George started RipeLocker shortly after selling Pace International, a company he owned for 12 years. During his tenure at Pace, the company rose from a minor player to the world leader in post-harvest treatment of pome, citrus and stone fruit. George has held Board positions with numerous companies and foundations, including NeoVision, B-Line LLC, Agrofresh and the Washington State Investment Board. He has also served as a part-time lecturer at the University of Washington School of Business, and is a member of Washington State Bar Association (inactive). He lives with his wife, Nancy, on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and enjoys cycling, skiing and fly fishing in his spare time. George’s favorite fruit? Berries.

Tom is an accomplished leader with operational, sales & marketing, and research & development experience. Coming to Ripelocker after 18 years in Danaher’s Water Quality Platform, including 11 years with Washington-based Sea-Bird Scientific, Tom brings deep product development, commercial process development, and manufacturing experience to the team. Tom also spent two years as an investment advisor, including time as a portfolio co-manager for a global long-short water technology and infrastructure fund. Tom holds a B.S. in Engineering Physics from the University of Colorado, an M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University, an MBA with a specialization in sustainability, and an M.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado. He lives with his wife, Amanda, on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and enjoys home automation projects in his spare time. Tom’s favorite fruit? Kiwifruit.

Micah has been a finance and operations executive in ag businesses for over fifteen years. He began his career with the Big 4 Accounting firm Ernst & Young in its Philadelphia, PA and McLean, VA offices and holds a CPA license from Virginia. After completing an MBA at Brigham Young University in 2004, he served as CFO and then VP of Operations for Pace through 2015. He worked in the production side of the industry as CFO and GM for Legacy Fruit Packers until its sale to IFC before returning to the industry support side with AgroFresh and most recently Mountain States Const. Co. where he continues as Secretary Treasurer to their family board. He lives in Yakima, WA with his wife Dollie and their four children. Strawberries, Raspberries, Grapes and Peaches are family favorites in the Dunstan home.

Damon has more than 25 years of experience working in operations, business development and sales roles in the produce industry. Prior to joining RipeLocker, he was director of sales and field service at Pace International for nine years. Before that, he was operations manager at Grimmway Enterprises for ten years where he managed citrus operations and was responsible for profit and loss, training and inventory control. His career in produce started with an operations manager role at Dole Fresh Fruit Corporation for six years where he was responsible for all operations including refrigeration, purchasing, logistics and facilities maintenance. He lives with his wife, Motoko, on Bainbridge Island and enjoys hiking, mountain biking and fishing. His favorite fruit is blueberries.

As a native of Wenatchee, WA, Connor has grown up working in and around the agricultural industry. Prior to graduating from Westmont College with a B.A. in Spanish and History, he gained valuable operations experience on both large industrial-sized farms and smaller-scale, family farms. Connor is passionate about the future of technology in agriculture and is excited to help grow RipeLocker’s footprint in the United States and throughout Latin America. His favorite fruit is the flat peach.

Richard holds a B.S. in Plant Pathology and Entomology, an M.S. in Plant Physiology, and a PhD in Plant Pathology. He has led research into postharvest fungal disease at Washington State University and for Pace International for more than 18 years. Most recently, his research contributed to the reopening of the Chinese market to Washington apples. Richard is a longtime member of the Postharvest Pathology Committee of the American Phytopathological Society and the International Society for Horticultural Science. He lives with his wife, Jae, daughter Cassie, and son John in Yakima, Washington. For recreation, Richard teaches golf and skiing. His favorite fruit? Rainier cherries.

Brendon holds a B.S. in Environmental Science, an M.S. in Horticulture, and a PhD in Horticulture. Brendon received his M.S. from Washington State University, where his research was focused on optimizing management and quality for ‘WA38,’ aka ‘Cosmic Crisp.’ During his PhD and postdoctoral fellowship in Horticulture at Colorado State University, his research was focused on understanding peach fruit quality development and its connection with its molecular and biochemical characteristics. Brendon has extensive applied and industry-oriented research experience in fruit physiology, quality and metabolomics. He is an active member in the American and International Societies of Horticultural Sciences. Brendon enjoys camping, hiking, and kayaking with his husky, Kaskade. His favorite fruit? Palisade peaches.

Alex earned a B.S. in Physics from Western Washington University and has helped RipeLocker with everything from building vacuum control systems and engineering tasks to data science, logistics and deploying the RipeLocker container in the field. He was initially drawn to RipeLocker because of its enormous potential to help the environment. Alex currently lives in Kingston, WA with his wife McKenzie and infant daughter Shea. For fun they like to backpack, trail run, snowboard and road bike. His favorite fruit is a Champagne mango.

Joel arrives at RipeLocker with a background in product development and engineering leadership from a variety of startups and established companies spanning the deep ocean to the low atmosphere. Always interested in seeing engineering better the world, his recent projects include measuring climate change and ocean acidification at Sea-Bird Scientific, assisting anti-poaching operations in Africa with unmanned aerial systems at Vulcan, and now developing novel ways to preserve food. In his free time, Joel enjoys bicycling, wrenching on ancient Volvos, and cooking. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics, a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington. His favorite fruit is the Amarelle cherry.

After earning a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University, Eric spent the next three years in their Astrophysics Department, where he led the mechanical design of several doppler spectrographs designed to search for earth-like planets around nearby stars. His work was instrumental in securing a $10M NASA/NSF grant to develop and build the most thermally stable spectrograph on earth. At RipeLocker, he is responsible for the design and manufacture of the control system for the RipeLocker container, as well as managing the build of the physical vacuum chamber and associated components. In his free time, Eric enjoys sailing, woodworking, and spending time in nature with his dog, Kya. His favorite fruit is watermelon.

Max joined RipeLocker’s engineering team after graduating with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Seattle University. His focus is on user-focused design, combining continuous improvement in useability and reliable product performance. He also enjoys challenges in data collection and analysis. Out of the office, Max practices various martial arts and enjoys collecting records, furniture, and art. He lives in Seattle, WA, and his favorite fruit is a fridge-cold Honeycrisp apple.

Following graduation with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Eastern Washington University, Jesse spent 5 years working in the manufacturing and automotive industries. His projects ranged from designing thermoforming tooling for the manufacture of aerospace components to leading the design and production of new commercial products. As a private pilot, Jesse enjoys flying both full-size and radio-controlled aircraft. He also enjoys snowboarding, building projects in his shop, and spending time with his family. His favorite fruit is cantaloupe.

Makayla has over eight years of experience as a software engineer and is a third generation computer programmer. She began her career at USGS Astrogeology working on image processing software while finishing her Bachelor's degree in Computer Science at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Most recently, she worked on bike fitting software as a Senior Full Stack Engineer. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her two cats, Coco and Mimi, and she enjoys playing board games, knitting, and gardening. Makayla's favorite fruit is pineapple.

Rowan has a passion for agriculture stemming from growing up in Wenatchee, WA, the Apple Capital of the World. Upon graduating from the University of San Diego with a Bachelors in Business Administration he decided to return home to pursue the intersection of Ag and Technology. He splits his time between Wenatchee and Bellevue and when not working, loves to read, ski, travel, and boat on Lake Chelan. Rowan’s favorite fruit? Bing Cherries.

Selynn brings over a decade of agricultural industry experience to the RipeLocker team. She has helped numerous companies design and implement branding, marketing, communications, and business development strategies. A graduate of the University of Washington in Communications, her professional career in agribusiness marketing and communications started with fruit and vegetable chemicals at Pace International and expanded to mink fur at American Legend Cooperative. Selynn lives in Seattle, Washington, loves to cook and travel and spend time with family. One of her favorite fruits is durian.

While Kya has no formal education, she has proven herself as an invaluable member of the RipeLocker team. In her free time (all of the time), she can be found keeping the kitchen floor clean, requesting scratches, or enjoying the freedom of the outdoors. Her favorite fruit? Low hanging...