Life-time development

Some employees can’t really get enough of working in BioMar. One of them is Marie Hillestad who has been working for BioMar since 1990.

“As a leading researcher my career has been one long journey of personal and professional development. I really feel that I have contributed to the innovation of an efficient and sustainable global aquaculture industry,” says Marie Hillestad, member of BioMar’s global R&D team located in Norway.

Marie has in many ways taken part in creating the foundation for where BioMar is today. She entered the company when the industry and BioMar was taking the first steps toward making farmed fish a significant source of nutrition to feeding a growing world.

“In 1990, when I was newly educated, I was hired by the BioMar R&D department in Norway and entered as the first product developer,” Marie tells. “Today BioMar’s R&D team contains more than 30 expert researchers and I am now a group manager in one of the four global research teams working to ensure a strong product pipeline in BioMar. My core competence is fish nutrition, and in particular nutrient requirement and fish performance.”

During the years in BioMar Marie has been undergoing a significant personal and professional development. “I have learned a lot through various research projects and when taking on new responsibilities such as building up a strong research team within process technology,” Marie says and ads: “I have actively been looking for possibilities to develop my professional competences through completing a PhD, partnerships with external researchers, professional networks as well as MBA studies.”

When Marie is explaining about BioMar, she tells about a company with a strong engagement in the industry and willingness to innovate and take measured risks. “There has always been room for new ideas and for combining solid internal research and knowledge with external expertise when innovating for the products of tomorrow,” Marie says. “What matters the most to me is having fantastic colleagues besides new challenges - this is what have made me stay with BioMar, and this is what will make me stay in the future.”

Marie Hillestad, member of BioMar’s global R&D team.