Michael Peterson - Director | Ocean Biomedical (OCEA) Executive Profile & Compensation

About Michael Peterson

Michael L. Peterson (age 62) is an independent director of Ocean Biomedical (OCEA), serving since September 2021 and appointed Audit Committee Chair in October 2024. He holds an MBA from the Marriott School of Management and a BS in statistics/computer science from Brigham Young University, with prior finance roles at Goldman Sachs (VP) and Merrill Lynch (First Vice President) .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Tenure	Committees/Impact
Lafayette Energy Corp	CEO and Director	Since May 2022	Energy operating leadership
Trio Petroleum Corp (NYSE American: TPET)	President & CEO; Director	Oct 2023 – Jul 2024; Director Jul 2022 – Jul 2024	Led CA assets; board oversight
Nevo Motors, Inc.	President	Dec 2020 – Jun 2023	Early-stage EV generator technology; now non-operational
Indonesia Energy Corporation Limited (NYSE American: INDO)	Director; Audit Committee Chair	Since Feb 2021	Audit oversight; chair responsibilities
TRxADE HEALTH, Inc. / Scienture Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: SCNX; formerly Trxade Group Inc.)	Independent Director; Audit Chair; Member Comp & Nominating	Aug 2016 – May 2021 (Trxade/SCNX); Jan 2023 – May 2024 (TRxADE HEALTH)	Multi-committee governance roles
PEDEVCO Corp (NYSE American: PED)	CEO; CFO; EVP; President	CEO May 2016 – May 2018; CFO Jul 2012 – May 2016; EVP Jul 2012 – Oct 2014; President Oct 2014 – May 2018	Energy operating and finance leadership
Aemetis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMTX)	Director	May 2006 – Jul 2012	Biofuels board role
Nevo Energy, Inc. (NEVE) (formerly Solargen Energy, Inc.)	Chairman & CEO	Dec 2008 – Jul 2012	Utility-scale solar development
American Institutional Partners	Managing Partner	2005 – 2006	Venture investment
Merrill Lynch	First Vice President	2000 – 2004	Private client services division
Goldman Sachs & Co.	Vice President (among various roles)	Sep 1989 – Jan 2000	Capital markets experience

External Roles

Organization	Ticker	Role	Tenure	Committees
Indonesia Energy Corporation Limited	INDO	Director; Audit Committee Chair	Since Feb 2021	Audit Chair
Lafayette Energy Corp	—	CEO and Director	Since May 2022	—

Board Governance

Committees: Audit (Chair), Compensation (member), Nominating & Corporate Governance (member). Audit Committee currently composed of Peterson (Chair), Amy Griffith and William Owens; Compensation Committee currently composed of Peterson and William Owens with Amy Griffith as Chair; Nominating Committee currently composed of Amy Griffith and Peterson with William Owens as Chair .
Independence: The board identifies Peterson as an independent director under Nasdaq and SEC rules; all current members of Audit and Compensation committees meet Nasdaq independence criteria .
Audit committee engagement: Audit Committee held four meetings in FY2024 and the Chair is deemed an “audit committee financial expert” under SEC rules .
Charters: Committee charters are available on the company website (Audit, Compensation, Nominating & Governance) .

Fixed Compensation

Component	Amount/Policy	Notes
Annual retainer (cash)	Not disclosed	Directors’ Compensation section provides framework but specific dollar amounts are not presented in the excerpt .
Committee chair fees	Not disclosed	No fee detail disclosed; policy under review .
Meeting fees	Not disclosed	No fee detail disclosed in proxy excerpt .
Non-Employee Director Remuneration Policy	To be determined in 2025	Board to finalize director remuneration policy during 2025 .

Performance Compensation

Award Type	Grant Date	Shares/Units	Strike/Terms	Fair Value & Assumptions	Vesting	Status
Stock Options (Non-Employee Director)	Feb 15, 2023	75,000 options	$10.00 strike	$3.73 fair value; Volatility 75%; Expected term 6.5 yrs; Risk-free 4%	Equal monthly over 3 years, continued board service required	Granted to each non-employee director; time-based vesting; no performance metrics disclosed .
New equity awards (2024)	—	—	—	—	—	Nothing granted in 2024 .

Change-of-control provisions: The equity plan permits the Compensation Committee to accelerate vesting/exercisability on a Change in Control; may cash out options at fair market value less exercise price .
Plan capacity: 2022 Stock Option and Incentive Plan initial share limit 4,360,000 with auto-increase (up to 3% annually); awards may be time- and/or performance-based, but director option grants are time-based .

Performance Metrics Table (Director)

Category	Metrics Tied to Pay	Disclosure
Director equity	None specified	Non-employee director options vest monthly over three years; no revenue/EBITDA/TSR metrics specified .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Company	Ticker	Role	Industry	Potential Interlock Considerations
Indonesia Energy Corporation Limited	INDO	Director; Audit Chair	Energy E&P	External energy governance; OCEA operates in biotech, limited direct commercial overlap .
Lafayette Energy Corp	—	CEO & Director	Energy	Executive role in energy; time-commitment consideration alongside OCEA audit leadership .
Trio Petroleum Corp	TPET	Former President & CEO; Former Director	Energy	Ended July 2024; prior energy leadership .
Aemetis, Inc.	AMTX	Former Director	Biofuels	Historical role .
PEDEVCO Corp	PED	Former CEO/CFO/President/EVP	Energy	Historical executive roles .
Nevo Energy / Nevo Motors	NEVE / —	Former Chairman & CEO; Former President	Solar / EV	Historical roles .
TRxADE HEALTH / Scienture Holdings	SCNX / MEDS	Former Independent Director; Audit Chair; Committee member	Healthcare/Pharmacy tech	Historical governance roles .

Expertise & Qualifications

Finance and capital markets credentials: Vice President at Goldman Sachs; First Vice President at Merrill Lynch leading a new private client services division .
Operating leadership: Multiple CEO/CFO roles in public energy companies (PEDEVCO, Trio) and cleantech/EV ventures .
Audit qualifications: Board determined Audit Committee Chair qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” .
Education: MBA (Marriott School of Management), BS (statistics/computer science, BYU) .

Equity Ownership

Holder	Total Beneficially Owned Shares	% of Outstanding	Components	Notes
Michael L. Peterson	327,909	<1%	Direct: 80,000; Warrants: 200,000 (private placement, exercisable within 60 days of June 2023); Options: 47,909 (exercisable within 60 days of Aug 3, 2023)	Options are part of 75,000 director grant vesting monthly over 36 months .
Shares Outstanding (Record Date)	140,584,743	—	—	Proxy record date context .

Pledging/hedging: No pledging or hedging disclosures for Peterson identified in proxy .
Ownership guidelines: Not disclosed in proxy .

Governance Assessment

Strengths: Independent director; Audit Committee Chair and designated financial expert; Audit Committee met four times in 2024 and issued an audit report recommending inclusion of audited financials; committee charters published; committee independence stated (NASDAQ/SEC) .
Alignment: Holds common shares, private placement warrants, and vested director options—creating equity linkage to shareholder outcomes .
Watch items:
- Multiple concurrent external roles (energy sector CEO/director; audit chair at INDO) could elevate time-commitment risk; monitor attendance and committee workload as OCEA stabilizes governance composition .
- Company-level governance context: OCEA is a “controlled company” under Nasdaq rules and relies on cure periods to fill independent director vacancies, which can affect board independence optics until appointments are completed .
- Market/structure signals: Board is pursuing a broad-authority reverse split to address Nasdaq minimum bid price deficiency, with associated dilution/liquidity risks highlighted by the company—macro governance environment to monitor but not specific to Peterson .

No director-specific related party transactions involving Peterson are disclosed; related-party items in the proxy largely concern Poseidon Bio (controlled by the Executive Chairman) and licensing arrangements with entities associated with other directors (Elkurt) .