Cultivating Careers in Alternative Proteins Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Marina Schmidt is a Climate Educator and Founder of the impact media outlet Ɍ2Ǥ MEDIA, an in-depth content studio specializing in agriculture and food sustainability. Her flagship podcast, Red To Green, is ranked in the top 5% globally and has a loyal listenership in over 160 countries. It is obligatory onboarding material for new hires at several VCs and startups and is deemed 'excellent' by MIT. Marina is also the voice and Editor-in-Chief of a new future food podcast funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture and Nutrition. With over nine years of marketing and strategic communications experience, she serves on the jury for Impact Hub and as an advisor to future food scale-up Formo. Her advice is to set aside a budget for professional development.

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Rebecca Palmer is the Chief Marketing Officer at Terra Bioindustries, a Canadian based company that upcycles spent grain to make plant-based protein ingredients and sugar feedstocks for fermentation. She has a masters in biotechnology and a bachelor's degree in biological sciences (with a specialization in plant science), both from the University of Guelph. In 2021, Rebecca and her partner won the Proteus Innovation Competition, where over a 4 month period, they developed an abstract, a business plan, and a pitch, all of which has helped her land her role at Terra Bioindustries. Her advice is to write down your success as well as figure out what you're better than others at and how it can benefit the world.

Links to things discussed during the episode:
Ikigai
Mitacs
Bioenterprise
IRAP
FoodHack newsletter
GFI newsletters
Alt-Meat newsletter
FoodNavigator newsletter
Terra Bioindustries Contact Us page

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Bryce Rogers is a Project Engineer at Edge Foods, a New York based cell culture media and growth factor B2B startup for cultivated meat companies. He previously worked for High Impact Engineers and has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Southern California.

Natalie Fernandez is a recent mechanical engineering graduate from the University of Waterloo seeking roles in the alternative protein industry. She also co-founded the Waterloo Alt Protein Project. Their advice is to search for jobs that seem tangentially related to your goal, seek out opportunities that enable you to learn more, have a vision, and don’t be too hard on yourself.

Links to things discussed during the episode:
Effective Altruism (EA) Global
The Waterloo Alt Protein Project
High Impact Engineers podcast: Engineered for Impact
Bryce’s email: brogers622@gmail.com
Natalie’s email: natfernandez14@outlook.com 

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Anirvan Guha is the Head of Formulations at Multus, a London based company that develops custom ingredients and growth media for cultivated meat companies. He has a masters in biomedical engineering from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Physics from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Anirvan's work on designing artificial systems that mimic nature has been published in top scientific journals such as Nature and Advanced Materials, and now he is using that experience to help serve the cultivated meat industry. His advice is to figure out what skills are needed in the industry and then determine which of those you can further develop in order to make a greater contribution to the industry.

Links to things discussed during the episode:
Anirvan’s mentors: Xin (Tony) Tong, Lei Yin, Michael Mayer
Multus’ growth media facility
Multus’ Careers page

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Katie Morley is the Sales Manager at Plant Based World Expo North America where she is responsible for bringing companies to the annual exposition event held in September in New York City. Previously, she was the Sales Support Specialist at Plant Based World Expo Europe. Katie has a BA in Human Geography from the University of Brighton in England and has done extensive fieldwork in North Africa, Greece, and Scotland. Her advice is to build relationships with people in the industry on LinkedIn.

Below are links to the resources discussed in this episode:
Root Foods
Plant Based Food Association

This episode is sponsored by Tälist, a service providing talent solutions specifically focused on the alternative protein industry. You can register here to be a part of the Tälist Talent Database, a matchmaking service for the alternative protein industry.

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Sandra Einvall was a marketeer at Brave New Food, an Dutch organization that connects food innovators together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable food system. However, she recently transitioned to working full time on Fikat, the sustainable Swedish plant-based treat startup she founded in 2021. While studying graphic design, Sandra started the Vegan Student Association Utrecht and grew it to be the biggest vegan student association in the Netherlands. During this time, she also completed social media and design internships at Lazy Vegan, a frozen vegan convenience meal company. Sandra’s advice is to demonstrate your passion for this industry and embrace the community. 

You can learn more about Sandra’s story by checking out this Brighter Future interview with Sandra.

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This episode is sponsored by Tälist, a service providing talent solutions specifically focused on the alternative protein industry. They have one of the most extensive job boards in the alternative protein industry with over 1,500 jobs posted every month from more than 1,000 organizations. Check it out here. 

Angel Li is committed to inducing positive societal change for the planet, people, and animals. She has 7 years of solid experience managing a EU-funded sustainable protein project as well as community initiatives to shift the public towards a plant-based diet. As a GRI certified sustainability professional with a master’s degree in Sustainable Development, she strives to influence food policy and collaborate with various partners to transform the food system. Prior to becoming Plenitude Project Manager & Policy at ENOUGH, Angel worked in community outreach, stakeholder/corporate engagement, and institutional change development at Green Monday. The advice she gives is to share your ideas and opinions on social media as well as to upskill to evolve with the industry.

Below are links to the resources discussed in this episode:
Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU)
Marina Bay Sands campaign
Green Monday cooking videos

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This episode is sponsored by Tälist, a service providing talent solutions specifically focused on the alternative protein industry. They recently released an Impact Calculator to provide a personalized calculation of the positive impact you could make by joining the industry. 

Chris Bryant is the Director of Bryant Research, a research organization based in the United Kingdom, which focuses on shaping better food choices through social science. Chris has a BA in Business Management, a Masters of Science in Policy Research, and a PhD in Energy, Environment, and Resilience. Chris was also the Director of Social Sciences for the Cellular Agriculture Society and currently co-organizes the Research to End Consumption of Animal Products (RECAP) Group. Taking on the responsibilities of the job you want to have is the advice that Chris has for job seekers in the alternative protein industry.

Below are links to the resources discussed in this episode:
Cellular Agriculture UK
Cellular Agriculture France
Cellular Agriculture Germany
Good Food Institute
ProVeg
New Harvest
RECAP Research

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This episode is sponsored by Tälist, a service providing talent solutions specifically focused on the alternative protein industry. To learn more, you should connect with the founder, Pia Voltz, on LinkedIn.

Nate Crosser is a Principal at Blue Horizon, a global food, agriculture, and bioeconomy impact investment firm based in Zurich. To date, they have deployed over $850 million into an ecosystem of over 75 companies across 6 continents. Nate also writes the environmental biotechnology newsletter, Fifth Industrial, and previously worked at the Good Food Institute, a biotechnology incubator, and holds a Juris Doctor in Commercial Law. Nate’s advice is to think creatively and look for ways to link your passion to the alternative protein industry.

Below are links to the resources discussed in this episode:
LIVEKINDLY
GFI’s State of the Industry reports
Blue Horizon’s job board and talent network
GFI’s investment page
Venture Deals by brad Feld and Jason Mendelson

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