The Board of Blue Economy CRC-Co Ltd is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr John Whittington as our inaugural CEO.

John joins us from the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment where he has been the Secretary (Chief Executive-equivalent) for more than five years. As the leader of that agency he has been responsible for a regionally dispersed workforce of approximately 1400 people with an annual expenditure in excess of $250 million, and management of $1.6 billion in assets.

John has led the sustainable planning and management of Tasmania’s wild fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture, animal welfare and biosecurity. He has also been the Director of Parks and Wildlife and the Director General of Lands, responsible for the conservation and management of Tasmania’s 3.2 million ha reserve estate.

John has a PhD in algal physiology from the University of Adelaide and has postdoctoral experience at universities in Australia and the USA, and with the CRC for Freshwater Ecology. He is the Chair of the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture Advisory Board and a Director of the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, and through his career has led major research, development and extension programs and portfolios in fisheries, animal and plant health, and conservation science.

John will take up the role in late January 2020 based in Launceston in Tasmania. In the interim, the work of the CRC will continue to be led strongly by Dr Darren Cundy who is focusing on completing the Participants Agreement, preparing for our first Participants workshop early next year and getting the research program up and running.