Keynote Address by Dr. George Chamberlain:

Dr. George Chamberlain is the President of The Center for Responsible Seafood.

He started his aquaculture career in 1975 as a researcher, instructor, and Extension Aquaculture Specialist at Texas A&M University.

For the next ten years, he directed the aquaculture programs at Ralston Purina International and Monsanto. From 1999 to 2020, he founded and managed several shrimp breeding, nutrition, and farming companies ultimately known as Kona Bay with operations in Malaysia, Brunei, and Hawaii.

Concurrent with his commercial activities, Chamberlain served as a Board member and President of the World Aquaculture Society and later helped found both the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GSA) and The Center for Responsible Seafood (TCRS). He served for 25 years as President of GSA and now leads TCRS. One of the most ambitious and impactful projects of TCRS is a new Improver Program which leverages digital technology to help small holder farms begin their sustainability journey to certification.

Plenary Speaker Dr. Bente Torstensen:

Dr. Bente Torstensen is the CEO of Nofima, a leading Norwegian food research institute that conducts research and development for the aquaculture industry, the fishing industry and the food industry.

Dr. Torstensen has worked at Nofima as Division Director for Aquaculture since August 2017. Prior to that, she worked at Marine Harvest (now Mowi) and Norway’s National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES). At NIFES she started as a Researcher before progressing to Senior Researcher, Research Manager and Research Director. She has a PhD in Nutritional Biology from the University of Bergen. She is also a graduate of Harvard Business School in Boston (Executive Education).

Torstensen is a member of the portfolio board of ocean industries under the Research Council of Norway, a board member of NCE Seafood Innovation Cluster, the Aquaculture Station in Tromsø and is the current Chair/President of the EAS (the European Aquaculture Society).

Dr. Torstensen will be speaking as part of the Enhancing Social License session on October 9th.