Our Experts

Science, Regulation & Business

Expertise you can rely on

At Oritain, we're proud to deliver data and insights of the highest quality. Our expertise is backed by some of the leading experts in the fields of science, regulation and business.

Ana Hinojosa

Advisor

Ana Hinojosa joined Oritain as an Adviser in June 2022. Before joining Oritain she was the Executive Director at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection where she was responsible for directing CBP’s trade threat assessment units, special investigations and enforcement programs focused on detecting, deterring and disrupting illicit trade, with a special emphasis on forced labor violations, evasion of special tariff cases and modernizing the use of civil penalties to ensure appropriate consequence delivery for non-compliance.

Ana has had an illustrious career with over 34 years of experience in law enforcement, international trade, international policy development and standard setting both with U.S. federal government and with the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels Belgium.

Dr. Helen Darling

Director of Regulatory Affairs and Co-founder of Oritain

Dr. Helen Darling has a Ph.D. in Public Health and, in 2007, was a co-founder of Oritain Global Limited. Over the last ten years, Helen has also been involved with several start-ups working to build food system intelligence through consumer reporting, price monitoring, and social listening (founding InstatData in 2022).

Helen has held several governance roles with local and national bodies, including the Board of the Crown Research Institute, ESR, the advisory committee of Export NZ, and international governance experience with the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (Expert Committee, Food Ingredients; Expert Panel, Food Fraud). As a food producer, Helen has also been one of a small team that has developed a novel variety of cherry and achieved plant varietal rights.

Dr. Kate Jones

Senior Science Advisor

Dr. Kate Jones is the Senior Science Advisor for Oritain. Over the last eight years at Oritain, Kate has driven the development of the Oritain product and science delivery of cotton, wool, mohair, and cashmere verification programs.

Kate completed her undergraduate degree in environmental sciences and chemistry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill before working as an Environmental Engineer for a construction and dewatering firm based in Singapore. Kate went on to obtain her PhD at the University of Otago in New Zealand, modelling the interaction of the marine environment and drivers on carbon dioxide fluxes along the coastal New Zealand shelf.

After a postdoctoral stint at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Tasmania, Kate shifted back to New Zealand and joined Oritain in 2015.

Dr. Kiri McComb

Technical Product Owner

Dr. Kiri McComb is Technical Product Owner, based in Oritain's Dunedin office. He completed his PhD in Chemistry, with a specialization in Chemical Food Traceability, through the University of Otago in 2011.

Since completion of his studies, Kiri has focused on applications using analytical chemistry and statistical data analysis for natural product authentication and verification. As a technical expert in this area, he has contributed to IAEA/FAO regional projects on food traceability, collaborating with scientists across the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.

Kiri's work during his PhD was undertaken in collaboration with Oritain in its early stages, informing Oritain's early science process. Kiri officially joined Oritain in 2013, where he has continued to develop origin verification systems and is currently responsible for the Technical Product area.

Dr. Olya Shatova

Head of Product Development

Dr. Olya Shatova joined Oritain New Zealand as a scientist in 2016, after she completed her PhD in Marine Biochemistry at the University of Otago in Dunedin. At Oritain, Olya has progressed through several roles including a Global Science Director and is now the Head of Product Development.

As part of this role, Olya applies her strong knowledge of Oritain’s product to extend Oritain’s offering by building novel solutions to the client’s problems. She also oversees the work of Research & Development, Software Technology and Data & Analytics teams.

Peter Cullinane

Chief Marketing Officer

Peter joined Oritain as a Marketing Adviser in September 2021 before becoming Chief Marketing Officer in June 2022.

He was formally the Worldwide COO of Saatchi & Saatchi based out of NYC and has successfully founded a number of New Zealand businesses across FMCG and agency. He is most widely known in New Zealand as the founder of Lewis Road Creamery, a challenger business that took on market giants, to become a highly regarded FMCG business and one of New Zealand’s most loved brands.

He is a member of both the Advertising and Marketing ‘Halls of Fame’ and has broad experience as a Director on several Private and Public Boards. He is also a founding partner of Founders Advisory, a business advisory firm. Peter holds Master’s degrees in both Business Administration and Management from the University of Auckland.

Prof. Russell Frew

Chief Scientist

Russell is an analytical chemist who started his career applying trace metal and stable isotope analyses to trace ocean processes. As a Professor at the University of Otago, Russell established the Forensic Analytical Science Major and provided forensic evidence to the courts.

Russell founded Isotrace in 2003 and then co-founded Oritain in 2008. From 2012 to 2016 he was seconded to the IAEA/ FAO to establish a food traceability programme. Russell retired from his academic position in 2021 and has since been full-time with Oritain as Chief Scientist.

Dr. Sam Lind

Head of Strategic Sales

Dr. Sam Lind is a Solutions Architect at Oritain based in Dunedin, Otago.

Sam completed his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Otago in 2012, after which he worked at Thermo Fisher Scientific as an Account Manager, responsible for the areas of life sciences, environmental monitoring, food testing, biopharma, and healthcare.

Joining Oritain in June 2014 as a Business Development Manager, while having various roles in the business since that time, Sam has spent the last 8 years leading the development of both scientific and commercial opportunities, focusing on customer-centric programs and early stage commercialization of new markets.