Our Team

   Don G. Roberts is Chair of the Arbios Board. Don is considered to be a global thought leader in the emerging bio-products sector.

He is also the CEO of Nawitka Capital Advisor Ltd, an investment banking boutique that raises capital and provides advice on strategic direction for companies and public sector organizations in the clean technology and forest products industries. Prior to founding Nawitka in 2013, Don was a Vice-Chair of wholesale banking and a Managing Director in investment banking with CIBC World Markets Inc. In this capacity, Mr. Roberts provided senior coverage for companies in the global forest products industry and he also founded and led CIBC’s cross- functional Renewable Energy & Clean Technology Team.

Don is considered to be global thought leader in the emerging bio-products sector.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of four organizations, and is a certified board director with the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD).

Dr Len Humphreys was instrumental in the conception and development of Licella’s technology and is the inventor of a number of patents around the Catalytic Hydrothermal process, Cat-HTR.

Len is a chartered chemist and the former Director and Managing Director of several renewable energy companies including Novera Energy, a renewable energy company now listed on the AIM in the UK and also the ASX listed company IBA Health (now I-Soft), a healthcare IT software provider.

In addition Len held Managing Director and Regional President roles inside the European Invensys Group of companies.

Invensys is one of the world’s largest IT, process control and industrial process automation conglomerates. In Europe, Len was a senior executive inside the Mannesmann Group, the German multinational specialising in engineering, manufacturing and telecommunications; in particular he was CEO of the Hartmann and Braun process Analytical Division based in the UK.

Alan Nicholl is the President and CEO of Arbios Biotech. Appointed to this position in October 2021, Alan’s strategic leadership and financial discipline are critical assets as Arbios continues to develop and grow. Alan also serves as Managing Director for Licella.  

Previous to his appointment to Licella, Alan was Executive Vice President, Bio-Based Solutions & Pulp Operations at Canfor, where he was responsible for building Canfor’s Bio-Innovation team that is focused on unlocking the full value of each log by diversifying the business into bio-based solutions as low carbon, renewable products become increasingly valued. 

Alan joined Canfor in 2008, serving in many positions including as the Chief Financial Officer of Canfor and Canfor Pulp and Executive Vice President Finance and Canfor Pulp Products Inc.  Prior to that appointment, Alan served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for both Canfor and Canfor Pulp. He has been a member of the Arbios Board and Management Committee since they were established and is excited to leverage innovative hydrothermal liquefaction technology to provide circular economy solutions around the world.

 Larry Ciccarelli is currently the Chairman of Licella Holdings. Larry was a founding shareholder of Licella in 2009 and became a director in 2010 and subsequently Chairman of the Board. Larry is a director of Mura Technology Limited.

Larry currently holds the position of Director and Company Secretary at Karr Securities Inc., a private investment firm, where he has worked since co-founding the company in 1989 and  is the President of Rinlar Inc., private family office.

He was the Founder and Chairman of Karmin Exploration, a TSX-listed mining and exploration company with an interest in one of the largest undeveloped zinc projects in Brazil. Karmin was acquired by Nexa resources in 2019 by Nexa Resources SA. Larry was the Executive Chairman and founder of GlobeStar Mining Corporation, previously a TSX-listed company, until its recent acquisition by Perilya Ltd (ASX: PEM). Globestar owned base and precious metal mining assets in the Dominican Republic. He founded Sarmin in 1997, which was a private natural resource corporation, prior to its acquisition by GlobeStar.

Larry holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of Western Ontario. He received an Ontario Business Achievement Award (OBAA) and the Ontario Global Traders Award (OGTA) from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in 2009. In 2010, Larry was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (“EOY”) finalist, for his role as founder of GlobeStar Mining Corporation.

  Sandeep is the Technical Project Director of Arbios Biotech and is responsible for overseeing the successful planning, implementation and reporting of all projects. 

Sandeep has extensive experience in downstream hydrocarbon processing (oil refining, upgrading, LNG), technology development & commercialisation and project execution. Prior to joining Arbios, Sandeep worked and managed business development and projects for engineering companies in Australia, Brazil, Canada and India. He is a registered professional engineer in the province of Alberta and Queensland.

Sandeep has extensive experience in leadership roles delivering complex capital and operational engineering projects in in Australia and North America. 

Petri  Kukkonen is the Senior Advisor to Arbios Biotech. In his most recent role, Petri was Vice President of the Biofuels Growth Program at Finnish based forestry company UPM.

 Petri is an entrepreneurial, innovative and driven Executive with 30 years of expertise in the energy industry. With a proven track record of successfully working with more than a hundred leading companies worldwide, including basic industry, power utilities and financing organizations, Petri has held leadership roles running an organization with 100+ employees and multi-million Eur turnover with full P/L responsibility. Petri has experience in fundraising and networking, having built partnerships with hundreds of companies and building significant bottom line revenue growth. 

Sotirios Korogonas is the General Manager, Biofuels Development, at Canfor Pulp. He has been with Canfor for over 17 years and has held several senior roles with the company including GM of the Northwood Pulp Mill in British Columbia and led the capital projects for the energy management program and the redesign of the pulp supply chain systems.

Sotirios brings his strong technical background as a chemical engineer to Canfor and is helping the company to develop and diversify into biofuels, bioenergy and bio-products. As part of the Arbios leadership team, he is working to develop the first plant that will convert wood byproducts using hydrothermal liquefaction technology into low carbon biofuels. Sotirios is excited to leverage Canfor’s renewable resource to create a new business with a circular economy. He shares a belief that forest products companies have inherent advantages and can take a significant role in leading global transition to a low carbon future.

  Mark Feldinger is a member of the Arbios Board. With a career of over 35 years at Canfor, Mark brings his extensive experience of leadership in forestry, manufacturing operations, supply chain and major projects to Arbios at a time of growth and project execution. Mark’s previous role at Canfor before retirement was as Senior VP, Global Supply Chain, where his responsibilities also included Information Technology, Government Relations, Environment, and leadership on Forestry and softwood lumber policy. Mark has served on several boards for Canfor companies and joint ventures, and for organizations serving the forestry industry, including FP Innovations (also as chair), the Forest Products Association of Canada, the Alberta Forest Products Association and the BC Council of Forest Industries. Mark is passionate about the green attributes associated with forest products and the potential they hold.

Simon Mathewson is currently CFO at Licella Holdings. Simon has over 20 years’ experience in the banking and financial services industry, including Asset Management; Superannuation; Wealth Management and Capital Markets. He has extensive leadership experience on strategic projects across Sales, Risk, Finance, Operations and Technology. Prior to joining Licella Holdings in early 2019, Simon held various senior leadership positions across Westpac, Macquarie Bank and JP Morgan. In addition, Simon brings to Licella Holdings valuable expertise in transitioning entrepreneurial start-ups into their commercialisation phase through his work as a business consultant.

  David Calabrigo is a Board member for Arbios and Senior Vice President, Corporate and Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary for Canfor.   David joined Canfor as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in January 2001.  In addition to his extensive responsibilities heading legal and corporate compliance for Canfor, David is in charge of mergers and acquisitions. 

Born and raised in Vancouver, David received his Law degree from the University of Alberta and in 2010 was appointed to the King’s Counsel.