Bruce Christie

Bruce has over 30 years of experience working in biosecurity, initially as a veterinarian dealing with animal health and production issues, and then across the broader biosecurity spectrum of animal and plant pests, diseases and weeds.

His most recent role was as the Deputy Director General Biosecurity and Food Safety with the NSW Department of Primary Industries where he was responsible for biosecurity and food safety strategy and policy development and implementation within NSW. Prior to that he was the NSW Chief Veterinary Officer where he led responses to a number of exotic disease incursions, including the successful eradication of Equine Influenza (EI) from NSW and Australia.

Since 2004, when he was appointed to the position of Director Animal and Plant Biosecurity, Bruce has driven a cross-sectoral agenda aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of biosecurity systems for animals and plants in NSW and across Australia. He also represented NSW on the National Biosecurity Committee, chaired the Environment and Invasives Committee (EIC) for a number of years, and has been a key driver in the development of the national Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity (IGAB) and the National Environmental Biosecurity Response Agreement (NEBRA).

Robbie Davis

Robbie has business experience in both the private and public sectors domestically and internationally, at Board level as a Non-Executive Director, and in reporting to a Board in the capacity of CEO.

With a strong understanding of whole-of-industry value chains, she also has a grazing property in the Upper SE of South Australia.  Following ten years living and working in SE Asia (Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei), she was self-employed as an agribusiness consultant until her appointment as CEO, Potatoes South Australia in 2012. She continues to consult privately.

Robbie believes that the reduction and transformation of food waste is critical to productivity gains, and to the sustainability and reputation of Australian agriculture. She also believes that R&D programs across agricultural sectors and value chains are vital to Australia attaining its $100b production target by 2030.

Her involvement in biosecurity has been extensive including as a representative on Primary Industries & Regions SA (PIRSA) Biosecurity SA’s Plant Health Technical Reference Panel, Market Access Program Working Group, and Stakeholder Reference Group in the development of the new Biosecurity Act for South Australia.  She presented at the 2018-19 National Roundtable Forum and has been a witness at Federal Senate Inquiries concerning importation of plant material.  She is also a member of the Limestone Coast Landscape Board which has a statutory function for the prevention and management of declared pest animals and weeds.

Robbie was profiled under PIRSA’s Women Influencing Agriculture and Regions in 2015, is the AgriFutures 2016 SA Rural Woman of the Year and is a graduate of the NFF’s Diversity in Agriculture Leadership Program 2019.

She holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD)

 Additional Board Positions include:

  • Non-executive Director,  Chair Research & Commercialisation Committee and Member Industry Impact Committee for the Fight Food Waste (FFW) Cooperative Research Centre (CRC)
  • Member Rural Bank Agribusiness Advisory Board
  • Member Governing Board Research Consortium-Agricultural Product Development (University of Adelaide)
  • Member Limestone Coast Landscape Board (LCLB)
  • Company Secretary/Shareholder Puree Australia Pty Ltd

Justin Bellanger

Justin has extensive director, senior consulting and executive leadership experience in natural resource management, aquaculture and fish management, spanning the non-government and government sectors.

Based in Denmark, Western Australia, Justin works as an Executive and Governance Services Consultant providing specialist services to businesses within the natural resource management sector.

Justin is the Independent Chair of the Aquaculture Council of Western Australia, a member of Biosecurity Council of Western Australia, a member of the National Environmental Biosecurity Advisory Group, and the Co-convenor/Governance Group Member of the National Biosecurity General Surveillance Community of Practice.

Justin is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, holds an Advanced Diploma of Leadership and Management from the Australian Institute of Management, and has Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours in Aquaculture from James Cook University.

Dr Adrian Zammit

BSc.Agr (Hons 1), PhD (agriculture), MBA, GAICD

With over 30 years of experience in environmental and agricultural sustainability, Adrian is co-founder of GreenSmart, serves on the boards of multiple companies and was previously the Deputy Director General of Infrastructure, Investment and Business Excellence at NSW Department of Primary Industries. Adrian was also the CEO of Landcare NSW from 2018 to 2021.

Specialising in water quality, biodiversity, and agriculture, he advocates for proactive sustainability solutions that turn environmental risks into opportunities, driving organisations toward sustainable growth.

As a C-suite executive and an Institute of Company Directors’ certified director, Adrian has successfully led, built, and transformed organisations both domestically and internationally, with a focus on corporate sustainability and ESG issues.

Adrian has a proven track record of identifying and capitalising on emerging opportunities, driving results, and delivering outcomes, and fostering open and effective communication with stakeholders.

Adrian is a lifelong learner and an innovative thinker, who seeks to leverage environmental and social responsibilities as a competitive advantage in today’s world.

Dr Roslyn Hendriks

Roslyn is an experienced Board and Advisory Board member, CEO and entrepreneur, with lifelong success in founding and growing life sciences companies and who has a strong background in coaching executives and corporations.

As a big-picture thinker, strategist and enterprise builder, Roslyn brings decades of experience in angel, seed, venture and high-net-worth backed start-ups across the health sector – from women’s health to global and animal health – as well as translating and commercialising technologies such as therapeutics, diagnostics and devices.

A natural entrepreneur, Roslyn leads and inspires others and communicates her understanding of the funding and development pathways required to translate innovative technologies into products that deliver economic and societal impact.

Roslyn is a Member of the Australian Institute for Company Directors, the Managing Director of C-Suite Corporate Pty Ltd, Honorary Chair of the University of Queensland Founders’ Pledge and serves as Chair or Non-Executive Director on multiple local and international Boards. As a noted innovator in early disease detection, she has co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed papers or posters and is a highly regarded speaker the world over.

Shauna Chadlowe

Ms Chadlowe brings extensive commercial, legal and entrepreneurial experience to the Centre. She joins after nearly two decades with Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), most recently on the Executive Team as Chief Conservation Alliance Officer. AWC is one of Australia’s largest private (non-profit) conservation organisations, operating across millions of hectares of iconic Australian landscapes. Among Shauna’s achievements at AWC was negotiating an historic agreement among key partners and landholders to protect critically endangered Northern Hairy-nosed Wombats.

Shauna demonstrates innovation, creativity and collaboration to achieve strategic priorities and is known for her ability to communicate complex issues clearly while developing positive and open relationships with diverse stakeholders.

Teamed with an extensive knowledge of conversation issues and practices, Shauna is passionate about Australia’s biodiversity and the role of science in improving biodiversity outcomes. Her leadership is characterised by positive transformations and motivating teams while emphasising the importance of philanthropy, community engagement, education and making a positive impact.

Lucie Hassall

Lucie Hassall is the General Manager and Company Secretary of the Centre for invasive Species Solutions. In her role she is responsible for the operations of the company including our finances, contracts, governance arrangements, audit and risk analysis and other major activities.

Lucie is a Chartered Accountant who has over 25 years’ experience in the finance industry, including 9 years in the KPMG chartered accounting practice as an auditor and manager and 18+ years in Commercial Business, primarily at Lendlease Corporation. She has held Senior Finance Manager and Head Office accounting positions over the last 18 years focused on Financial Control, Cost Reporting, Risk Management, Office administration, Financial Systems, Management and Statutory Reporting.

Lucie is a member of the Instituted of Chartered Accountants in Australia and holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting and Management) from the University of Technology Sydney

Dr Tony Buckmaster

Tony Buckmaster

Dr Tony Buckmaster comes from an agricultural background having grown up and worked on the family farm but also has extensive experience in wildlife ecology and strategic pest management as well as 12 years of teaching and research experience.

He currently manages our Centre R&D program and leads our Balanced Research Program. He is also actively involved in several on-going research projects and convenes a Masters level unit in Vertebrate Pest Management for the University of Sydney.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor of Science, The University of Canberra
  • Honours in Applied Science, The University of Canberra
  • PhD in Ecology, The University of Sydney

Dr Baxter Massey

As the Senior Research & Development Coordinator, Baxter’s main responsibilities include managing current and emerging projects, such as weed RD&E projects. This includes assisting with the commercialisation of CISS outputs, managing data, and supporting the administration of contracts and projects.

With a strong interest in controlling invasive species, Baxter brings over four years’ experience in conducting molecular biology research on fungal and viral biocontrol agents at Landcare Research Ltd, New Zealand. His work on using Araujia mosaic virus (ArjMV) as a biocontrol agent on Moth plant has been published in Archives of Virology (2007) and the Australasian Plant Pathology Society (2009).

He spent nearly a decade at the Australian National University, contributing to plant molecular biology research projects, particularly cloning plant lines with the goal of improving photosynthesis in crop plants.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor of Science (Biological Sciences), The University of Auckland
  • Master of Science (Molecular Microbiology), The University of Auckland
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Plant Molecular Biology), The University of Queensland

Shan Southwell

Shan-Southwell-2020

Shan Southwell is the Finance and Office Manager of the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions and is responsible for the day to day finance and administration operations of the centre.

Shan has previously worked for organisations such as CARE Australia, The Australian Gas Association and Deloittes.  Shan is a member of the Instituted of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand and has Bachelor of Accounting from the Canberra College of Advance Education and a Graduate Diploma in Management Sciences from the University of Canberra.