Rural R&D Council Membership
Dr Kate Fairley-Grenot is an Independent Consultant. Previous board appointments include the Grape and Wine Research & Development Corporation (Chair, Audit Committee), Industry Research & Development Board (Biological Committee) and Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust (Chair, Finance Audit & Risk Management Committee). Kate has a research background in plant physiology and science policy (Sydney, Harvard, Sussex) and is a former Associate Director of Coopers & Lybrand (Government Services).
Professor Rob Clark AM established the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research and was its director for 10 years. He is currently Emeritus Professor and Visiting Research Professor at the University of Tasmania. He is proprietor and managing partner of a 400ha intensive agricultural property in Tasmania. He was awarded an Order of Australia for service to agricultural science in 2008.
Ms Cathy McGowan AO is an independent rural community consultant. She is a member of the Charles Sturt University Institute of Land Water and Society Advisory Board and a past national president of Australian Women in Agriculture. Over the past 10 years she has consulted to the sugar, dairy, meat, wool and horticultural R&D Corporations.
Mr Mark McHenry is a 4th generation farmer in WA. He was the 2007 winner of Land and Water Australia’s Science and Innovation awards for young people in agriculture, fisheries and forestry. His professional and research interests include renewable resources, climate change policy, regional development and clean energy technology.
Professor Jim Pratley is currently Research Professor of Agriculture at Charles Sturt University and Secretary of the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture. He is a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Australian Farm Institute and a member of the NSW Primary Industries Minister’s Science Council. He is a former president of the Australian Society of Agronomy.
Dr Robert Rose has over 30 years national and international experience in fisheries/aquaculture research, development and commercialisation and is a qualified marine biologist. He is managing director of Tropical Aquaculture Australia and Pearl Oyster Propagators. He is currently a project developer for indigenous aquaculture enterprises in the Northern Territory.
Dr Frances Shapter is an Associate Research Fellow at the Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics at Southern Cross University, and a beef cattle producer. In conjunction with the Grain Foods CRC, Dr Shapter has helped to develop and presents workshops on IP and project management to early career researchers.
Mrs Anne Stünzner is Chief Executive Officer of the Central Queensland Forest Association. She has been a cattle board director for Agforce and a committee member of the Central Queensland Beef Research Committee. She is a director and shareholder of a beef cattle production business. In 2001 Mrs Stünzner was a Churchill Fellow.
Professor Beth Woods OAM is Assistant Director-General, Innovation at the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland. She is Professor of Agribusiness at the University of Queensland. Professor Woods is a member of the R&D Sub-Committee of the Primary Industries Standing Committee. She has been a CSIRO board member and served on the board of several Research and Development Corporations. She currently chairs the Board of Trustees of the International Rice Research Institute.
Professor Penny D. Sackett, the Chief Scientist for Australia, is highly respected in the national and international communities of science and technology, both for her research and her proven experience in research management on three continents. She is a member of the Australian and American Astronomical Societies and the International Astronomical Union. Professor Sackett is an International Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and serves on the Association for Universities for Research in Astronomy Board of Directors and Defence Science and Technology Advisory Board.