Our president
Tyler Whale is a lucky hybrid of agricultural and academic backgrounds and possesses the passion, experience and insight into the agri-food industry that will serve OAFT well.
Tyler was raised on a 7th generation dairy farm in Wellington County. After completing his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at McMaster University in 1999, Tyler went on to obtain a PhD in microbiology/immunology from the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in 2005. In 2007, Tyler completed his MBA at the University of Saskatchewan, on full scholarship from the CIHR’s ‘Science to Business’ program.
Along with two decades of farming experience, Tyler’s work experience includes R&D within the Comparative Medicine division at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore; Business analysis at a biotechnology company in San Diego (Favrille Inc., MBA work term); Business Development Manager at the Saskatoon Colostrum Company; and Technology Transfer Manager and Industry Liaison Officer at the University of Guelph’s Catalyst Centre for the past six years. At the University of Guelph, Tyler was responsible for initiating collaborative R&D projects between industry and faculty, with a strong focus on the research priorities set by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Tyler has also been responsible for helping to launch two companies including a household waste recycling company in Saskatoon (Saskatoon Curbside Recycling, 2002-2012) and most recently, a green roofing company based on University of Guelph technology (Smart Green Technologies Inc., 2014).
Dr. Whale maintains an active role in his community and is a strong advocate for Canadian agriculture, the Canadian regulatory system and the opportunities Canada has in a global marketplace.
Tyler is happily married and he and his wife Julia have two wonderful young children, Ethan and Alexa.