Meet the Team
Our team welcomes new perspectives from diverse backgrounds, skill sets, and collaborative problem solving. We are proud of the transparent and honest dialogues we share with colleagues, pushing each other professionally to reach higher standards of work.
Our Specialists
Floor van Eelen
Debby van der Reijden
Born and raised in Indonesia, Debby has always had a passion for exploring new places and cultures. With a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Management, she combines her organizational talent and international mindset to keep Hortimare operations running smoothly. Debby joyful energy is contagious, whether she’s coordinating tasks at work or cooking up her favorite Indonesian recipes at home.
Suzan Vellekoop
Suzan has a background in business and sustainability where she became passionate about seaweed’s potential. From then on, she never stopped talking about seaweed and continues this enthusiasm to initiate projects. You can contact her for new projects, marketing and questions on existing projects.
Jessica Schiller
Jessica is dedicated to the study and sustainable application of seaweed, with over ten years of experience in research and industry. After B.Sc. and M.Sc. theses on kelp stress tolerance cultivation, she focused her PhD on the ecophysiology of invasive kelp in Europe and its cultivation in China. At Hortimare, she uses her background to connect a scientific approach with commercial strategy. Jessica loves international environments, a collaborative spirit, and continuous personal growth.
Gabriel Montecinos Arismendi
Gabriel is from Chile and has +12-year experience in the seaweed sector. His focus has been on its potential to contribute to scientific research, environmental sustainability, and versatile applications in various industries. His role at Hortimare revolves around the selection and production of superior local materials to sustain seaweed producers. His experience includes living in three countries and encompasses various projects from restoration to seaweed domestication.
Phil Kerrison
With numerous published papers on seaweed, Phil brings fundamental knowledge on attachment, seeding tech and the cultivation of multiple species. He is currently working in Vietnam for two years to help crack Asparagopsis sea cultivation with the Greener Grazing project. Phil loves trying new food with friends, crunching data and more recently karaoke and calisthenics.
Ed Langedijk
Ed has worked before as a breeder for 32 years in alliums, land plants. Since 2020 he joined Hortimare. He likes to share the knowledge about breeding, production and sales with his colleagues and with clients. If clients are interested in getting more yield, breeding is a tool to manage it. Already several breeding projects all around the world are established. Implementing them into production is now in progress. We can’t wait to show the world the results.
Marianne Verberne
Marianne has been a researcher (PhD) in plant physiology and biotechnology for many years, focusing on topics related to plant pathology and metabolic engineering. Since 2021, she has been exploring the world of seaweed cultivation at Hortimare. She loves to be challenged and enjoys using her creativity.
Iona Dignum
Iiona values honesty and clarity for everyone working within an organization. Decisions should always be transparent and easy to explain. She was born and raised in Warmenhuizen, studied Human Resource Management at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, and is currently completing her pre-master’s in Labour- and Organizational Psychology.
Ana Campos
Growing up on Portugal’s sunny coast, Ana developed a big passion for nature and environmental sciences. Over time she became particularly interested in the role Asparagopsis can play in the fight against climate change and how seaweed farming can positively impact local communities. She spent the past 5 years between Portugal, Vietnam, and now the Netherlands, researching this promising seaweed and helping farmers successfully scale up production.
Ligia Ayres
Ligia is a Brazilian phycologist who is passionate about her work. She has over 15 years of experience researching red macroalgae and has worked in France and the US. In addition to her work with the Asparagopsis research team, Ligia is leading the company’s vegetable garden initiative.
Gianluca Bizzaro
A motivated and enthusiastic scientist specialised in Palmaria Palmata cultivation, and new species domestication. Gianluca loves a good challenge and a bit of problem solving. The thing that he misses the most are his mountains in Italy where he spends most of his free time.
Mabel Borst
With a background in Biotechnology Mabel is researching the red seaweed Palmaria palmata. She is leading the Palmaria research and is responsible for maintaining the cultures and organising the laboratory. Mabel loves cooking and inovating recipes with seaweed as well as gardening, camping and figure skating.
Sander Meijer
Sander is our meticulous bookkeeper, a history enthusiast with a talent for puns. “Make a difference, but not in accounting…”
Pieter Mulder
Pieter has a degree in Green Biotechnology and ever since joining Hortimare, fascinated by seaweed. His focus in the company is expanding our kelp seed bank, ensuring quantity & quality for the client, and assisting clients from a nursery perspective. In his free time, he collects records, his jewel is ‘Fleetwood Mac – Rumours’… favourite seaweed Macrocystis!
Afonso Marques
Afonso is a marine biologist from Portugal, deeply passionate about life on our planet. A proud member of the production team, he diligently cares for and nurtures their gametophyte cultures, ensuring their good health and quality. A sure fact about him: if you’re in the lab with him, you’ll surely find him with a smile and a positive attitude.
Madalena Mendes
Madalena, a dedicated biologist from Portugal, holds an MSc in Biodiversity and Plant Biotechnology. Driven by her passion for seaweed and its immense potential, she brings prior expertise in seaweed polysaccharides. She actively contributes to the seeding tech team, focusing on attachment, machine and binder development.
Sang Trần Thị Thu
Sang comes from Vietnam where she studied biology before pursuing a Msc. Aquaculture in Ghent, Belgium. She is into all perspectives of the seaweed world: life cycles, cultivation techniques, breeding, and even cooking with seaweed. She can combine all her interests within the Asparagopsis team at Hortimare as a researcher. Follow her seaweed recipe instagram: Seaweed_taste!
Luna Bollaro
Luna, a passionate marine biologist from Italy with a background in marine plant ecology, strongly believes in the potential of seaweed to contribute to a sustainable future. She is focused on the practical applications of direct seeding and its role in advancing seaweed cultivation. With a positive attitude and a collaborative spirit, she thrives in team environments and is always open to new challenges. Luna enjoys spending time outdoors and loves practicing diving and surfing.
Thom Stijlaart
Thom is a Coastal and Marine management student from Leeuwarden who has joined the Asparagopsis team as an intern.
He has interest in everything Aquaculture and has always been interested in marine biology.
His search for an aquacultural internship led him to Hortimare where he gets to experience aquaculture first hand.
Samuel Silvestre Nuernberg
Originally from Brazil, Samuel graduated in Fishery engineering with experience in aquaculture, water systems and seeding technique. He has skills in problem-solving and interacting with people of all levels, loves working with challenges hands-on. On free times he enjoys cooking, kitesurfing, surfing and discovering new places.
Niloofar Jokar Borazjani
Niloofar has a background in Natural Resources Engineering, specializing in Fisheries Product Processing and Marine Biotech. During her Master’s, she focused on extracting polysaccharides with immunomodulatory properties, which developed her deep interest in seaweed. She is part of the Asparagopsis R&D team, conducting experiments on temperature tolerance and bromoform enhancement. Her love language is cooking for her family and friends, and she enjoys swimming along sunny coasts more than anything.
Jerome van Schie
Jerome has a background in green biotechnology, now being applied for seaweed cultivation. As general technician he supports the company from technical perspective, including 3D printing & leading the hatchery and water system. His work is fueled by coffee, a passion for cycling and building up a vinyl collection, featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Thijmen de Bruijn
During my bachelor’s study in Water Management, I developed an interest in aquaculture and seaweed. Now I follow a master in Aquaculture in Wageningen and do an internship at Hortimare to gain more knowledge on these topics. In my free time, I like to listen to music, go to the gym and working on DIY projects.
Thijs van Noort
As a mechanical engineering student Thijs found out pretty quickly the prototyping of complicated machinery was what he wanted to do. At Hortimare Thijs will work on designing and building prototypes for machines related to seeding. In his free time Thijs loves spending time with friends, listening to music and doing extra work in his brother’s restaurant.
Robin de Vaal
Robin is 24 years old and studies Biotechnology at Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences in Leeuwarden. She focuses on the nutrient media composition of Ulva, building on her previous experience analyzing the protein content of Ulva samples. In her free time, Robin enjoys cooking and baking, as well as spending time outdoors in the garden. She also appreciates quiet moments, such as watching a good film on the sofa.
Join us
Join us and become part of an enthusiastic team in a flourishing and growing company with the potential to grow into an international market leader in the seaweed breeding sector.