Governance and ManagementSteering Committee
Oversees the strategic direction of the network and evaluates progress of the research, providing strategic guidance and advice to assist the Management Team and the Network to achieve its goals. It is chaired by an independent, eminent, experienced Australian scientist with a membership representing a cross section of stakeholders from industry, government and universities. The Steering Committee meets twice a year.
Professor Andy Beattie - Macquarie University (Chair)
Mr Gerard Early – Deputy Secretary, Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Dr Tim Entwisle – Executive Director, Sydney Botanic Gardens Trust
Mr Donald Hobern – Director, Atlas of Living Australia
Mr Stephen Hunter – Deputy Secretary and Executive Director, Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service
Professor Brendan Mackey – Director, ANU WildCountry Research & Policy Hub, Australian National University
Dr Charlie Zammit – Assistant Secretary, Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Professor Andy Beattie - Macquarie University (Chair)
PhD University of Liverpool, UK, then Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University. Professor and Chair of Department of Biological Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago and, for the years 1981-84, also Director of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Colorado. Currently Professor Emeritus, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University. Until recently Director of the Commonwealth Key Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources located in the same department and, prior to that, Head of Department. Research interests are the evolutionary ecology of species interactions, biodiversity and bioprospecting.
Mr Gerard Early – Deputy Secretary, Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
As Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Gerard Early has overall responsibility for a number of important aspects of biodiversity conservation, including wildlife protection and the Australian Government’s environmental impact assessment and approval regime. He has substantial biodiversity related experience as a former Deputy CEO in both the Australian Nature Conservation Agency and the Australian Heritage Commission as well as having led Divisions in the Department responsible for various aspects of natural resource management. Gerard was awarded the Public Service Medal in the June 2007 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for outstanding public service in the protection and conservation of Australia’s natural environment and cultural heritage.
Dr Tim Entwisle – Executive Director, Sydney Botanic Gardens Trust
Dr Tim Entwisle is a highly respected scientist and scientific communicator with a broad interest in plants, science and gardens. Tim has worked as a scientist and senior manager in botanic gardens for nearly 20 years, and before that as a Post-doctoral Fellow at The University of Melbourne. He is currently Executive Director of the Botanic Gardens Trust in Sydney. His research has focussed primarily on the systematics of freshwater algae, and Tim is author of over 70 scientific publications, including three books. While working at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, Tim co-edited and contributed to the four-volume Flora of Victoria. Tim has chaired numerous national and State committees, and is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Sydney. Tim is also a regular contributor to the ABC Sydney radio and website, and writes for various science, nature and garden magazines.
Mr Donald Hobern – Director, Atlas of Living Australia
Mr Donald Hobern is the Director for the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA). This project aims to deliver information systems to integrate information about all Australian species of plants, animals and microorganisms to support research, education and decision-making. Mr Hobern is also Chair of the Taxonomic Databases Working Group (TDWG), the international organisation responsible for development of standards for exchange of biodiversity data.
Mr Stephen Hunter – Deputy Secretary and Executive Director, Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service
Stephen is a Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. He has oversight of the Department's sustainable resource management, agricultural productivity and trade and market access responsibilities. Since joining the Department in 2006 he has also carried out the roles of Executive Director of the Bureau of Rural Sciences and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service.
Before joining DAFF Stephen was a Deputy Secretary of the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA). His responsibilities included disability, housing, community development, disaster recovery and various corporate functions. Prior to joining FaCSIA in mid-2003, Stephen spent five years as a Deputy Secretary with the Department of the Environment and Heritage with responsibility for natural resource management and conservation policies and programs. Before then he was Director of the Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics and First Assistant Secretary with responsibility for Regional Development in the Department of Transport and Regional Development.
Stephen also spent over ten years involved in the administration of the Australian Capital Territory before and after self-government. He joined the Australian Public Service in 1983 following tentative careers in the mining industry, photo-journalism and music. Stephen holds a BA (Hons) from the Australian National University in political science and sociology.
Professor Brendan Mackey – Director, ANU WildCountry Research & Policy Hub, Australian National University
Professor Brendan Mackey is an environmental scientist in the Fenner School of Environment & Society, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment at The Australian National University. Brendan has a PhD in tropical plant ecology and is an environmental biogeographer with expertise in the fields of environmental modelling, GIS and remote sensing, and their application to studies of the distribution of species, ecosystem dynamics, and potential impacts on species and ecosystems of climate change and land use change.
Dr Charlie Zammit – Assistant Secretary, Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Charlie holds a PhD in ecology and has spread his professional career between academia and government positions. He is currently Assistant Secretary, Biodiversity Conservation Branch in the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts where he is responsible for national biodiversity, vegetation and forest policy issues and for developing market-based approaches to biodiversity conservation. From 1999-2005 he was Professor of Land Use Studies and Director of the Land Use Research Centre at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. From 1990 to 1999 he held a variety of senior policy positions in the Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet, the Department of the Environment and the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade. Prior to then he held academic positions at the Australian National University, the University of San Diego and Macquarie University.
