Seagriculture 2019

8th International Seaweed Conference

"Seaweed Success Stories"

Charlie is a biochemist who has worked for 20 years in natural products research, specialising in marine natural products, with a focus on glycobiology and carbohydrate chemistry.

Following his PhD studies at the University of Edinburgh, his first introduction to natural products was during Postdoctoral research at the Scottish Association for Marine Science. This jump from clinical research to marine natural products proved to be pivotal, leading to his first patent and an opportunity to join a start up marine biotechnology company in 2000. Then In 2005 Charlie started GlycoMar, a marine natural products business specialising in the discovery and development of novel functional glycans from microalgae, macroalgae, invertebrates, and plants. More recently he has co-founded Oceanium for the development of bio-packaging from seaweeds.

Charlie’s scientific interests lie in studying structure functional relationships in polysaccharide products. His technology interests lie in developing novel production organism and systems for the manufacture of valuable polysaccharide products. He has a broader interest in promoting the commercial potential of marine natural products through innovative business models, sustainable production processes and disciplined entrepreneurship.