Governance

 
Dr Mike Ginnivan, Chairman

B.Agr.Sc., PhD, MAICD

Mike is an experienced agribusiness executive, with an extensive career in senior management roles with international and Australian companies. Most recently, Mike was the inaugural managing Director of Dairy Australia. Previous roles include Bunge Industrial Pty Ltd (meat, smallgoods, and industrial cereals), Tassal Ltd (aquaculture), and Sirius Biotechnology Ltd. Early in his career, Dr Ginnivan worked for Victoria’s then Department of Agriculture as a research scientist.

Mike was a board member of CRC for Innovative Dairy Products as well as Chair of the extension phase of the CRC for Innovative Dairy Products.

 
Kathryn Adams, Director

B.Sc.Agr (Hons), LLM, M.Bus, M.Env.Stud, Grad Dip Leg Pract, Prof Cert Arbitration, FAICD

Kathryn is an Agricultural Scientist and a lawyer. She has had extensive experience in industry focussed R&D investment for agribusiness in Australia and has held senior executive positions in government agencies and business enterprises, including CEO of two R&D Corporations and Director of the Queensland Horticulture Institute. Kathryn started her career as a dairy bacteriologist with the then NSW Department of Agriculture and worked with CSIRO Food Research. She was the first Registrar of Plant Breeder’s Rights in Australia and an Executive Director with the Queensland EPA.

Kathryn has been on a number of agribusiness Boards, including CRCs, R&D Corporations/companies, Plant Health Australia, Food Science Australia and Safe Food Production Queensland. Other career highlights include being a practicing lawyer with an interest in Intellectual Property and corporate law, Deputy CEO of the National Standards Commission and General Manager of the Commonwealth Court Reporting Service.

 
Dr Julian Caples, Director

M.B., B.S. (Monash University), FAFOEM (RACP), MAICD

Julian is a corporate advisor specialising in Risk Management, Sustainability, Public Relations and Government Affairs. He has 20 years business experience gained in the dairy, fast moving consumer goods, mining and manufacturing sectors. He also has experience in clinical medicine, applied research and product development, personnel services, international standards and certification.

Julian has held senior executive positions in National Foods and BHP, has provided advisory and consultancy services to a wide range of companies and government departments. He has served as a company director in both Australia and the USA. Initially medically qualified, and holding specialist qualifications as an occupational and environmental physician, Julian brings a very broad range of skills and experiences to the Dairy Futures CRC.

 
Steve Coats, Director

B.Agr.Sc. (Hons) M.Agr.Sc Grad Dip Business (Agriculture)

Steve manages the Research, Development and Extension investment (pre-farm gate) at Dairy Australia. He has 30 years experience in the dairy industry in both public and private sectors, with senior executive experience spanning the supply chain – from farm production systems research and extension to logistics and supply chain management.

Steve has led lasting change across the dairy supply chain including the commercial application of a broad range of technological offerings, the construction of national extension and education programs for dairy and in the management of key components of the dairy industry supply chain. He specialises in communication within communities (farmers, scientists, advisers) and providing advice with respect to the development of farm production systems which are simultaneously profitable and sustainable. Steve was a board member for the CRC in Innovative Dairy Products.

 
Gary Cornelius, Director

B.Ec (Hons), FCT, FAICD Dip

Gary is a Senior Adviser and Director of Leadenhall VRG specialising in corporate strategy and advice, financial valuations and mergers and acquisitions. He is a Fellow of the Finance and Treasury Association and the Institute of Company Directors. His background includes over 30 years in consulting, banking, finance and international trade in Australia and overseas.

Gary undertook a part-time secondment from 1994 to 1998 to the South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet as an adviser on economic and financial issues to the Micro-Economic Reform Unit and regularly consults to Governments at a high level. He is a director of a number of private and unlisted public companies including the Co-operative Research Centre for Molecular Plant Breeding.

 
Dr Bruce Kefford, Director

B.Sc. (Hons), PhD (Microbiology), Grad Management (AGSM), MAICD, FIPAA

Bruce is responsible for strategic direction aimed at enhancing the performance of the agriculture and food sector in Victoria, in terms of productivity, competitiveness and sustainable use of natural resources. He oversees the Office of Science, Technology and Commercialisation, the Future Farming Systems and the Biosciences Research divisions of the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria. He has a passionate interest in management of science and science based organisations, program evaluation and the processes of improved community engagement.

Bruce has extensive experience in research and development, regulation, technology transfer and science management in agriculture, particularly the dairy industry. At a national level, Bruce leads the National Primary Industries Research, Development & Extension Committee, reporting to the Standing Committee and Ministerial Council. Bruce is director of the Agriculture Victorian Services Pty Ltd (DPI’s commercial arm), the Dairy Futures CRC and the Biosciences Research Centre Pty Ltd.

 
Dr David Nation, Chief Executive Officer

B.Sc.Agr. (Hons.). Ph.D. (Waikato, NZ) Grad. Cert. Bus. Mgmt.

David is an experienced manager of research and agribusiness operations. David’s recent roles include acting CEO of the CRC for Innovative Dairy Products and Program Manager at Dairy Australia where he oversaw investments in plant and animal breeding and in a broad range of animal sciences. He has also held research positions with international research institutes in New Zealand and Ireland.

David has a research background in cow infertility and has held a range of commercial positions with genetics and pharmaceutical companies. His range of skills and experiences include governance, strategic planning, and oversight of large and complex research programs.

 
Colin Daws, Chief Operating Officer

 
Prof. German Spangenberg, Chief Scientist

Ing Agr (Montevideo), Dr rer nat (Heidelberg), DSc (Zürich), FTSE

German is Executive Director, BioSciences Research Division of the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI), and Professor (Plant Genetics and Genomics) with La Trobe University. He received his PhD from the University of Heidelberg and has held numerous scientific positions in Germany and Switzerland. In 1995 he moved to Australia to establish a plant biotechnology centre for DPI.

German is Chief Scientist and Research Director of the Molecular Plant Breeding Cooperative Research Centre and Chairman of the Victorian AgriBiosciences Centre. He also leads the nodes for agrifood applications of the Victorian Microarray Technology Consortium, the Victorian Bioinformatics Consortium and the Victorian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics. He is also Director and Chief Scientific Officer of Phytogene Pty. Ltd., a biotechnology spin-off company of the Plant Biotechnology Centre, Managing Director (R&D) of AgGenomics Pty. Ltd., Australia’s first service company in agricultural genomics; and Chief Scientific Officer of Gramina Pty. Ltd. He was the recipient of the Australian Thinker of Year 2006 Award and has been elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

 
Prof. Ben Cocks, Deputy Chief Scientist

B.Sc.(Hons.) Ph.D. (Biochemistry)

Ben has a track record in innovation and the practical application of biotechnology in agribusiness and medicine, and currently leads large dairy industry projects. Ben is Research Director of Biosciences in the Department of Primary Industries, and Professor of Animal Genetics and Genomics at La Trobe University providing scientific leadership for 180 biosciences staff and students. Before joining DPI, Ben was Senior Director of Drug Discovery Biology at Incyte Corporation in the US, pioneering the application of genomics for understanding mammalian systems.

Ben’s significant discoveries include the identification of SLAM as a key signalling receptor important for T and B cell interaction and activation (Cocks et. al.1995 Nature 376, 260-263) and the discovery of new pathways in lymphocytes determining the development of parasitic, viral, and inflammatory diseases.