WHO WE ARE
AltaSea Leadership
Terry Tamminen
Charmian Hauck
Jenny Cornuelle Krusoe
Terry Tamminen
From his youth in Australia to career experiences in Europe, Africa, China and across the United States, Terry has developed expertise in business, farming, education, non-profit, the environment, the arts, and government. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and later Cabinet Secretary, the Chief Policy Advisor to the Governor, where Terry was the architect of many groundbreaking sustainability policies, including California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the Hydrogen Highway Network, and the Million Solar Roofs initiative. In 2010 Terry cofounded the R20 Regions of Climate Action, a new public-private partnership, bringing together sub national governments; businesses; financial markets; NGOs; and academia to implement measurable, large-scale, low-carbon and climate resilient economic development projects that can simultaneously solve the climate crisis and build a sustainable global economy. He also provides advice through 7th Generation Advisors to Pegasus Capital Advisors, the Green Climate Fund and numerous global businesses on sustainability and “green” investing, as well as assisting governments and philanthropists with climate solutions, including Fiji, India, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. An accomplished author, Terry’s books include “Cracking the Carbon Code: The Keys to Sustainable Profits in the New Economy” (Palgrave Macmillan). In 2011, Terry was one of six finalists for the Zayed Future Energy Prize and The Guardian ranked Terry No. 1 in its “Top 50 People Who Can Save the Planet.”
Charmian Hauck
Charmian is a hands-on Chief Financial Officer with more than 20 years of expertise in the non-profit sector. She is a lifelong San Pedro resident, mom of two young adults and two dogs, and is passionate about the ocean and environmental causes.
She began her finance career in public accounting and transitioned to the world of corporate finance where she successfully managed the accounting departments of $5 to $500 million companies across various industries. Charmian has served as Chief Financial Officer for many prominent Los Angeles area non-profits, becoming known for creating solutions to process inefficiencies, upgrading systems, building strong teams and streamlining accounting functions.
Charmian is a graduate of the Chadwick School and Marymount College in Palos Verdes. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Loyola Marymount University as well as being a licensed Certified Public Accountant. Charmian has served as a member of the Amazon Business Customer Advisory Board for the nonprofit sector and as a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America CFO Roundtable. Currently, she is on the board of Nonprofits Insurance Alliance where she also serves on the audit committee.
Jenny Cornuelle Krusoe
Jenny Cornuelle Krusoe is the founding executive director of AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, California. She is a graduate of Harvard University and completed a fellowship in nonprofit management at the Stanford University School of Business. A California native and resident, Jenny has a national reputation as a nonprofit executive with expertise in public private partnerships and financially sustainable strategic planning. Skilled at stabilizing and restoring financial viability to a wide array of nongovernmental organizations, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to support the ocean, and for the past 10 years, has focused her work on developing a global network to support the future ocean-based economy, mariculture and blue technology. Jenny is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and has served on numerous advisory groups, including the University of Southern California Sea Grant, the Blue Action Lab, the Alliance for SoCal Innovation, and the Pacific Aquaculture Center of Excellence. She is this year’s recipient of Los Angeles’ City of STEM Icon Award for her work in developing pathways to well-paying careers in the blue economy and previously received the Spirit of Los Angeles Award, one of the city’s highest mayoral honors.
AltaSea Team
Robin Aube
Natasha Berendzen
Daniel Brumer
Meredith Brooks
Dorothy Valerie Cardenas
Portia Cohen
Walter Flores
Alan Hill
Karl I. Muller
Angie Reed
Director of Advancement
Robin Aube
Robin Aube is the Director of Advancement at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. She grew up in San Pedro and has been a member of the innovative ocean and marine science campus for six years managing Project Blue, AltaSea’s education program, serves as the foundation grant writer and as the Board of Trustees liaison. She is also responsible for planning and implementing special events at AltaSea, such as, the quarterly Open Houses. Robin has played a key role in the capital campaign and with donor relations. She is a graduate of CSUDH holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Clinical Science with an emphasis in Nuclear Medicine and a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
Director of Communications
Natasha Berendzen
Natasha Berendzen is Director of Communications at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. Prior to joining AltaSea, she was Development Manager at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, California and Prospect Research Manager at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, playing an integral role in capital campaign efforts. She was also part of a mother-daughter team that created the nonprofit networking groups Women of Washingon, Women of Los Angeles, Women of Orange County and Women of Pasadena.
Natasha received her M.B.A. from California State University, Long Beach and a B.A. with honors in Anthropology from Boston University.
Partner, Brummer Law Group and AltaSea Legal Counsel
Daniel Brumer
Daniel Brumer is a partner at Brumer Law Group where he represents public and private companies, real estate developers, equity investors and lenders in a variety of transactions involving acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, development, joint ventures, land title, and debt and equity financings. He regularly advises clients on local government and public affairs, providing strategic counsel on complex political, regulatory, land use, and other matters involving state and local government in California.
Daniel was previously a senior advisor to Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian, responsible for all land use and economic development matters, and a planning and land use deputy to former Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge. He started his legal career as an attorney at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, the oldest law firm in Los Angeles, where he represented public and private companies in mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, financings, and other corporate transactions.
Daniel received his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 2007, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a James Kent Scholar for high academic honors, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Maryland in 2002, where he was named to the Distinguished Dean’s List and a member of the University’s Burns Academy of Leadership. He is also a past founding Director and Corporate Secretary of Crown Preparatory Academy, a Los Angeles Unified School District public charter school, and a licensed California real estate broker.
Programs and Grants Manager (Consultant)
Meredith Brooks
Meredith Brooks is the Programs and Grants Manager (Consultant) at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. She is developing the AltaSea Marine Grants program to expand the portfolio of government grants, with a focus on STEM education, aquaculture and growing the Blue Economy in Los Angeles.
Originally from Rancho Palos Verdes, Meredith now splits her time between the Olympic Peninsula, RPV, and Hawai’i, where she has spent the last decade helping manage one of the USDA Regional Aquaculture Centers. She has fifteen years of management and communication experience in the fields of sustainable aquaculture R&D and conservation, and has authored two K-12 STEM curriculums for Hawai’i schools. Meredith graduated from the University of Southern California with Bachelors Degrees in Political Science and Journalism, and is a member of the Lambda Pi Eta honor society of the National Communication Association.
Program and Community Outreach Coordinator
Dorothy Valerie Cardenas
Dorothy Cardenas is the Program and Community Outreach Coordinator at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. Prior to joining AltaSea, Dorothy provided crucial administrative support within the film and property management industries. Working in the film industry she coordinated and oversaw budget costs within multiple television series in ABC Studios, CBS Television, NBC Universal, and 20th Century Fox Studios. Dorothy has led the fundraising committees within grassroots community organizations and coordinated logistics for live events. She received her Bachelor’s degree from California State University, Long Beach in English Literature.
Director of BlueTech Strategies (Consultant)
Portia Cohen
Portia Cohen has extensive senior leadership experience in law, public policy, public affairs, advocacy and negotiations in the corporate, government and nonprofit sectors.
A former Mayor, Councilmember, and Attorney-at-Law, Ms. Cohen is a seasoned and accomplished communicator, aggregator and strategist for a myriad of interests and stakeholders.
Portia is and Advisor to 7th Generation. She previously served as Senior Strategic Market Liaison to the Chief of Strategy for UCLA Health System. Her previous positions include Executive Director of Global Los Angeles at the Pacific Council on International Policy; Mayor and Councilmember of the City of Manhattan Beach, California; Director of the Energy Independence & Petroleum Project for Environment Now Foundation; Senior Counsel for Gensler Architecture Worldwide; Corporate Counsel and Government Compliance Officer for Burns and Roe Enterprises, Inc.; Litigation Associate for Cole Schotz Meisel Forman & Leonard; and Researcher/Writer/Editor for the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Portia serves on a myriad of advisory and working boards including Rutgers University Douglass College, the Cancer Support Community, Sustainable Conservation, Friendship Foundation, and was Founder of the Mayor’s Youth Council of Manhattan Beach.
Portia holds a B.A. in political science (Pi Sigma Alpha) from Douglass College, Rutgers University, and a J.D. from Widener University School of Law, where she was a member of the Delaware Law Review and is published on the issue of corporate governance. She received the American Jurisprudence Award in Contracts. Portia is licensed to practice law before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court of New Jersey, State of New Jersey, and State of Pennsylvania. Her full bio can be found at www.Linkedin.com/pub/dir/Portia/Cohen
Facilities Manager
Walter Flores
Education Program Manager
Alan Hill
Alan Hill is the Education Program Manager at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. He is originally from Wales and has lived in the South Bay for 25 years. He has been an educator for 35 years. After completing B.Ed. degree at University of Wales, he began developing his teaching experience at schools and outdoor centers in the UK. A professional development scholarship took him to Prescott College in Arizona to learn more about experiential education. He moved to the US permanently in 1992 to work for Prescott College. He traveled to Anchorage, Alaska to take an adjunct faculty position at the University of Alaska and within a couple of years had assumed the position of Assistant Coordinator of the Alaska Wilderness Studies program at UAA. While at University of Alaska he completed his M.Ed. specializing in Curriculum Development. In 1997 he moved to Palos Verdes to take the position of Director, Outdoor Education at Chadwick School where he built and developed a robust curriculum for the Outdoor Education Program and assisted in developing the Outdoor Education Program at Chadwick International in Songdo, South Korea.
Director of Special Events and Partnerships
Karl I. Muller
Karl I. Muller is the Director of Special Events and Partnerships at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. Prior to joining AltaSea, Karl worked as the Senior Conference Planner for the Air National Guard in Washington, DC. He received his Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from The George Washington University and his Bachelor’s degree in English from University of California, Los Angeles.
Operations Manager
Angie Reed
Angie Reed is the Operations Manager at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. She is a lifelong San Pedro resident and with that comes a natural connection to the ocean and marine life. Angie raised her college age son in San Pedro with the same deep connection to our coastal waters. She has 20+ years’ experience in the non-profit sector with roles both in finance and operations. She began her finance career in accounts payable and quickly expanded to roles including accounts receivable, grant revenue and staff accounting before moving into operations for organizations with $1 to 9 million budgets.
As Operations Manager, Angie led her organization through two natural disasters and served as project manager for a construction rebuild. She also managed the response to the recent pandemic for her organization, ensuring seamless transition to virtual operations. As well as spearheaded digitization efforts which allowed the organization to not miss a beat in serving their mission. She managed a 45-unit multi-family dwelling in Koreatown that served as transitional housing for the unhoused as well as women and children fleeing human trafficking.
Angie’s heart has remained with the non-profit sector as her main driving force is to be a conduit for good and to be part of the effort to enhance the lives of the communities in which she serves. Her key responsibilities at Alta Sea will allow her to serve that personal mission.
AltaSea Special Advisors
Dr. Yufu Cheng
Brian Goldstein
Nick Hajek
Timothy B. McOsker
Anthony F. Michaels
Barbara J. Stanton
Behjat Zanjani
Dr. Yufu Cheng
Dr. Yufu Cheng has worked in identifying and implementing regional environmental protection related projects, with partners in the government, public authorities, and Technology and Financial Companies. He served as China Director for R20 Regions of Climate Actions, and Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. He was the senior Vice President at Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation, where he helped developing low carbon fuel standards and Energy and Climate Registry in USA and China. Dr. Cheng is a visiting professor at both Peking University and Nanjing University. He participates organizing several US-China Summits on Climate Change, Green Energy, Energy Efficiency and Transportation. Dr. Cheng received his PhD in Ecology from Joint Doctoral Program from University of California at Davis and San Diego State University, Master’s degree in Ecology at Chinese Academy of Forestry and Bachelor In Biological Sciences at Anhui Normal University.
Brian Goldstein
Brian Goldstein is Executive Director, Energy Independence Now (EIN). He leads EIN in its mission to support a transition to a clean transportation system. With a background in finance, Brian has professional experience in the alternative fuels, renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation technologies, and financial services sectors. He has served as CFO of a motorcycle design and manufacturing firm as well as CFO of a hydrogen transportation technology company, where he focused on both public and private financing initiatives, infrastructure acquisitions, automotive technology development, and fleet adoption of hydrogen technology.
Brian has worked to develop alternative fuel distribution networks in California and Colorado. He has also served as a technical and financial consultant to the US Department of Energy and he continues to serve as a judge for the Clean Tech Open business plan competition as well as the DOE National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition.
Mr. Goldstein graduated with a B.S. in International Business from the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado, and earned his MBA with focus on Finance and International Business at the Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business Management, where he received a Merit Scholarship. Mr. Goldstein is an Eagle Scout.
Nick Hajek
Nick Hajek is Director of Maritime Operations at Pacific6. As an international marine contractor, he manages several maritime projects focused on offshore farming, commercial scale aquaculture, carbon capture, and hybrid/all electric vessel designs, as well as continuing his work over seas year round. Nick comes from a maritime family and is an 8th generation Norwegian captain who is heavily involved with installing and supporting commercial scale offshore farms in various countries as well as overseeing the progress and operations of several cutting edge projects here in the United States. Mr. Hajek is extremely hands on and practical. He is an internationally recognized captain, commercial diver, paramedic, aquaculture engineer and although born in the USA calls New Zealand home.
Pacific6 is a California-based investment and development partnership committed to important and inspiring projects that have a positive impact on people and their communities. With a heavy focus on aquaculture and the environment, Pacific6 partners and collaborates with research institutes, scientists, environmentalists, government agencies and fishermen/farmers to explore ways to develop and promote marine aquaculture is the U.S through safe, sustainable practices and a responsible ocean stewardship, catalyzing new industries, preserving working waterfronts, solving the enormous US seafood trade deficit, and demonstrating how to sustainable feed a hungry world. The company operates Pacific6 Ocean AquaFarms, Pacific Mariculture, Pacific Hybfreed, and Symbrosia.
Timothy B. McOsker
Timothy B. McOsker is a lifelong San Pedro resident and an attorney with more than three decades of experience in government, regulatory, and land development matters. Tim has had a long history of serving the City of Los Angeles and the State of California in numerous leadership roles, including as Chief of Staff and Chief Deputy City Attorney for former Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn. Before serving in the City of Los Angeles, Tim served as city attorney to various Southern California jurisdictions.
Tim served as CEO of AltaSea from 2018 through 2021. Prior to this leadership appointment in February 2018, Tim represented AltaSea in critical legal matters, including the lease renegotiation with the Port of Los Angeles. His deep experience in land development, environmental issues, permitting, municipal law, and contracts have been crucial as AltaSea embarks on an ambitious next stage of expansion and development of its 35-acre campus.
Tim is currently serving on the boards of the USC Center for Sustainability Solutions Regional Advisory Board, Linc Housing (an affordable housing entity serving vulnerable communities), the Bridge Cities Alliance/PRIDE on the Port, and the Community Ministry Board of the Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers (South Bay). He is the current President of the Historic Waterfront Business Improvement District and is the immediate past President of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and UCLA School of Law.
Anthony F. Michaels
Dr. Anthony Michaels is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability, innovation and environmental science across multiple business sectors and academic fields. He is the co-founder and managing director of Proteus Environmental Technologies, a leader in the transition of technology innovations to scale and CEO of EVEA Farm Management, a new venture to create vertically integrated supply chains for organic crops and monetize carbon and other environmental benefits from the next generation of regenerative farming technologies. Previously he was CEO of Midwestern BioAg, a leader in soil health and sustainable agriculture. Its network of 4,500 farms use a systems approach to farming that results in higher yield, lower costs, increased farmer profits, improved environmental outcomes and more nutritious crops. Midwestern BioAg has worked with about one-third of the organic farms in the Midwest, a network of progressive conventional farms and has a 35-year history of creating and marketing innovative fertility products for both conventional and organic farmers. In addition to operational roles in sustainability-centric companies, he also was Chief Scientist at Pegasus Capital Advisors. This middle-market Private Equity firm was a leader in building successful companies around a resource scarcity theme, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, biofuels, recycling and a variety of circular-economy sectors. Earlier in his career, he studied global nutrient cycles in the ocean, was a tenured Professor at the University of Southern California and was the founding Director of the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies. He has published over 100 scholarly papers. He has long-standing board roles at the National Council for Science and the Environment, The Julie Wrigley Global Institute on Sustainability at Arizona State University, the Catalina Island Conservancy and the National Science Foundation Environmental Research and Education Advisory Board.
Education
- 1983 – 1988 Ph.D. in Biology (Biological Oceanography), University of California, Santa Cruz.
- 1982 – 1983 M.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona.
- 1980 – 1982 B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona. With Highest Distinction and Honors
- 1976 – 1979 University of California, San Diego and Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
Highlights of Professional Career
- 2020 – Present Co-Founder and CEO, EVEA Farm Management LLC. This company builds vertically integrated organic crop supply chains, starting with operating the farms, building ingredients with the crops and contracting directly with large food and feed companies
- 2007 – Present Managing Director, Proteus Environmental Technologies LLC. Proteus has a unique approach for scaling sustainability innovations from the university and entrepreneur through a partnership/investing approach with existing middle-market companies.
- 2014 – 2019 Chief Executive Officer, Midwestern BioAg Inc. This company is a 38-year leader in regenerative and sustainable agriculture.
- 2010 – 2014 Chief Scientist and Operating Partner, Pegasus Capital Advisors. During Michaels’ tenure, Pegasus had $3.5 billion in AUM and build iconic companies to solve resource scarcity, climate and environmental challenges.
- 2012 – 2013 President, MPH Energy. Scaling a novel re-use of recycled materials into a pollution control technology for coal-fired power plants.
- 2008 – 2013 CEO, PhycoSystems Inc. An algae-biofuels startup
- 1996 – 2012 Associate and Full Professor, Biology, University of Southern California
- 1996 – 2008 Director of the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies. At its time, the leader in a new generation of academic environmental programs that built unique relationships between university scholarship and
- 1993 – 1996 Risk Prediction Initiative, Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc. An innovative program between academic and the global re-insurance industry to redefine the management of the property insurance for catastrophic risks like hurricanes, floods and climate change.
Barbara J. Stanton
Barbara Stanton runs Entrepreneur Educational Center Inc. (EECI), a Watts-based non-profit founded by Dr. Richard H. Zeus Kirk, the late world-renowned educator and Director of the USC Entrepreneur Program, where Ms. Stanton served as a USC Program Specialist. AltaSea and EECI have partnered to accelerate employment opportunities in emerging blue economy sectors by bringing small business and equity to the local area to benefit residents in Black and Indigenous People of Color communities.
Behjat Zanjani
Behjat Zanjani is the principal of IEM. She has more than 28 years of experience in project management, construction management, and project control services on a broad range of public works projects such as ports & harbor facilities, educational facilities, pipelines, pump stations, site improvements and infrastructures, bulk material handling facilities, wastewater and water treatment plants, public buildings, and parking structures.
