MBI adds new board members

Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBI), a leading global provider of bio-based pest management and plant health products, announced recently that its board of directors has appointed Dr. Pamela Contag and Mr. Les Lyman to the board.

“We are delighted to have Pamela and Les on the board as they both possess deep industry experience that will be very valuable in helping us meet our corporate objectives,” said Dr. Pam Marrone, MBI founder and CEO.

Dr. Pamela Contag is the CEO of Cygnet, Inc., a private company founded in 2009, active in the discovery and adaptation of natural products to applications in healthcare, energy, and food. From 1995 to 2006 she was Founder, CEO and President of Xenogen, where she took the company public and was named one of the “Top 25 Women in Small Business” by Fortune magazine. Dr. Contag also founded Cobalt Technologies in 2006, and served as CEO until 2009. In 2011, she was honored with the “Cleantech Innovator of the Year” award for her contributions at Cygnet. Dr. Contag received her Ph.D. in Microbiology at the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed postdoctoral work at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Mr. Les Lyman is the Chairman of The Lyman/Tremont Groups, independent agricultural retail companies with 15 locations in northern California. Under his leadership the organization has grown to become one of the largest independent ag retailers in the nation. The company was honored with the 2011 Ag Retailer of the Year and was awarded the Environmental Respect Award in 1996 and 2010 for excellence in environmental stewardship. In addition to leading the ag retail business Mr. Lyman was instrumental in the founding of Blue Creek Sustainable LLC, MVP Consolidated, FS3, Inland Terminal, and Mar Vista Resources. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Integrated Agribusiness Professionals (IAP), and a past board member of the Western Ag Chemicals Association, California Fertilizer Association, and the Ag Retailers Association. Mr. Lyman holds a degree in Ag Business Management from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Elin Miller, chairperson of the MBI board of directors, commented, “The board is very pleased to welcome Pamela and Les. Both have exceptional backgrounds and have shown outstanding leadership in their fields. Les, with his extensive experience in the retail crop protection industry, will provide MBI with direct insights into the business and agronomic challenges facing farmers and our distribution partners. Pamela will be able to leverage her strong science background and experience working with quickly growing companies to provide key direction to MBI.”

With these additions, the board of directors for Marrone Bio Innovations consists of chairperson Elin Miller, and members Ranjeet Bhatia, Pamela Contag, Tim Fogarty, Lawrence Hough, Joe Hudson, Les Lyman, Pam Marrone, Rich Rominger, and Shaugn Stanley.