Biographies and abstracts for all speakers can be found on this page. They are listed in the order of the progam and you can read the details by selecting the speaker.
Craig Emerson was elected to Parliament in 1998. After the 2010 Federal election he was appointed the Minister for Trade. Prior to that, he had portfolio responsibility for small business, competition policy, consumer affairs and deregulation. Craig holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) Degree from the University of Sydney, a Master of Economics Degree from the University of Sydney and a PhD in Economics from The Australian National University. read more
Joe Ludwig was born in Longreach, Queensland. He is married and lives in Brisbane with his wife and two daughters. Senator Ludwig began his career as an Industrial Inspector and Training Consultant, before moving to the Queensland Branch of the Australian Workers’ Union. He is also a Barrister and served for over 10 years with the Australian Army Reserve. read more
Mr Murray Proctor commenced duties as Australian Ambassador, HIV/AIDS on 1 December 2007. The role of the HIV/AIDS Ambassador is to encourage political, business and community leaders in the Asian Pacific region to provide the direction and support needed to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS and reduce the suffering it causes. read more
Dr Joanne Daly is Strategic Advisor in the Environment Group of CSIRO and a member of the Executive Management Council. Her work focuses on developing strategy on CSIRO Collections and Facilities. She is also Chair of the Governing Board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and is a member of the Crawford Fund’s ACT Committee, the Biosecurity Advisory Council, the Encyclopedia of Life Executive Committee and of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Commission. read more
The Hon Margaret Reid AO has extensive experience with Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) working in international aid as the former President of the Executive Committee of the Australian Council for International Development. Ms Reid was the first female President of the Australian Senate, former World President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and was a member of the panel of The 2011 Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness. read more
Keith farms his 1,000 hectare Gunnedah property in northern New South Wales. He produces wheat, barley, cotton, sunflower, sorghum, sheep and cattle. Keith was appointed as Chairman of the Grain Research and Development Corporation on 1 October 2007. He is the Chairman of the National Rural Advisory Council, and was President of the Grains Council of Australia between April 2001 and April 2005. read more
Rufina Peter is a Senior Research Officer with the PNG Institute of National Affairs. Prior to this role, she worked as a Senior Project Officer responsible for the natural resources sector with the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council. read more
Ms Joanna Hewitt AO is Chair of the Commission of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). She was Secretary of Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) from October 2004 until May 2007. Prior to her appointment at DAFF, she was Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade where, amongst her other responsibilities, she was the lead negotiator for the WTO Doha round read more
Dr Mbithi has been the CEO of FPEAK for the last 5 years. The organisation brings together 150 companies that grow and export fruits, vegetable and flowers from Kenya to the EU. Dr Mbithi has been in this position for the past 5 years, after serving for a similar time and at similar position in the fish industry in Kenya. read more
Thomas Reardon has been a Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University (MSU) since January 1992, and from 1984-1991 with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Tom has worked extensively (in Asia and Latin America) on the “supermarket revolution” transforming horticultural, dairy and rice supply chains, and novel development strategies to link small farmers to dynamic markets. read more
Julian Cribb is an author, journalist, editor and science communicator and Principal of Julian Cribb & Associates – a company that provides specialist consultancy in the communication of science, agriculture, food, mining, energy and the environment. read more
Dr Denis Blight is Chief Executive of The Crawford Fund. Denis has had a career including positions as an Australian diplomat, public servant and Chief Executive. His association with international agricultural research began in earnest some 25 years ago. read more
Professor Allan Fels AO is Dean of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. He was Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (1995 to 2003); the Trade Practices Commission (1991 to 1995); and the Prices Surveillance Authority (1989 to 1992). He was co-chair of the OECD Trade and Competition Committee from 1996 to 2003. read more
Richard Lovell has worked for CP Foods PLC (Thailand) since 2000 in product development, production, managing an overseas branch in South Africa and now setting up its newest branch in Melbourne, Australia. He has worked with many global retailing groups and key players in the foodservice sector. read more
Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda is the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Chairperson of ADB’s Board of Directors. He was elected President by ADB’s Board of Governors in November 2004 and was reelected in November 2006 for a new five-year term. read more
Born in Bowral, New South Wales, where he worked on the family farm, John Kerin is an Australian economist and former Labor politician. He worked at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), before being elected to the Commonwealth Parliament as Australian Labor Party member for Macarthur in 1972. read more
Mr David Shearer is the Director, Corporate, managing the provision of all corporate services to enable ACIAR to efficiently, effectively and successfully meet its corporate objectives and discharge its responsibilities, including government and statutory reporting obligations. read more
Dindo Campilan is a social scientist working for the International Potato Center (CIP) in Asia. Among his areas of professional interest is developing approaches for facilitating pro-poor innovation in agricultural value chains. Dr. Campilan leads CIP’s interdisciplinary research program on sweetpotato and root and tuber crops in Asia, which deals with innovations for improving on-farm productivity, postharvest utilization and market development. read more
John Glover has been in the retail industry since finishing his studies and has over 38 years in the industry. He has spent the past 18 years in the Asian Market working for 2 major Global retailers: Royal Ahold from the Netherlands and the Metro group from Germany (current). During this time he has been involved in working across the Asia Pacific region and dealing with International trade to supply the chains in Asia and from Asia to supply the European market. read more
David has spent the best part of his career as principal of global strategy consultancy McKINNA et al. In addition to work in agrifood, McKINNA et al has a history of strategic ‘trouble shooting’ in sectors as diverse as banking, education, FMCG, retail, home improvement and public governance. read more
Daniel Suryadarma is a Research Fellow at the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics at the Australian National University. Daniel received economics training at Brandon University, University of Toronto, and Australian National University. read more