Richard Woods has been with Supercritical since its inception in 2016. He has beenresponsible for the scientific development of the project and external relationships withgovernment, industry and research providers. Richard has a long-standing interest in plant-insect interactions and resilience to environmental stress.

After completing an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences at La Trobe University, Melbourne (majoring in Botany and Zoology) and working in biodiversity management for some years he commenced post-graduate study and subsequently completed a Ph.D in genetics and adaptation to environmental stress from La Trobe University in the mid-1990’s.

After several years of working on different projects for the Victorian Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Melbourne Water, he worked from 1999-2003 as the inaugural Executive Officer of the Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research (an Australian Research Council Special Research Centre).

In this position he supervised MSc and Ph.D students and developed a broad range ofresearch relationships with industry. During this time he also completed a Graduate Diploma in Business Management.

Following this he worked for over a decade as a consultant in the private sector for ES Link Services, a company he jointly founded.

Richard became Managing Director of Supercritical in early 2025.

Jules Visser has an expertise in plant biology and pest management with experience in commercial cultivation and scientific research contexts. She graduated from the University of Victoria (Canada) in 2016 with a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies. She then joined a cannabis processing and third-party testing and analytics company as the Processing, Manufacturing and Development Manager, focusing on cannabis extractions and playing a key role in licensing the facility following the legalization of cannabis in Canada in 2018.

In 2021, Jules joined Supercritical as Research Assistant and Head Cultivator. In this role she managed an in-house experimental program examining the role of cannabis-derived semiochemicals in plant defence and pest resistance. To further understanding of the biological processes underlying this research, in 2024 Jules commenced a MSc in Biological Sciences at Southern Cross University as part of a jointly funded industry scholarship. This project is currently exploring plant defence mechanisms on a molecular level and how plant-derived compounds influence insect behaviour.

Jules has a keen interest in advancing scientific research in plant health and pest management to develop practical and sustainable cultivation practices.

Max is a Co-founder of Supercritical. He is an experienced leader and innovator with a demonstrated history of success working in emerging technology and markets.

In 2005, Max co-founded renewable energy company Energy Matters, one of the top 5 largest installers of solar panels in Australia. Over a period of 10 years, Energy Matters went from start-up to an $150M annual revenue company. In 2014, Max and fellow directors sold the business to SunEdison, a California- based public company. Max’s roles at Energy Matters included Head of Innovation, Chief information Officer (CIO) and Head of Internet Marketing.

Max also started a bitcoin exchange in 2014 (Bitcoin PTY LTD) and in its first year of trading the company turned over more than $20M of bitcoin ($6BN at today’s prices).

In 2012, Max was diagnosed with leukemia. This triggered his interest in Medical Marijuana and he started several companies in the cannabis space. These include Marijuana Pty Ltd and Supercritical Pty Ltd.

Max holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) and a Bachelor of Information Systems from the University of Melbourne.