Appointed Chair from 3 June 2024

Beth retired in 2021 as Director-General of the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries where she led development initiatives to deliver an innovative, productive and sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector. Previously Beth was the foundation Director of the University of Queensland’s Rural Extension Centre, and the Professor of Agribusiness from 1997-2004.

Beth has served on a wide range of boards and committees including the Grains Research & Development Corporation, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Board, the Gatton College Council and the Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority Board (now QRIDA). She has chaired national R&D activities including RIRDC (now AgriFutures Australia), Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), a National Drought Policy review, and global research institutes including the International Rice Research Institute and WorldFish. She was the inaugural independent Chair of the Policy Council of Cattle Council of Australia in 2021-22, and a Member of the Queensland Government Native Vegetation Scientific Expert Panel in 2021-22.

She is currently a Commissioner for International Agricultural Research with ACIAR and Chair of the Australian Institute of Marine Science Council.

Beth completed a B Agric Sci (Hons) at the University of Queensland and a D.Phil. in Agricultural Economics at Oxford University. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Sciences by the University of Queensland in 2021 for her contribution to agriculture and related research.

Sean Sloan has over 25 years of experience in natural resources management, fisheries and aquaculture management, research, monitoring, assessment and industry development, and more recently forestry. He has held senior fisheries positions in the Commonwealth and State Governments of Australia and at the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency based in the Solomon Islands, involving management, research, assessment and development of fisheries and aquaculture resources.

Sean joins FRDC from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, where he is the Deputy Secretary for the Fisheries and Forestry portfolio. His responsibilities included fisheries, aquaculture and forestry management, development, policy making, resource sharing, scientific research, monitoring, stock assessment, freshwater, coastal and marine environment conservation and management, the NSW Marine Estate Management Program, NSW Marine Park management, threatened aquatic species assessment and management, the NSW Shark Management Program, fisheries, aquaculture and hunting compliance, community education, awareness, enforcement, leasing and licensing. 

Sean has led national work funded by the FRDC to establish guidelines for fisheries harvest strategy development, which has been adopted by Australian jurisdictions to support fisheries policy makers and technical teams working on harvest strategies.

Sean has well established relationships and partnerships with government and non-government natural resource management and research agencies, industries and key stakeholders across Australia and internationally. He is a strong advocate for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in Australia.

Sean studied applied fisheries science at the Australian Maritime College and University of Tasmania before commencing work in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. 

Appointed Director from 1 September 2021, Deputy Chair from 1 April 2023 – current, (Acting Chair 30 March 2024 – 2 June 2024)

Chris Calogeras, DBA, AssocDip (AppSc), (CDU); MBA (MarResMgt), GradCert (FishMg), GradDip (FishMgt), (AMC), GAICD, has over 40 years’ expertise working with the fishing and seafood industry and associated stakeholders. These roles included senior resource management positions within government, operations manager at an award-winning export focused seafood company, and for the last 25+ years, director of C-AID Consultants, an independent consultancy. Chris has a range of other formal training in resource management, business and seafood processing.

In government Chris managed multi-disciplinary aquatic resource programs covering teams that were responsible for wild-harvest resource management, marine parks and environment, data management, education, legislation, recreational research, as well as coordinating a large range of external projects. Chris represented the Northern Territory and chaired a number of committees and boards, on behalf of the government.

From 2001 onwards, Chris has been involved in a wide range of consultancies and projects of varying sizes and complexity. He has worked with all sectors of the fishing and seafood industry, including Indigenous, wild harvest, aquaculture, post-harvest and recreational sectors, government agencies, non-government organisations and researchers, to build capacity and develop innovative sustainable management and research solutions and outcomes across diverse groups.

Chris specialises in work involving inshore wild-harvest species, tropical aquaculture species and has extensive experience working with First Nations people. He has also chaired a number of groups and acts as a representative on committees and boards on behalf of industry groups and clients and has overseen or been involved in over 50 national and international projects.

Appointed Director from 1 September 2021. 

Boris Musa is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of the Mainstream Aquaculture Group (Mainstream), a vertically integrated producer and supplier of Barramundi. Mainstream is one of the largest suppliers of Barramundi table fish products in Australia under the Infinity Blue Barramundi brands and is the global market leader in the supply of juvenile fish (seed stock) to the Barramundi aquaculture industry, exporting to 32 countries across five continents. Mainstream operates six farms and three hatcheries in Australia, including the world’s largest aquaculture production facility of its type, as well as the world’s largest Barramundi hatchery. Mainstream also operates a Barramundi farm located Arizona in the United States of America, servicing the local market. Boris has been MD and CEO since 2012.

Boris’ background is in financial services. Most recently, he spent five years at Macquarie Group, the last two as a Director. Boris is also a Non-Executive Director of the Australian Barramundi Farmers Association. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Deakin University and is a Deans Scholar in Finance (top 1 per cent of graduates), a Diploma in Natural Resource Management, and a Masters of Applied Finance.

Appointed Director from 1 September 2021.

Alex Ogg is the Managing Director for Blue-X Ventures, a boutique advisory service with a focus on blue economy innovation and circularity.

With a 30+year professional background in fisheries and aquaculture leadership, Alex was an innovator of open ocean pearl farming systems, quality improvement and vertical integration as a license holder in Western Australia's South Sea pearling industry.

Alex served as vice chair of the Pearl Producer’s Association for a decade and was a ministerial appointee to the Pearling Industry Advisory Committee.

In an industry advocacy role as COO and subsequently CEO of the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council, Alex forged strong relationships across sectors and worked closely with FRDC, serving as chair of the Western Australian Fisheries Research Advisory Board and deputy chair of the Western Australian Research Advisory Committee. Alex helped to form the national peak body, Seafood Industry Australia, acting as deputy chair of the implementation committee and remains a charter member.

Alex holds an MBA from Melbourne University, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a fellow of Melbourne Institute of Technology and the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. He is currently Deputy Chair of Regional Development Australia Great Southern, Director of the Discovery Bay Tourism Precinct and Treasurer of Blue Alliance WA.

Appointed Director from 1 September 2021.

Lyndal Thorburn is a non-executive director with experience in the education, healthcare and environmental sectors as well as regional development. With over 30 years’ Board experience, she brings skills in business and risk management, science/technology
commercialisation, industry development, innovation and entrepreneurship, stakeholder engagement, finance and public administration.

Prior to her appointment to FRDC, Lyndal worked as an evaluation specialist for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, spent 17 years in government agencies and government business enterprises, and has C- suite experience in four organisations. She has extensive experience as an investor and in mentoring technology-based startups in the ACT and elsewhere, in part as an active angel investor with the Griffin Accelerator. Lyndal trained as a biologist and completed a PhD exploring regional, national and global innovation networks of Australian biotechnology firms.

Lyndal is a graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a former member of the Institute of Public Accountants. As a business owner, she is also a past winner of the ACT Telstra Businesswomen’s Awards. Lyndal was born in Sydney but has lived for the last 40 years in regional New South Wales. She has worked in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Dr Lyndal Thorburn holds a BSc (Hons), Grad Dip Legal Studies, Grad Dip Ed, Dip Accounting and a PhD.

Appointed Director from 1 September 2024

Manuwuri brings 30 years of experience working closely with First Nations people of Australia, especially northern Australia.  She is a Lama Lama woman of Princess Charlotte Bay, Cape York Queensland.

As a former Lama Lama Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement (TUMRA) Coordinator and staff member of Yintjingga Aboriginal Corporation, she assisted her People to manage their land and sea country estates in partnership with Lama Lama stakeholders.  She is a director on both the Lama Lama Land Trust, the Lama Lama Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC and member of the Lama Lama TUMRA Steering Committee.

Manuwuri currently works for the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in the Indigenous Partnerships Team, as the Indigenous Cultural Leader. She assists in the building of partnerships between AIMS and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples of Northern Australia, bridging knowledge gaps, particularly regarding the collaboration of Western Science and Traditional Knowledge/Science. She also visits with Traditional Owners of Northern Australia to gain free, prior and informed consent for AIMS related Research Programs and projects.

She is passionate about First Nations people having a voice in looking after, caring for and managing their own Land and Sea country Estates.  She has engaged in various leadership, mentoring, advocacy, advisory roles and has lent her voice to assisting Traditional Owners to share their knowledge, experience, and the insight of our cultural and world views of the natural environment with others.

Manuwuri is the Co-Chair if the Great Barrier Reef Traditional Owner Taskforce, a member of the Traditional Owner Advisory Group of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the former Queensland member of FRDC’s Indigenous Reference Group.

Appointed Director from 1 September 2024

Yorick Piper has extensive experience in fisheries governance having served three terms as a director of the Victorian Fisheries Authority. He is also passionate about research and applied innovation, having helped establish and then chairing Central Victorian Advanced Manufacturing, connecting researchers and students directly with industry.

He has worked in industrial relations, policy development and stakeholder engagement as well as with the fishing, food processing, forest and wood products and manufacturing sectors. He has also worked at senior levels of government. He is a strong advocate for regional industries and developing local jobs, capacity and markets.

Yorick is currently the Deputy Chair of the Skills Insight Jobs and Skills Council and supports high quality vocational training and skill development, seeing it as a key building block for workers’ career development and more effective and successful businesses. He believes that there is great potential for industry to utilise skill development to help drive innovation and transformation in workplaces, build more resilient supply chains and strengthen the broader economy.

Improving health and safety outcomes for workers and businesses is one of Yorick’s highest priorities.

He is a keen recreational fisher and hopes one day to land a metre plus Murray Cod on a surface lure.

Appointed Director from 1 September 2024

Katherine brings 20 years of expertise working closely with the commercial fishing industry and seafood stakeholders. Her most recent role was as the CEO of the Northern Territory Seafood Council, where she spearheaded several critical initiatives including transparency in seafood labelling; promotion of sustainable practices and effective communication strategies to raise awareness of the seafood industry’s importance and contributions.

Beyond her role in the Northern Territory, Katherine served as an inaugural member and former Chair of the National Seafood Industry Alliance (NSIA). Her leadership as NSIA Chair significantly contributed to the establishment of the national peak body, Seafood Industry Australia. Furthermore, as a ministerial appointee to the National Fisheries Advisory Council (NFAC), Katherine has contributed to shaping fisheries policies and practices at the national level.

Katherine’s educational background includes an Honours degree in Environmental Toxicology from the University of South Australia. Her training as an ecotoxicologist informs her approach to environmental management. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.