President of TerraCircle
Currently based in Byron Bay, Australia.
Key Skills
- sustainable agriculture and Indigenous food systems
- agro-biodiversity conservation, soil improvement, and small livestock
- climate change adaptation and resilience programming
- participatory program design, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and impact assessment
- market systems and value chain development with a gender lens
- facilitating participatory extension and Indigenous knowledge exchange
- organisational capacity strengthening and governance mentoring
- conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and social cohesion approaches
- strong facilitation, interpersonal, and strategic leadership skills
- cross-cultural communication and partnership brokering.
Experience
Current roles:
- founder and Principal Consultant, One Point Five Degrees – providing technical support on climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, and strategy to international agencies and farmer networks, especially in the Pacific and Africa.
- technical Adviser to the Pacific Farmer Organisation network (11 countries) – providing capacity building, program design, M&E system development, and strategic guidance.
- monitoring & Evaluation Adviser, IFAD Farmer Organisation for Africa, Caribbean & Pacific – supporting Indigenous-led agriculture programs in the Pacific and Timor-Leste.
Recent consultancies:
- agriculture Specialist, IFAD GAFSP Program – value chain and nutrition-sensitive agriculture in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu
- program Design Specialist, FAO GEF-8 Concept Note – sustainable food systems and NRM in Timor-Leste
- advisor, Jagun Alliance – Indigenous-led bushfire resilience in Australia
- interim Director of International Programs, Penny Appeal (UK INGO) – oversight of multi-country programming and partnerships across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia
- MEL Designer & Gender Analyst – Pelena Energy / Lenoke Women’s Association renewable energy project, Papua New Guinea.
Previous positions
Voluntary Work
- advisory Board Member, Jokalante, Senegal – Indigenous communications social enterprise
- former board member, Development Services Exchange, Solomon Islands
- former board member, APACE – Appropriate Technology for Community & Environment, Australia
- grassroots awareness and solidarity work with the Australia Tibet Council
- Volunteer teacher – SOS Tibetan Children’s Village, Ladakh, India.
Education
- Diploma of Permaculture (Community Development & Site Design), Permaculture Institute, Australia
- training of Trainers in Community Ethnobotany, People & Plants Initiative
- International Course in Food Security, IIRR, Thailand
- BA studies in Anthropology & Resource Management, Macquarie University
- study tours in India and Southeast Asia on sustainable agriculture
- numerous professional short courses in M&E, gender, facilitation, and climate resilience
Languages
- English – native
- Solomon Islands Pidgin – fluent
- French – moderate
- Spanish – working knowledge
- Babatana (Choiseul) & Lau (Malaita) – basic conversational.
Conferences and Publications
- lead author, International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD)
- co-author/editor of multiple case studies and tools on food security, biodiversity, and extension
- speaker/facilitator at international workshops (e.g. IIRR, FAO, UNDP) on shifting cultivation, climate adaptation, and Indigenous knowledge
- contributor to the Petanigaki Ti Siniga Ni Lauru – Babatana-language forest food manual
- publications on gendered biodiversity, market systems, and participatory extension.
Awards
- Sir Edward Dunlop Memorial Award for Young Australians – for work supporting Indigenous communities in Solomon Islands and Ecuador (1998)
- Permaculture Institute Community Service Award – for contributions to grassroots sustainable agriculture training in Ecuador (1995).
