Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy Bjørnar Selnes Skjæran is responsible for the policy on shipping, waterways, maritime and marine research and innovation, coastal and port development, fisheries, seafood and aquaculture. Skjæran is the deputy leader of the Norwegian Labor Party.

Ambassador Peter Thomson has served as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean since 2017. In this role he is driving the implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, to conserve and sustainably use the resources of the Ocean. From 2016-2017, Ambassador Thomson served as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations. He was Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2010 to 2016, during which time he was President of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS).
Ambassador Peter Thomson is honorary doctor at the University of Bergen, and goodwill ambassador for the One Ocean Expedition.

Peter B. de Menocal is the eleventh president and director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. A marine geologist and paleoclimatologist, de Menocal’s research uses deep-sea ocean sediments as archives of how and why Earth’s ocean and climate have changed in the past in order to predict how they may change in the future.

Prior to assuming leadership of WHOI, de Menocal was the Thomas Alva Edison/Con Edison Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. He served as Columbia’s Dean of Science for the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and founded Columbia’s Center for Climate & Life, a climate solutions research accelerator.

Some awards and distinctions: Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, AGU Emiliani lecturer, Columbia Lenfest Distinguished Faculty award, and Distinguished Brooksian award.

The former Prime Minister of Norway ( 2013-2021) Co-chaired the assembley of the High-level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy(2018-2021) and introduced the topic at the G7 Summit. Her Government supported the World Bank’s PROblue initiative to prevent marine damage.
The Ocean Panel was established in 2018 and comprises heads of state and government from 14 countries. The Norwegian Prime Minister and the President of Palau have co-chaired the Panel from the start. Erna Solberg is leader of the Norwegian Conservative Party.

Erna Solberg was born and educated in Bergen: Norway’s ancient maritime capital and gateway to the Atlantic Ocean.

Knut Arild Hareide was leader of the Christian Democratic Party from 2011 to 2019 and has been active in both local and national politics. Hareide was a member of the Storting from 2009 to 2021. From 2004 to 2005 he was Minister of the Environment, and from 2020 to 2021 he was Minister of Transport and Communications. He holds an MSc in Business Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, and has worked as Organisation Director, Project Manager and Business Developer in Schibsted.
The Norwegian Maritime Authority is a key player in the implementation of the Green Shift in the maritime industry and a natural partner to the entire maritime industry.

Beate holds a MSc in Petroleum Geology, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Her career started in Schlumberger, before she joined Equinor in 1991 where she has had a long leadership career spanning various positions within subsurface and drilling, including drilling facilities construction, both on NCS and in Asia. She has been Asset owner and head of Operations for several oil and gas fields offshore Norway.
In 2017 she joined Renewables, where she has had leading positions in offshore wind in the UK, and experience with solar and carbon capture technology. She is now SVP of Renewable solutions, global technical support to operations and projects.
She is a board member of WindEurope and of Havbyen Bergen.

Craig Churchill is a British/American Entrepreneur and the COO of Tidal, an applied Machine Learning, Robotics and Machine Perception company at Google[x], focused on protecting and preserving the oceans in collaboration with ocean based industries.

Craig’s career spans over 30 years, where he has worked at some of the world’s most innovative and successful technology companies including Microsoft, SGI, Sun Microsystems, Oracle and presently X, Alphabet’s semi-secretive advanced R&D organization focused on delivering 10x (not just 10%) impact on the world’s most intractable problems.

Jan Ole Huseby has close to 20 years’ experience from the maritime industries, primarily from a financial angle. He has headed DNB’s global Ocean Industries division since 2020. DNB is one of the world’s leading maritime banks with a broad international approach in industries such as seafood, shipping, the maritime services sector and ocean energy, hereunder oil, gas and offshore wind. The bank has an active approach to the energy transition and was, amongst other initiatives, one of the founding banks of the Poseidon Principles, a global framework for responsible ship financing.
Jan Ole Huseby holds a Master of Law from the University of Oslo and an MBA from Copenhagen Business School.

Synnøve Seglem is the president of the Norwegian Shipowner’s Association. Seglem is also the owner and deputy managing director of Knutsen OAS Shipping. Seglem has a master’s degree in Material Science and Engineering from Imperial College in London and a master’s in Shipping, Trade, and Finance from Cass Business School in London.

Henning Beltestad has been CEO of Lerøy Seafood Group since 2010. He started in Hallvard Lerøy ASA in 1993 and has had many positions within the firm since then. Henning Beltestad became managing director of Hallvard Lerøy AS in 2007, and in 2008 he became a boardmember in the Group management with Sales and Distribution as his field of responsibility. Henning Beltestad has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Norwegian School of Management.

Harald Fotland was appointed as Odfjell’s CEO in May 2022. He joined Odfjell in 2010 as Chief of Staff, and has held various executive and management positions in the company. Before joining Odfjell, Fotland was Vice President for Gard AS, and held various positions within the Royal Norwegian Navy. He has extensive board experience, and is currently Vice Chair of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association and board member of the European Community Shipowners’ Association and the Norwegian Shipowners’ Mutual War Risks Insurance Association.

Heidi Wolden is CEO of Norled AS, one of Norway’s largest ferry and express boat companies.
Wolden joined Norled in 2020, after three years as CEO of Kruse Smith. She has previously worked for Equinor where she held several management positions along most of the value chain within oil and gas, primarily within strategy, business development and finance. Heidi Wolden holds a Master’s degree in science from Nord University Business School, an MBA from NHH and executive education from the University of Berkeley in California and London Business School.

Environmental industrialist – sustainability native – green business integrator. Roger has >15 years’ frontline experience with environmental business issues, especially decarbonisation, in shipping. His main focus areas are regulatory affairs –a key driver of change-, innovation -a key enabler of change- and customer engagement, a group that increasingly demand decarbonisation. Using an influential leadership style, Roger works to advance Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s decarbonisation agenda in close collaboration with multiple internal and external stakeholders.
Roger also serves on the board of the www.OceanExchange.org, a global forum for accelerating sustainable innovation. He holds an engineering degree from the University of Dublin, Trinity College.

Siv Remøy-Vangen, an experienced maritime professional, is the Managing director of Norwegian Electric Systems (NES), a system integrator of power, propulsion, automation, and NavCom systems. She has a vast background where she has held both commercial and operational roles in companies as Odfjell SE and TTS Offshore Solutions. In her previous role as Managing director for Maritime Bergen her clear voice for the industry demonstrates her passion and drive for contributing to more innovation and sustainable solutions for the future. Under her leadership, NES aims to support the blue-green shift, helping the shipping sector achieve emission targets while contributing to the competitive advantage of the Norwegian maritime cluster.

Sebastian Bringsværd is the global head of business development and the head of the Norway region where he will be responsible for developing the Norwegian market, including our two projects Utsira Nord and Sørlige Nordsjø II.
Previously, Mr. Bringsværd worked at Equinor, where he was part of the Senior Management Team and where he built up the New Energy Division for six years. In his previous position, he was responsible for establishing and heading up the floating wind unit which covered commercialization, deployment, and industrialization of floatingwind in existing and new markets. He has held many leadership roles throughout his career and joins Aker Offshore Wind with a wealth of experience. Mr. Bringsværd holds an MBA from Lancaster University as well as in politics and law from the University of Oslo.

Kristin Husby Mork has an extensive international experience from both the renewable and the oil & gas sector.
She is now working on providing products and solutions in the hydrogen, carbon capture and offshore renewable segments to clients.
Kristin has a MBA in Finance from NHH and has a Siv.Ing in Mathematics, Statistics and Informatics from NTNU.

Per Lund holds a Master of Science in Marine Technology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Following 15 years as an entrepreneur in the oilfield industry he joined Odfjell Drilling in 2013 where he has had several management roles. From 2021 he has been CEO in Odfjell’s offshore floating wind venture, Odfjell Oceanwind.

Dr. Johanna Myrseth Aarflot is a scientist at the Institute of Marine Research. Her research focuses on ecosystem productivity, structure and dynamics, and how to sustainably manage marine ecosystems under the increasing human footprint on the ocean. She uses a multitude of approaches in her research, from qualitative expert assessments to statistical data analyses and advanced, numerical modelling.

Dr. Aarflot has a PhD in marine ecology from the University of Bergen and an MBA from a European business school, and she worked for several years in the private sector and with NGOs before joining academia in 2016. She is currently leading the research project PELAGIC funded under the “Young researcher talents” program by the Norwegian Research Council. She is enthusiastic about popular science communication and has contributed to a range of talks and public outreach over the course of her career.

Catarina Martins is the Chief Sustainability and Technology officer at Mowi ASA (Norway). Catarina coordinates the implementation of Mowi’s sustainability strategy, Leading the Blue Revolution Plan, which includes the vision of unlocking the potential of the oceans to provide healthy and sustainable food for a growing world population. In addition, she also leads the group’s innovation activities with a team of international experts on fish health and welfare, fish quality and processing, seawater and freshwater production technology and data analytics. Catarina has a PhD in Aquaculture from Wageningen University (The Netherlands), an MBA from The Norwegian School of Economics (Norway), an MSc in Marine Biology from the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and supplementary education on Corporate Sustainability from Harvard University (USA). Before starting at Mowi in 2013, Catarina hold several positions as senior researcher at Wageningen University, at the Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) in Portugal and at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria.

Matts Johansen has extensive experience with management of complex operations and markets, building engagement and high performing organizations. His journey in Aker BioMarine started in 2009 as Chief Operation Officer, before being named the CEO in 2015. Previously he worked in Telefonica 02 as Chief Marketing Officer. Before that, Matts studied at Oslo University College and Columbia University.

>25 years of aquaculture experience in addition to extensive energy and digitalisation experience

Dr. Dag L Aksnes is a professor in marine ecology and a former dean of the Faculty of Science and Mathematics at the University of Bergen. Over the last years he has been engaged as expert in scientific advice processes by EASAC (European Academies Science Advisory Council), SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies), and the European Commission SAM (Scientific Advice Mechanisms) on the question of how more food can be obtained from the ocean without depriving the benefits of future generations.

Hedvig Hjertaker – the youngest woman in history to ski solo to the South Pole. After 1130 km, 49 days alone and 10,000 thoughts in her experience bank, Hedvig has a unique insight into self-leadership, determined action, and perseverance in the face of the unknown. Hedvig listens to her sense of adventure and wants to inspire others to dare to pursue their dreams and trust in their own abilities. Valuable advice and inspiration for adventurers, entrepreneurs, or innovators!

Svein Tore Bergestuen Managing director and founder of Sannum & Bergestuen Author, consultant and speaker Svein Tore Bergestuen (49) has worked in journalism, communication and management for 30 years. He is the author of both fiction and non-fiction, and is a daily consultant in strategic communication for managers in private and public enterprises. He has led several thousand debates and interviews as a former journalist and presenter on radio and television. Bergestuen teaches interview technique both at home and abroad, and has written an international specialist book on research-based interview methodology.

Education:
Masters degree in material technology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Business economics and management accounting at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)

Experience and skills:
Ms. Aase has 20 years of international industry experience and has held a variety of leadership positions, most recently as CEO of SalMar ASA. Prior to this she was with Aker Solutions as part of the Executive Management Team, Head of Electrification, Maintenance and Modifications.
She is recently appointed as the new CEO of Bremnes Seashore.

Kai has almost 30 years experience from the ocean tech industry, raging from subsea oil & gas to floating offshore wind. As Business Development Manager in GCE Ocean Technology he is responsible for entrepreneurship and business opportunities in offshore renewable energy. This will be the main topic on mission two that will be chaired by Kai Stoltz.

Nina Stangeland has been the Managing Director of NCE Seafood Innovation since 2019. She has broad experience in finance and entrepreneurship and is educated Master of Economics from the University of Oslo, with additional education from University of Cape Town, BI and NHH. As the leader of the cluster, she brings together a significant group of the seafood industry’s most important players and develops projects, meeting arenas and services, with the aim of working as a team to increase sustainability and innovation in the industry.

Ada Jakobsen is the CEO of Maritime CleanTech and has more than 12 years of experience in technology, startups, and maritime business. In addition, Jakobsen holds an Executive MBA from HEC Paris, specializing in energy and digitalization.