Greg Johannes
Chairperson
Greg Johannes has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the Australian public, private, not-for-profit and research sectors. His roles have included being Head of the State Service and Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Tasmania.
In 2015 he was made a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia for his outstanding contribution to the public sector in Australia over many years. Greg has a deep interest in the marine science community and has previously been on the boards of both the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.
He now runs his own consulting company, helping boards, CEOs and senior managers and leaders address complex development and organisational issues. The son of a marine biologist, in his spare time Greg has been in or on the water since he was a young boy living in a remote village in Micronesia, and he snorkels and dives on the world’s coral reefs whenever he can.
Greg Vickery
Board Member
Greg Vickery AO FAICD is an experienced company lawyer and company director based in Brisbane. He is a member of the prestigious international Standing Commission of Red Cross & Red Crescent and chairs the Law Council of Australia’s Business and Human Rights Committee. He is a former President of the Queensland Law Society and the Australian Red Cross Society and was for ten years a member of the national Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee.
Dr Gunilla Burrowes
HonFIEAust
An electrical engineer with a broad range of industry and academic experience, Gunilla is passionate about innovation and diversity. Her engineering career has taken her on parallel journeys of technology commercialisation, entrepreneurship and advocacy (for gender equity within organisations, both in Universities and in business). She has a Master of Philosophy in Engineering Education and a Doctorate in Underwater Swarm Sensor Networks.
In 2000, she founded an underwater tech company, BlueZone Group with her husband in the Hunter which has now grown to 3 offices around Australia. Gunilla is also co-founder of a consultancy, Gender Matters that advises organisations on gender equity and has a unique approach to mitigating unconscious and conscious bias in decision making.
Gunilla is the inaugural Chair of Eighteen04 (an inspirational co-working and incubator space for companies scaling in the clean tech and smart city start-up space) and inaugural board member of Hunter iF project (an open consortium of leading organisations in the Hunter to support the growing startup ecosystem growing in the region). She is founding Chair of Rights House an Angel investing group which has recently merged with the Hunter Angels.
Gunilla has graduated from the AICD Directors Course and is an active member on numerous company boards. She has been a National Vice President of Engineers Australia, and was awarded an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia in 2017.
Nick Elliott
Board Member
Nick Elliott has extensive marine and aquaculture research and industry knowledge, experience and achievements built through his 33-year career at CSIRO. He is internationally recognised for his research leadership, education and management. A PhD graduate from the University of Tasmania his research experience has included biomonitoring of heavy metals, genetics applied to fisheries, and the application of genetics, physiology and innovative technologies to advance aquaculture production. His vision and leadership resulted in the internationally recognised selective breeding team at CSIRO, as well as collaborative innovative research in biotags and opportunities for industry expansion offshore. Nick has co-supervised over 15 post-graduate students and mentored many careers. His mission is to continue to see the transformation of the Australian aquaculture sector through collaborative research and education, and is committed to the use and integration of rapidly advancing technologies. Nick brings abundant knowledge of aquaculture and research management to the Board, including over 10 years on the Tasmanian Fisheries Research Advisory Board
Rhys Edwards
Board Member
Rhys Edwards is the principal of RDME Consulting a boutique consulting firm working with governments, universities and the private sector.
Rhys is an experienced organisational leader having worked at the highest levels of the public sector including six years as Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Tasmania. He has a strong background in governance, leadership, economic development, innovation and major project facilitation.
Rhys is an honorary senior research fellow at Melbourne University, a moderator for the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership, a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Salzburg Global Fellow.
Rhys enjoys working with clients at the intersection of government, education, social enterprise and the private sector to create new models for change and growth.