Company

Gerard Barron is on a mission to help wean humanity off fossil fuels and transition to a circular resource economy. He is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of building global companies in battery technology, media and future-oriented resource development both as a chief executive and strategic investor. He became involved in the early strategic development and financing of DeepGreen during its formation in 2011 and stepped into the role of Chairman & CEO in 2017.

Gerard is leading DeepGreen’s three-part strategy to first inject a sufficient supply of four virgin metals (Ni, Mn, Co, Cu) into the system to enable the green transition, then track and recycle the four metals that DeepGreen injects, and ultimately work through the rest of the periodic table to circularize the remaining metals. If DeepGreen succeeds, mining virgin ores—whether in land or in the ocean—will become a marginal human activity as we meet most of our metal needs by recycling a shared common stock of metals.

Dr. Stone is an ocean scientist and explorer with over 10,000 dives throughout Earth’s ocean down to 18,000 feet using submarines, SCUBA, underwater habitats and robotics. Greg is also widely known as a global thought leader who finds ways for humanity and the ocean to co-exist and support each other in the modern world. He was a catalysts at the genesis of the Ocean Health Index and specializes in sustainable fishing, aquaculture, climate adaptation and seamount ecology. Greg’s ability to communicate complex science is illustrated by his compelling TED and Davos talks, and his appearances in documentaries for Discovery and National Geographic. He’s authored hundreds of publications including for Nature, National Geographic, and four books, one a National Outdoor Book Award winner. Greg’s numerous accolades and professional associations include the Explorers Club, Pew Fellowship for Marine Conservation, National Geographic Hero, the Boston Sea Rover’s Diver of the year, Order of Kiribati Medal, the U.S National Science Foundation/Navy Antarctic Service medal, and a NOGI from National Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences. Greg is also Senior Science Advisor to the Special Envoy for Ocean and the World Economic Forum Ocean Program, Previously, he was Chief Scientist for Conservation International and head of their Global Ocean Program. He currently calls Los Angeles his home and looks out at his beloved Pacific Ocean.

Mr. Jonas Munch Agerskov is a strategic leader within the offshore industry. He joined A. P. Møller – Maersk A/S in 2012 where he has held positions within business development, finance, strategy and is currently the Chief Strategy Officer at Maersk Supply Service A/S. He plays a key role in driving Maersk Supply Service forward towards its vision of actively taking part in solving the energy challenges of tomorrow through integrated solutions for the offshore industry. Further, he serves on the Board of Directors of Maersk Decom A/S, a Joint Venture between Maersk Supply Service A/S and Maersk Drilling. Maersk Decom A/S is a company that is focused on providing integrated solutions for the decommissioning of Oil and Gas installations. He is an Officer in the Danish Army and holds a Masters in Economics from the University of Copenhagen.

Andy Greig is the founder of ACAC Innovation and its Senior Director.
He retired in 2015 after a career in international construction particularly in the mining sector. He worked for Bechtel Group for 34 years; led its global mining business for 13 years; was managing director for its Australian operations; and was group HR Manager in his last assignment. Andy has worked and lived all over the world and was a Senior Vice President and Director of Bechtel Group, Inc.

Andy is a business graduate of Monash University and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology, Science and Engineering. He has a passion for innovation, development and growth of people, and health and safety in the workplace – and in life.

Joining Bechtel in 1981, Andy held a wide variety of roles until early 2001. Managerial positions included: various on-project Manager positions, General Manager (Bechtel Global Pipeline Business Line), Manager of Construction Services (Latin America), Regional Industry Unit General Manager (Mining & Metals, Asia Pacific) and Managing Director of Bechtel Australia.

From 2001 to 2006, Andy served as President of Bechtel’s Mining & Metals global business unit. He then moved to Bechtel’s Oil, Gas & Chemicals business for two years to lead the Brass LNG project in Nigeria as Project Director. Andy resumed his role as president of Mining & Metals―as well as Managing Director of Bechtel Australia and head of Bechtel’s business throughout Oceania―in 2007.

As President of the Mining & Metals, Andy was responsible for strategy, planning, execution and project delivery for the global business unit which peaked at 55,000 personnel across 14 countries and over $5B in annual revenue. Andy was elected as Principal Vice President in 1997 and a Senior Vice President in 2001. He was appointed to Bechtel Group’s Board of Directors in 2011.

Andrei serves as CEO of the Karkar family office: ERAS Holdings in San Francisco, with its origins in Karkar Electronics founded in 1959—a Silicon Valley telecommunications company which developed, engineered, and manufactured state-of-the-art voice and data communications infrastructure. Karkar Electronics equipment was adopted as standard by the Department of Defense and NATO, and became a main supplier to companies such as Raytheon, AT&T, and MCI. Previously at UBS and Bank of America, Andrei invests globally in public and private markets focusing on disruptive innovation across industries and brings enhanced strategic and geopolitical thought to the leadership team. With extensive land holdings in Northern California, Andrei is active in redwood timberland conservation, revitalization, and enhancing protection and habitat for endangered species. Andrei graduated from Georgetown University and is active in various think tanks and in supporting the arts, sciences and philanthropy.

Paul Matysek is a proven company builder with over 30 years of experience in the mining industry, having sold five companies in the past decade creating shareholder value in excess of $2.065 billion. He built Energy Metals Corporation which sold to Uranium One in 2007 for $1.8 billion, Potash One which sold to K+S Ag for $434 million in 2011, Lithium One which merged with Galaxy Resources for $112 million in 2012 and sold Goldrock Mines Corp to Fortuna Silver Mines for $178 million in July 2016. Most recently Mr. Matysek was the Executive Chairman of Lithium X Energy Corp, a lithium resource company, which raised approximately $50 million, and within 2.5 years, was sold to an international company for $265 million in March 2018.

Brian Paes-Braga is Principal, Head of Merchant Banking at SAF Group, a leading structured credit and merchant banking group which builds, invests, finances and advises high growth companies as well as provides flexible and long-term capital solutions to public and private corporations while providing stable returns for investors through its structured credit arm. He sits on the Board of Directors of DeepGreen Metals and Thunderbird Entertainment. Brian was Founder and CEO of Lithium X Energy Corp., a lithium resource company, which raised approximately $53 million and, within 2.5 years, was sold to an international company for $265 million in March 2018. Brian is an Advisory Council member of the International Crisis Group and is proud to support several charities and research groups through his private family foundation, Quiet Cove Foundation, which seeks to support innovative solutions to large scale social issues. Brian is currently attending the Owners, Presidents and Management (OPM) program at Harvard Business School.

Member of the United Nations International Resource Panel and Professor of Energy and Environment at University of Delaware; Senior Fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Sustainable Investment; Author of Treasures of the Earth: Need, Greed and a Sustainable Future (Yale University Press) and Environmental Diplomacy: negotiating more effective global agreements (Oxford University Press, with Lawrence Susskind). Dr. Ali’s advisory role is linked to DeepGreen’s technical research partnership with the Sustainable Minerals Institute at the University of Queensland (Australia) where he retains affiliation and where he previously was Chair in Sustainable Resource Development and Director of the Center for Social Responsibility in Mining.

President Emeritus of College of the Atlantic, where he taught for 30+ years. Co-founder of Conservation International’s Ocean Health Index, assessing major pressures affecting the ocean and their impacts on its species and habitats, and for humanity

Teaching at the Yale School of Management, a Faculty Advisory Committee member on Energy Studies at Yale College. Co-Founder and Director of the Carbon Tracker Initiative and Real Impact Tracker, member of the NY State Common Decarbonization Advisory Panel appointed by Governor Cuomo and Comptroller DiNapoli in 2018.

Currently Senior Science Advisor and previously Deputy Director, VP of Research, Ocean Life Institute Director, Biology Department Chair and Senior Scientist during a 45-year career at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the world’s largest private ocean research institution.  A pioneer in the use of scuba and submersibles to study oceanic and deep-sea zooplankton beginning in the 1970s.  He has participated in nearly 80 research cruises in all oceans, serving as Chief Scientist on a more than a third, and is author or co0author of nearly 100 scientific publications.

A global authority on business culture, leadership and innovation with 25+ years advising top business leaders, incl. Unilever, P&G. Author of the best-seller, Riding the Blue Train. CEO & Founder, Breakthrough Global.

20+ years in architecting whole systems change across different domains incl. defense, pandemics, resources. Co-founder of Civilizations Emerging and Neurohacker Collective.

45+ years experience in deep-ocean research, including teaching at University of California, Santa Barbara. Senior Scientist at MBARI, with a focus on the biology and ecology of deep-sea animals, particularly in the oceanic water column.

Dr David Gwyther has over 30 years experience in marine environmental impact assessments for resource development projects. His career and experience in offshore impacts of mining includes numerous baseline and monitoring studies, to authorship of ESIAs for mining projects, particularly in PNG and Indonesia. He brings a wealth of experience covering not only the study and technology advancements but also the national and international influences and requirements that have shaped impact assessment of mining in the marine environment over the past 30 years.

Gerard Barron is on a mission to help wean humanity off fossil fuels and transition to a circular resource economy. He is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of building global companies in battery technology, media and future-oriented resource development both as a chief executive and strategic investor. He became involved in the early strategic development and financing of DeepGreen during its formation in 2011 and stepped into the role of Chairman & CEO in 2017.

Gerard is leading DeepGreen’s three-part strategy to first inject a sufficient supply of four virgin metals (Ni, Mn, Co, Cu) into the system to enable the green transition, then track and recycle the four metals that DeepGreen injects, and ultimately work through the rest of the periodic table to circularize the remaining metals. If DeepGreen succeeds, mining virgin ores—whether in land or in the ocean—will become a marginal human activity as we meet most of our metal needs by recycling a shared common stock of metals.

Dr. Stone is an ocean scientist and explorer with over 10,000 dives throughout Earth’s ocean down to 18,000 feet using submarines, SCUBA, underwater habitats and robotics. Greg is widely known as a global thought leader who finds ways for humanity and the ocean to co-exist and support each other in the modern world. He was a catalyst at the genesis of the Ocean Health Index and specializes in sustainable fishing, aquaculture, climate adaptation and seamount ecology. Greg’s ability to communicate complex science is illustrated by his compelling TED and Davos talks, and his appearances in documentaries for Discovery and National Geographic. Greg’s numerous accolades and professional associations include the Explorers Club, Pew Fellowship for Marine Conservation, National Geographic Hero, Order of Kiribati Medal, and the U.S National Science Foundation/Navy Antarctic Service medal. In 2008, The Boston Globe named him “Bostonian of the Year”. Previously, Greg was Senior Science Advisor to the Special Envoy for Ocean and the World Economic Forum Ocean Program, and served as Chief Scientist for Conservation International and head of their Global Ocean Program. He currently calls Los Angeles his home and looks out at his beloved Pacific Ocean.

Anthony O’Sullivan has over 30 years mining experience with a track record of delivering innovative solutions across multiple continents both in the terrestrial and marine environments. He is an innovator in mining, who is part of DeepGreen because of his proven commitment to sustainable and ethical mining. As Chief Operating Officer of Nautilus he led exploration, engineering and design, project development, permitting and product marketing culminating in the declaration of 43-101 compliant resources, grant of the environmental permit and mining lease from the Government of Papua New Guinea, ore sales agreement with one of China’s leading copper producers Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group and the completion of project design and commencement of project construction. He was previously part of the BHP Billiton Global Exploration Leadership Team with responsibility for the company’s iron ore, bauxite, coal and non-porphyry base metal exploration portfolios. He is the named co-inventor on 5 subsea mining patents.

Erika Ilves is an entrepreneur and seasoned strategy lead dedicated to creating the systems and conditions required to secure a safe future for the human species. She was co-founder of Offworld, an industrial robotics company, where she led a team of machine learning engineers to develop teachable mining robots, and was also co-founder of Shackleton Energy, where she developed an international public-private consortium to create technologies to extract water ice from the moon in order to fuel deep space missions from low Earth orbit, drastically reducing the costs of such missions. Erika’s 15 years of strategy consulting experience started with McKinsey & Company, where she served global and emerging markets financial institutions on strategy, performance and operational transformations; and later advised GCC governments and investors on transitioning to a green economy. Previously, Erika was an executive at videoconferencing technology firm TANDBERG (acquired by Cisco), where she was responsible for developing leadership and sales capability for the firm’s global sales force. At DeepGreen, Erika is working to build the world’s first vertically integrated clean energy ecosystem by establishing alliances with like-minded leaders in offshore, electric vehicles and renewable energy technology, as well as developing our transparent provenance strategy to enable DeepGreen to establish Clean Metals as a new purchasing category. She is fluent in English, Estonian, Russian and proficient in Danish and French.

Michael has a PhD from the University of Texas and completed post-doctoral studies at Queen Mary University in London. He has 25+ years of experience in the field of environmental management and impact assessment with a focus on the mining and renewable energy sectors. With certifications as an Environmental Practitioner and Environmental Impact Assessor from the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ), he has successfully delivered highly complex Environmental Impact Assessments for large infrastructure projects in all corners of the globe. Michael is also an accomplished marine biologist, he led a team to map marine turtle nesting and migration patterns on the northern coast of the Sinai Peninsula as part of a Darwin Initiative for the Conservation of Species project and has conducted marine conservation programs and baseline studies in Egypt, Indonesia, Vanuatu and Australia.

Dr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Science in microbiology (University of Florida), Master of Science in environmental science (University of Florida) and a Ph.D. in earth system science (Stanford University). During his fifteen years as an environmental scientist and researcher, he has conducted high impact research throughout the marine environment, from the activity and diversity of biological communities in marine sediments to the chemical and biological properties of deep ocean waters. These efforts have proven highly productive, as evidenced by more than $5 million in funding awards and 22 peer-reviewed publications – many of which are very well cited. On top of his academic career, he has gained substantial experience conducting environmental baseline surveys in offshore environments – the results of which have consistently met regulatory approval.

Jon Machin has 30 years experience at the forefront of oilfield engineering and technology and has worked extensively in the deep-water sector. He has held senior management positions in the technical and commercial departments within market leading organizations Fugro, Technip and Schlumberger. He was a co-founder of deep-water geotechnical engineers UTEC Geomarine. Mr Machin has a remarkable track record of design and build of numerous Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV’s) and ‘extreme’ machines engaging the seafloor, including trenchers for pipelines and cable laying and deep-water dredgers. With DeepGreen Resources Director David Heydon, he jointly conceived the ROVdrill to overcome limitations of conventional drill ships in the marine minerals industry. Mr Machin holds a masters degree in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford. He is a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, is accredited with over 20 published peer-reviewed papers and lectures widely on deep-water engineering. He holds at least 6 patents.

Dr. Jeffrey Donald has over 20 years of international experience in the mining & metallurgy business. Dr. Donald is a specialist in the interface between business strategy, capital project scoping, technology and operational excellence. He is an expert at managing the business case development of complex strategic projects in challenging international environments with multiple stakeholder interests. Dr. Donald has a broad knowledge of all aspects of the mining industry; nickel in particular, with a basis in metallurgy and process engineering. Dr. Donald has extensive project development experience, having managed portfolios of complex, strategic projects including greenfield developments, major expansions, environmental improvement & compliance, commercialization of novel technologies and operations improvement programs during his tenures at Hatch, Inco, Vale, PT Vale Indonesia and SNC Lavalin. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and degrees from Queen’s University at Kingston, ON.

Corey is an experienced community and social performance manager with experience working in the South Pacific and in Canada’s North. Corey began his career working in government before transitioning to the mining industry where he worked with Rio Tinto leading their community relations team at the Diavik Diamond Mine. While at Diavik, Corey developed sector leading practices for Indigenous business development and renegotiated modern industry leading benefit agreements. Outside of work, Corey enjoys spending time with family in the mountains and sits on the Squamish Waldorf School Board.

With a degree in Law (Hons) and Business Management from the University of Queensland, Australia, Robert Heydon has played an important role in pioneering 21st century private sector mineral exploration in the International Seabed Area. He has been involved in the deep sea mining industry for over a decade, including assisting to progress the development of national and international legal frameworks regulating seafloor mining. Along with overseeing successful seafloor mineral exploration and metallurgical processing programmes, Mr. Heydon has pioneered deep sea mineral ventures with Pacific Island countries. Previously, he worked for Nautilus Minerals Inc., and was a member of the UNEP/GRID-Arendal Steering Committee for the Pacific Marine Minerals and Deep Sea Mining Assessment.

Robert Milbourne is an international corporate attorney with 20 years of experience in the global mining and minerals, infrastructure and energy sectors. Rob served as in-house and General Counsel for global mining firm Vale in Australia, and as an equity partner at two of the world’s leading law firms where he specialized in cross-border mining transactions. He has worked in most commodities and major mining jurisdictions and has closed transactions in over 30 countries. Rob has advised governments, financial institutions, investors and mining firms in all stages of mining projects from early exploration to development, operations and closure. He is also an adjunct professor of law at the University of Queensland, and regularly speaks on global trends in mining and natural resources law and policy. Rob is the founder of Mining Standards International, which addresses transparency, accountability, law and policy in the mining sector. He has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in Asian Studies and a Juris Doctorate from Duke Law School.

Dan has over 15 years of experience in international development, renewable energy and media ventures. He founded Planetwize Strategies in 2006 and has worked with clients around the world to develop brands, strategy and programs for making, measuring and communicating impact. He was VP of Impact and Communications at solar mini-grid pioneer Powerhive, in East Africa, where he leveraged communications and media to increase uptake of solutions to the global energy access challenge. Dan served as Communications Officer for The Christensen Fund where he led the foundation’s strategic communications initiatives in support of Indigenous communities around the world, and was previously the VP of Sustainability for Better Energy Systems where he developed strategy, marketing and social entrepreneurial applications in East Africa with Solio, one of the world’s first commercial micro-solar technologies. Dan received his Masters degree in environment and development from the London School of Economics and is an accomplished filmmaker and musician.

Toby Buckley is a robotics and control engineer who has overseen projects taking robots around the globe and into outer space. He previously was senior robotics and controls engineer for innovative robotics startup OffWorld Inc., leading the software and controls team in development of robotic systems. Toby earned a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University, and completed internships at Boeing, where he simulated and analyzed space-launch system vehicle trajectories; at Stanford’s Autonomous Systems Lab, where he helped implement decision-making algorithms for autonomous cars; and at The SpaceShip Company, where he programmed software for the suborbital vehicle SpaceShipTwo.

Rory has over 4 years of experience in public relations and communications, having worked as a consultant for the London-based outfit, The Cape Partnership. As a consultant, Rory developed communications packages and strategies for the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, as well as Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Denis Mukwege. His work also included various C-suite speech-writing activities, including for the CEO of Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately-owned port operator. Rory has a passion for politics and led The Cape Partnership in its Brexit-related analysis for Gulf-based clients. He earned an MSc in African Studies from the University of Oxford, where his research focussed on the Ugandan government’s policies towards the challenges and opportunities presented by artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). Prior to his Master’s degree, Rory pursued a BA in English at Rhodes University in South Africa.

Tom is an experienced trader of commodities and equities and has worked at firms that include Paul Morgan & Co, Barclays Bank and UK stockbroker Cazenove, where he ran the Australian Sales Desk into Asia. At the turn of the century Tom focused on the Australian stock market with Tolhurst, where he ran their Institutional Desk. During this time Tom extended his responsibilities beyond sales and trading in to corporate services with a focus on the resources sector. He began working with Nautilus Minerals to raise the initial funds for the company’s IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Tom has also worked privately as a corporate advisor to select companies with big ideas. He believes in DeepGreen’s mission to move humanity toward carbon-free energy and applies his efforts and experience to the areas of finance, investor relations and business development

Mick Eddy has 15 years of experience building and investing in disruptive businesses. After nine years developing augmented reality company Osterhout Group, he became an active investor and advisor in technology companies and has raised $100 million in venture and debt funding with an emphasis on the mobile technology sector. Mick’s direct investments include JUUL/PAX, SpaceX, Flexport, Bakkt, Lime Bike, Figure/Provenience and Eight Sleep. He also serves as a mentor at Orange Fab, connecting startups to corporations for strategic investment and partnership opportunities. Mick is driven by DeepGreen’s potential to disrupt the minerals sector and to speed the transition to a clean energy future. He studied at University of Southern California and London School of Economics and is an avid skier, diver, traveler and foodie. He currently lives in San Francisco.

William Li is an experienced senior manager and entrepreneur with more than two decades of experience working between Australia and China in both the private and public sectors. He has been active in the minerals and mining industry since 2002, developing product off-take agreements; project development strategy and financing; engineering and research development and procurement of a number of global commodities. William has been an active participant in the evolution of deep sea mining over the last eight years, playing a key role on a team that initiated one of the world’s first deep sea minerals offtake agreements in a multi-year, international negotiation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Nankai University, China, an MBA from QUT, Australia and has completed course work toward a certificate of extractive metallurgy. He currently lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Tina Pomee has worked with the Tongan Government at the Natural Resources Department on water and coastal management projects, and good work relationships with Government, NGOs, communities and schools throughout Tonga.  Previously with Nautilus Minerals, Tina participated in multiple offshore expleditions both on minerals and environmental baseline studies. As a Lead Marine Scientist, Tina has managed shifts of scientists on working vessels, led on writing reports on work completed; built and maintained scientific data systems, conducted safety briefings and reports, and maintained key marine science databases. Tina trained and supervised four Tongans to do mega-fauna logging of more than 20000 photos collected from a 2015 CCZ cruise as part of the environmental studies. She has contributed to stakeholder consultations including with Government Ministries, NGOs, schools and village communities. Tina joined DeepGreen in 2020.

Briana has years of experience in the administrative field coordinating the logistical requirements for events including communications, operations, and stakeholder engagement. She brings those skills to DeepGreen’s trainee programs where scholars from developing states are selected by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and sent offshore to conduct research. Briana also organizes professional development for trainees to learn more about the science related to deep-sea nodule collecting. She also assists the Environmental Team on key tasks related to DeepGreen’s Environmental and Social Impact Assesment. Briana attended West Virginia University to study animal veterinary and nutritional sciences, where she also played rugby. She lives in Los Angeles, and in her spare time she enjoys teaching yoga and fostering dogs.