About Us

Meet our team, learn about our mission.

Our Mission

We here at Algae Research and Supply are committed to educating the world about our favorite living organism: algae! Algae produces over half the world's Oxygen, is the base of most marine food chains, and is a key player in the future of clean energy. Algae Research Supply wants to educate the future scientists of the world about this incredible species through fun science projects, where children can learn for themselves the properties of our biosphere. 

Meet our Team

Matthew Huber: Chief Scientist

Our founder, Matthew Huber M.S., is trained as a Biological Oceanographer. He has spent his entire life in research and development in the sciences. During the 90s he worked in pharmaceuticals (Allergan and Purdue). During the 2000s he shifted his focus to marine science. He has been heavily involved in education, teaching at Hartnell, Cuyamaca, and Mira Costa Colleges.

Matt has been working specifically with algae cultivation since January of 2000. Studying phytoplankton photosynthesis at Moss Landing Marine Labs. Later he did research on Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) for Earthrise Nutritionals in the Imperial Valley of California. Mr. Huber was also involved in the efforts to bring algae-biofuels to market, working for General Atomics, Green Reactions and several smaller startups. He was involved with building algae farms in New Mexico, Texas, California, and Hawaii. In 2009 he received a grant from the State of California to build next-generation harvesting and growing equipment for algae biofuels.  To date, he has no tattoos of algae.

Danielle Martinez- Operations Manager- Emeratius 

Danielle has left our normal operations and is now a full time teacher!!!!   
She is staying onboard with us for special projects. 
She was  our operations manager, her amazing work is the reason Algae Research Supply is running so smoothly. Danielle started working for Matt as a nanny about 10 years ago, and became operations manager 5 years ago. 

Hunter Jenkins- Lab Technician

Hunter is the Lab Technician at Algae Research Supply, and comes from a diverse background working at a technician level in various fields of biological research, from stem-cell treatments for neurodegenerative diseases to alternative foods for aquacultured shrimp larvae. He graduated in 2018 with a BS in Ecology; and spent a few years working for Cal-CAB under Steve Mayfield PhD at the California Center for Algae Biotechnology. There he isolated new strains of algae that have been used for various projects, such as bio-based plastics and nutraceuticals, and gained experience cultivating algae from bench-top to production scales.

Hunter has a passion for biological production systems, like photobioreactors, hydroponics, and fermentation; his long-term goal is to further the development of the artificial ecosystems humans will be using to live in off-earth environments, ie. Mars, large space stations, etc. 

Julia Charpek- The Jack of All Trades

Julia started working for Algae Research and Supply in 2017 as a consultant during her senior year at the University of South Carolina. Julia graduated in the spring of 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Marine Science. Since then, Julia has worked with ARS as a consultant, a content creator, a website developer, a research assistant, and any other role that she could step into for the benefit of the company. Julia worked very closely with ARS during the inception of Soil Algae, a department of ARS dedicated to helping farms across the world step away from harsh chemical fertilizers by providing a safe, natural and beneficial alternative fertilizer made with algae! In addition to her passionate work with Soil Algae, Julia has contributed to ARS with various algae-focused lesson plans and educational outreach. She also spends part of each year working for an outdoor education company based out of California that works with students from elementary school to high school. She is extremely fortunate to be able to fill her life with the things that she loves. Julia plans on keeping up her momentum and continuing to pursue her passions!

Tristan Rammel- Culture Matinence/ Education

Tristin received a BS in Marine Biology from UCSD and is a masters student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying marine biology with a focus on long-term phytoplankton ecology. In his research he uses flow cytometry, environmental genetic sequencing, and mathematical modeling to identify trends in marine phytoplankton groups with an eye towards describing the effects of our changing climate on a subset of life that supplies Earth with 50% of its breathable oxygen. In his off time, he enjoys dancing, mixed martial arts, and bouldering. Tristin is currently assisting ARS with archival culture maintenance and the creation of educational material to help budding scientists gain a passion for algal biology!

Erin Fox- Social Media Manager

Erin Fox is our social media manager, the man behind the curtain, so to speak. She is currently a sophomore communication major at Cornell University, and intends to pursue a focus in science, environment, and public health communication. Erin began at ARS as Matt's babysitter, then became a lab tech, and now runs social media/ marketing while still doing odd jobs for the lab.