand, much of it at the Asian Institute of Technology, and continues to work with this organisation, its’ partners and alumni around the Region. In recent years he has been involved in developing and delivering post-graduate Distance Learning programmes with several partners in Asia, a process that is currently being expanded globally.

Roy Palmer (AwF)

Since 1972 Roy Palmer has been involved in exporting, importing and trading seafood and other food products, travelling the seafood world extensively. Over this period Roy has lived in Melbourne, Sydney and Hong Kong. His involvement in Fish Names started in 1975 and he got involved in ‘industry issues’ from early 1980’s when he was made inaugural President of the Victorian Importers Assn. From 1991 -2003 he was involved in seafood retail operations (3 outlets). During this period Roy was Deputy Chairman of SeaQual and on the Board of Seafood Training Australia when they created the National Seafood Training Package (1998-2000). He became a Qualified Trainer and obtained a Diploma in Seafood Processing. Roy was a Director of Seafood Services Australia Ltd (Deputy Chairman) for two terms and on the Victorian Government’s Fisheries Co-Management Council for 3 years.

Since 2003, after winning the inaugural Australian Seafood Training Award, Roy has taken up a career in training and become involved in establishment of Seafood CRC Bid, being a member of the organising, bid and interview team. Involved with SEA since 2006, he took the opportunity to become the CEO since May 2008. Roy became President of the WAS-APC in November 2009 at the Kula Lumpur Conference, which he opened with the Deputy PM of Malaysia. He was/is Chairman of the AA2010 in Hobart, the International Seafood &Health Conference in Melbourne and the APC Conference in Kochi, January 2011. Roy writes for a number of magazines, journals, blogs, etc and has been a regular presenter at Conferences, domestically and internationally.

Patrick Sorgeloos (AwF)

Patrick Sorgeloos is professor of aquaculture at Ghent University in Belgium and has been involved in fish and shellfish larviculture R&D in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa since the mid-seventies. He initiated aquaculture education at Ghent University and to date over 250 Master and 50 PhD alumni have graduated in the field of aquaculture. Patrick is a strong promoter of international networking in aquaculture and is involved with the World Aquaculture Society (1999-2000 President), the European Commission (chairman Thematic Network Aquaculture – AquaTnet; member Advisory Group DG Research FP7 theme 2 “food, agriculture and biotechnology; chairman ASEM Aquaculture Platform), and the European Aquaculture Technology & Innovation Platform (board member). He received honorary awards in China, Egypt, Greece, Russia, Thailand, USA and Vietnam.

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted (AwF)

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted has recently been appointed Senior Nutrition Adviser at the WorldFish Center, based in Bangladesh. She was formerly with the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her broad area of research and expertise is food-based strategies for improved food and nutrition security in low-income countries. She has carried out work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, West Bengal and Nepal, together with government institutions, universities and NGOs, focusing on the potential of nutrient-rich small fish in combating and preventing vitamin and mineral deficiencies, in particular, vitamin A, iron, zinc and calcium, especially in women and children. At the WorldFish Center, she will be developing partnerships and implementing activities within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Programmes (CRPs), in particular, CRP 1.3 “Harnessing the development potential of aquatic agricultural systems for the poor and vulnerable”; CRP 3.7 “More meat, milk and fish by and for the poor”; and CRP 4 “Agriculture for improved nutrition and health”. She is also a member of the Technical Advisory Committee, Nutrition Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP), funded by Feed the Future, USAID, and a member of the HarvestPlus China Advisory Committee.

Patricia Moraes Valenti (AwF)

Dr. Patricia Moraes Valenti has worked in the Crustacean Section, Aquaculture Center – CAUNESP at Sao Paulo State University, Brazil for many years, developing research and extension services on freshwater prawn farming. Dr. Moraes-Valenti graduated as a biologist in 1998 and as a fisheries specialist in 1999. She gained her MSc and PhD in Aquaculture in 2002 and 2005, respectively. She has worked for two years in the Brazilian Amazonia, transfering aquaculture technology to the rural population. In 1999, she joined CAUNESP to start a large project on the development of the technology for farming the Amazon River prawn Macrobrachium amazonicum. She has served the GTCAD – [Working Group on Freshwater Prawn Farming (Brazil)] as Secretary (2000-2004) and as Coordinator (2004-2006); during this time, she organized workshops and headed the survey of freshwater prawn production in Brazil. Currently, she is professor in Coastal Campus at Sao Paulo State University, Brazil and her research lines include Development Biology, Ecology and Sustainable Farming Systems.

Sophie Varley (AwF-UK)

Company Secretary and Trustee of Aquaculture without Frontiers (UK), Sophie Varley resides in Marlow, Bucks, England, where she has been a significant fund-raiser for AwF (UK) since 2003. A mother, she has worked for British Airways at Heathrow Airport (London, UK) for 25 years as a Senior Customer Service Agent. She has also carried out similar work for Executive Aircraft Services, which deals with VIPs who fly to and from Heathrow in their own private aircraft. She is an experienced Health & Safety Trainer and is currently National Section Panel Representative for Unite the Union.