The Rural Research and Development for Profit Expert Assessment Panel - Round Four

Professor Gibson brings over 30 years’ experience and international recognition in a wide range of disciplines including genetics, genomics, farming systems, livestock nutrition and economics of livestock production. He has worked extensively with local, national and multinational business and with international agencies and governments to take innovation into practice.

Professor Gibson is currently Professor and Director at the Centre for Genetic Analysis and Applications, and Director International Development Activities in the School of Environmental and Rural Science at The University of New England (Armidale, NSW).

Professor Gibson is a Director with the CRC for Sheep Industry Innovation.

Dr Sasha Courville is Head of Social Innovation at the National Australia Bank (NAB). She has been leading Shared Value Thinking at NAB, identifying business opportunities that also meet society’s needs, including driving NAB’s Natural Value Strategy - an enterprise wide initiative focused on managing natural capital risks and identifying business opportunities arising from an increased focus on issues such as water, energy and soil health.

Dr Courville has over 19 years of experience driving market transformation through sustainable value chains: as an international consultant, as a researcher at the Regulatory Institutions Network, at the Australian National University and as the Director of the London-based global association of sustainability standards initiatives (the ISEAL Alliance). Dr Courville is Chair of the Shared Value Project Advisory Board, a Board member of UN Global Compact Network Australia and an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Commissioner.

Ms Simone Kain is co-owner of creative agency Hello Friday and co-founder of award-winning educational brand George the Farmer. With extensive experience in website development and business management, Ms Kain has received a number of awards including the 2015 NAB Women’s Agenda Regional Entrepreneur of the Year and the Brand SA Flinders Education Award. She is a current board member of Women in Agriculture, is a member of the board of Regional Development Australia Limestone Coast and sits on the Ignite Advisory panel for AgriFutures Australia.

Ms Kain was a national runner up in the 2017 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award.

She grew up on a mixed sheep and cropping property and her current family property situated near Penola, South Australia, specialises in beef-cattle trading and sheep for meat and wool.

Mr David Anthony’s professional background of over 40 years has largely been involved with the agronomy, processing, exporting and marketing of broad acre crops especially irrigated cotton. Mr Anthony has also had significant participation in research, development and extension funding and management over several decades.

Mr Anthony is the former Chairman of the Australian Farm Institute; and Chairman and former CEO of Auscott Limited, a key agribusiness in Australia which produces significant volumes of agricultural commodities including cotton and grains.

Mr Anthony is a former director of the Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre and is a member of the NSW Minister for Primary Industries Ministerial Advisory Council.

Mr Anthony’s former directorships have included: Cargill Oilseeds Australia; Cargill Processing Limited; Cotton Seed Distributors (Director and Treasurer); Australian Cotton Growers Research Association (Vice Chairman); the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (Vice Chairman); and the Cotton Catchment Communities Cooperative Research Centre (Chairman).

He is currently a Council member on the NSW Department of Primary Industries Tocal College Advisory Council. As the former Chair of Career Harvest he retains a strong interest in the agricultural education initiative “Knowing and Growing”, a joint venture between NSW Royal Agricultural Society, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia.

Dr Stuart Hazell is the Managing Director and Principal Consultant of Fusidium Pty Ltd.

Dr Hazell has more than 35 years’ experience in the life sciences and industry, including veterinary and biomedical research, consulting and senior management roles in the public and private sectors. Fusidium Pty Ltd trades as Fusidium and Track R&D and provides consulting services, including technology assessment, business development and quality regulatory services within the medical device and life sciences sector.

Dr Hazell is a registered Tax Agent with respect to the R&D Tax Incentive. He maintains an active involvement in the broader life sciences community within Australia.

Ms Lucinda Corrigan has thirty years’ experience with research and development across Australia in livestock, landscape, natural resource management, including as CEO of a national membership organisation.

Ms Corrigan currently owns and manages one of Australia’s leading cattle genetics herds which markets to all Australian states and internationally.  Areas of expertise in marketing, business management, innovation at a farm level, advocacy, communication and commercialisation.

Mr Guy Coleman is a Precision Weed Control scientist working at I.A. Watson International Grains Research Centre in Narrabri. He completed a Bachelor of Science at UWA in 2014 and his Honours degree at the University of Sydney in 2016 investigating the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in plant breeding to expedite phenotyping.

Mr Coleman has worked at Rothamsted Research at the UK, the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative in Western Australia and volunteered at Colorado State University in the US.

He recently finished the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources graduate program with experience in crop and biosecurity policy, project management and regulatory science.

Mr Coleman is vice chair of the board of the AG Institute of Australia and sits on the Ignite Advisory Panel for AgriFutures Australia.

Ms Sally Leigo was appointed Northern Territory Project Manager at the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Developing Northern Australia in 2017, after 13 years managing research and extension projects for the beef industry in northern Australia.

Ms Leigo spent six years at the CRC for Remote Economic Participation as a Research Leader for the Precision Pastoral Management Tools project.

Ms Leigo hails from a sheep and cattle property in NSW and sits on the Ignite Advisory Panel for AgriFutures Australia.