Geir Åsmund Myge Hansen, a 42-year-old native of Nordkjosbotn, serves as the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Seagarden.
As CSO, his responsibilities include leading research and working closely with R&D and quality teams. He also contributes to the development and enhancement of new products and production processes.
Geir Åsmund comes across as a sociable and outgoing person with a firm grasp of his subject matter. After residing in Karmøy for the past three years, Seagarden stood out positively when it was time for him to make a career change.
Seagarden looked to be a robust company experiencing strong growth, and although it meant a shift in my career path, there were still familiar anchors to my previous work, he says.
Geir Åsmund and Seagarden proved to be a good match, sharing similar values and principles.
It’s important to me that Seagarden engages in responsible practices, demonstrating transparency in everything we do, and showing respect for nature while developing sustainable solutions with minimal impact on the environment.
From Molecular Biotechnology to Large-Scale Production
Geir Åsmund holds a master’s degree in molecular biotechnology and a Ph.D. in molecular and structural biology, both from UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. He also has additional training as a clinical laboratory geneticist from the Department of Medical Genetics at the University Hospital of North Norway.
After completing his Ph.D., he worked for two years as a researcher in the Molecular Biosystems and Bioinformatics research group at the Department of Chemistry at UiT. For the past decade, Geir Åsmund has worked as a clinical laboratory geneticist at the Department of Medical Genetics at the University Hospital of North Norway, with expertise in DNA analyses in the Next-Generation Sequencing section.
Enhancing Quality
Geir Åsmund has been with Seagarden for five months and plays a crucial role in leading ongoing research projects and contributing to new applications. The year 2024 brings exciting prospects as Seagarden secures support to join a major international project focused on sustainability and better utilization of by-products to create new products and explore new areas of use.
Geir Åsmund admits he spends a lot of time in Seagarden’s laboratory, collaborating with and leading the R&D team. He focuses on individual production steps and conducts experiments to optimize them.
This enhances product quality and enables ongoing testing to control variations in production and raw materials, he says.
Adapting to Market Trends
Finally, we asked Geir Åsmund about his outlook on the future of marine collagen products.
The market is changing very rapidly, and we must be attentive to follow up on these changes and stay competitive. The market now demands products with molecular weight optimized for various applications, and we must continuously optimize taste, smell, and color accordingly. Additionally, we see a growing market where collagen is added to various products such as functional food and pet food, and of course, we are closely monitoring these trends as well.