Gerard Tuck
Professor Alex Johnson
Professor Alex Johnson
Chief Executive Officer
Gerard brings more than 20 years of leadership experience with corporate strategy and growth-stage companies. He has led capital raising, operational scale-up and commercial expansion across multiple industries, building businesses from early-stage concept through to national distribution.
In a previous role as founder and CEO, Gerard established and scaled a vertically integrated food manufacturing business in the USA, developing 17 product lines and securing placement in more than 1,500 retail stores nationwide. His hands-on leadership across brand development, supply chain, production and commercial partnerships reflects a strong track record in turning innovation into scalable, profitable operations.
Professor Alex Johnson
Professor Alex Johnson
Professor Alex Johnson
Chief Scientific Officer
Professor Alex Johnson is a teaching and research academic at the University of Melbourne specialising in agricultural biotechnology. He has 20+ years of experience in biofortified crops that enrich human and livestock diets with iron and zinc.
Prior to his arrival in Melbourne, he held postdoctoral positions at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, UK) and the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (Adelaide, Australia).
Alex has a Master of Science and PhD from Virginia Tech in the USA. In parallel with his work at the University of Melbourne, Alex is the Chief Scientific Officer of 121SEED.
Dr Jesse Beasley
Professor Alex Johnson
Dr Jesse Beasley
Science and Operations Lead
Dr Jesse Beasley manages the day-to-day science and operations of 121SEED. Jesse previously held a postdoctoral position at the University of Melbourne in Professor Alex Johnson’s Plant Nutrition Lab for four years, focusing on modern breeding approaches to further develop commercially relevant crops such as wheat and soy.
He has a Master of Science and PhD from the University of Melbourne.