OAC Mentoring Speaker Information
Chris Olbach (OAC '17)
Chris Olbach is a Pioneer Area Agronomist in Southwestern Ontario. Raised on a broiler breeder and cash crop farm and working in the mill at Shur-Gain, agriculture has played a formative role in his choice of career path and lifestyle from the beginning. Through his experiences at the University of Guelph and the summer internships with DuPont Pioneer, Chris has been able to network and grow in what Ontario agriculture has to offer. After graduating in 2017 from the OAC, Chris has served briefly in Perth county in ag retail before rejoining the Pioneer team. He has been in the role of agronomist now for just over 5 years across the province of Ontario. After 3 years living and working in the Ottawa Valley of Eastern Ontario, Chris now resides just south of London and serves the rural routes of Elgin, Middlesex, Oxford and Norfolk over to Haldimand-Niagara. Here, he and his wife have settled in, started a family and begun a small farming interest of their own.
Matt Rundle (OAC '17)
Matt Rundle is a graduate of OAC, class of 2017. Matt majored in Crop Science with a certificate in Business and was heavily involved in OAC clubs and events. Matt was raised in the suburban town of Stouffville, and gained agriculture experience working on a winery and cash crop farm. In the summers during university, Matt worked at a crop input supplier, St Lawrence Grains and Farm Supply. Upon graduation, he started as an Agronomy Intern with Cargill, and then progressed to a Sales Agronomist at Harriston Agromart (formerly Cargill, Harriston Branch). After 4 seasons there, he joined Syngenta where he has worked as a Seeds Agronomist for 2 years. He also was working part-time on his Masters in Soybean Physiology, through the University of Guelph. In his spare time, Matt enjoys playing hockey, travelling and spending time with his wife, Hanna and dog, Scout.
Robyn Walsh (OAC '12)
Robyn hails from St. John’s Newfoundland where she was raised on her family’s dairy farm. Once graduating high school, Robyn moved to Toronto to study singing, acting, and dancing at Randolph School for the Performing Arts. Robyn wasn’t the biggest fan of living in Toronto and missed working with cows. She then decide to study at the University of Guelph and attained her Bsc Agr. With original goals of doing dairy nutrition, an interesting opportunity arose while participating in the Dairy Challenge course that changed those plans. The opportunity turned into a Farm Management Support role with Grand River Robotics. For the last ten years, Robyn has assisted in hundreds of Lely robot start ups and has been with the team since 5 robots now to 500. Robyn is excited to be participating in the OAC Speed Mentoring event.
Michelle Linington (OAC '14)
Michelle grew up in Paris, On. She spent her youth riding horses and participating in 4H which lead to her decision to attend the University of Guelph to obtain her BSc Agr degree. While at university, she found her passion for livestock, and took a particular interest in dairy. Upon graduating in 2014 she moved to South Australia to work and eventually manage a dairy. In 2015 Michelle returned to Canada and started working at CanWest DHI (now a part of Lactanet). She soon moved on to the Elora Dairy Research Centre where she worked until returning to do her MSc at Guelph in 2016. Michelle then worked as an Extension and Education Specialist at Holstein Canada. This job allowed Michelle to travel all over Canada teaching dairy genetics and learning from producers. Michelle left Holstein Canada in 2020 and started as the acting Feed Ingredient and By-product specialist at OMAFRA. In July of 2021 Michelle started as a Research Analyst at OMAFRA. In this roll, Michelle oversees the OMAFRA funded livestock projects. She is involved in the OMAFRA research priority-setting process, works closely with industry stakeholders and does KTT work. When not working Michelle enjoys cooking, crafting and spending time with her spouse, Colin, and two cats, Noodle and Nemo.
Todd Pemberton (OAC '09)
Born and raised in Grafton, ON, Todd began his U of G journey in B.Comm Marketing Management. After a few psych classes and enough social activities, he determined his true home was in the Agricultural Business program. Following co-op placements in finance, government, and consulting, upon graduating Todd joined The Toronto-Dominion Bank's Agriculture Services team, where over a decade he held 5 credit and sales roles in 4 locations across the province. For the past 3 years Todd has served as the national Product Manager for agricultural credit products from his hybrid home/Toronto offices.
Linda Nuhn
As the Vice President Commercial Financial Services, Linda is proud to lead a diversified team of financial services professionals focused on helping businesses grow and communities thrive in the London St. Thomas Market. Her team of trusted strategic advisors are dedicated to providing value and advice while collaborating with our broad team of partner specialists.
Linda is a passionate, engaging and curious leader who empowers her team to be forward-thinking, innovative and accountable to delivering exceptional client experiences. She combines strong leadership, change management and execution skills with a passion to drive employee development and business growth.
Linda joined RBC in 2012 as a Commercial Account Manager, specializing in Agriculture. She has held progressively senior roles in retail banking, business performance management and business financial services.
Linda has a passion for developing others and is a proud mentor to the next generation of women in business and banking. She is an active member of her community and serves on the Board of the London Chamber of Commerce and London Health Sciences Foundation. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural from the University of Guelph and is a graduate from the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program from the Rural Ontario Institute. Born in Holland, Linda is fluent in Dutch. Linda is proud to be a new mom and is currently on maternity leave as she and her husband Ian have recently welcome their daughter Stella. In her spare time she enjoys travelling, synchronized skating and running.
Crystal Mackay (OAC '93)
Crystal is recognized as a speaker, trainer and leader in communications, business skills and earning public trust in food and farming in Canada. She served as the founding CEO of Farm & Food Care, the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, and now her own company, Loft32. Crystal is a dynamic presenter and engaging trainer who has delivered over 1000 presentations and 500 media interviews around the globe. She can share a vision, encourage others to get on board, and get to work to make it happen – all with a smile! Crystal is the Food Day Canada Coordinator, with support from the University of Guelph. She is a Board member for the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and chairs the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef communications committee. She has served as a Board Member of the Poultry Industry Council, the Ontario 4-H Foundation and is past president of the OAC Alumni Association at the University of Guelph, where she graduated with her degree in Animal Science. Crystal is a graduate of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program and several other executive business management training programs. Crystal is proud of her farm girl roots in the Ottawa Valley. She enjoys travelling, spending time with her family and playing hockey whenever she gets a chance!
Loritta Lin (OAC '19)
Loritta Lin always had a passion for food and cooking from a young age, and developed an interest in the sciences throughout high school. She realized that she could pursue both passions by studying Food Science (Co-op) at the University of Guelph, leading to an unexpected career path. Loritta spent her 5 years heavily involved with the Food Science Club, where she took on many roles, including President in her final year. She was hired at Maple Leaf Foods and Weston Foods as an R&D Technologist for her co-op terms. Throughout her undergraduate studies, Loritta naturally developed strong relationships with peers and professors, resulting in life-long friendships and valuable mentors. Upon graduation, she furthered her studies at The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, California in their Accelerated Culinary Arts Program. Over the past 8 years, Loritta built up a list of various back-of-house roles within the food industry, leading her to where she is today. Loritta is currently the Innovation Manager at Acid League, a start-up company (founded by two former Food Science classmates) that is striving to reinvent the pantry. She develops retail, DTC, and experimental products, while managing their product portfolio.
Justin Whalen (OAC '14)
Justin is a Landscape Architect, senior project manager and Associate at GSP Group, in Kitchener. He is involved in a wide range of projects from streetscape, park and trail master plans to residential developments, institutional and cemetery designs. Justin has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Guelph and upon graduating in 2014, entered straight into the profession. Since then, he has gained a deeper understanding of the positive impacts that the landscape architectural profession can have on communities, both large and small. Justin has a strong interest in the design of trails and public spaces, with the intent of creating meaningful spaces to connect people to the places where they live, work and play. Justin is also heavily involved in his professional association, the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA), where he serves on its Council and sits as the Chair of the OALA Social Committee.
Ibrahim Aburaneh (OAC '22)
Ibrahim Aburaneh is a recent University of Guelph graduate. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences. Nowadays, Ibrahim is currently working in corporate environmental sustainability alongside a team of dedicated and passionate individuals pushing toward great change. His career started when he accepted his first co-op job as part of the program and that experience followed by many learning curves later landed him where he is today. Reducing our shared environmental impacts has remained a strong passion of his, at work and at home! He also love to participate in community-based events and spend time with the people he appreciates.
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