To help ensure G stays abreast of the latest ideas and thinking in sustainability, we've asked eight experts in various fields to advise us.
Dr Alan Finkel (Chair) is a scientist and environmental philanthropist. The chairman of Luna Media, publishers of G Magazine, he is a winner of the 2005 Clunies Ross Medal, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006, in both cases for his contribution to science and education. With a PhD in electrical engineering from Monash University, he's been a researcher at the John Curtin School of Medical Research in Canberra and founded Axon Instruments Inc, a scientific equipment manufacturer with a global reputation which he lead for 22 years until its acquisition in 2004. He is to become Chancellor of Melbourne's Monash University in 2008.
Sir Richard Branson is a British entrepreneur best known for his Virgin brand, associated with 200 companies in 30 countries encompassing air and rail travel, mobile phones, finance, music and hotels. Knighted in 1999, he is the patron of the International Rescue Corps, a British search and rescue charity, and financial backer of the Virgin Earth Challenge, a US$25 million prize for any innovation which can substantially reduce human-induced atmospheric greenhouse gases. He recently committed to invest billions of dollars over the next decade to fight global warming.
Dr Tim Flannery is a renowned scientist, and author of the best-selling books The Weather Makers and The Future Eaters. Annointed the 2007 Australian of the Year, he is a former director of the South Australian Museum and a leading member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, which reports to government on sustainability issues. The discoverer of more than 30 new mammal species, he has served as chairman of the South Australian Premier's Science Council and the Sustainability Roundtable, and is a director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
Dr Jane Gilmour was executive director of Earthwatch in Australia for 13 years, and is deputy chair of the International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management. A former director of Parks Victoria, she is a member of the Australian Biological Resources Study Advisory Committee, and an advisor to the University of Melbourne's Office for the Environment.
Patrice Newell is a former television presenter turned biodynamic farmer and author. She gave up a high profile career in TV to live on the land and run a 10,000 acre beef cattle property in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales specialising in chemical-free beef. Her passion for farming is obvious in her books, The Olive Grove and The River, the latter a critically-acclaimed examination of water-management in rural communities.
Nick Rowley is a director of Kinesis, a firm that promotes leadership in business and government on climate change and sustainability. He has worked as Senior Advisor to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the latter's presidency of the Group of Eight industrial economies, and served as an advisor to former New South Wales Premier Bob Carr. He is currently on the advisory board of Britain's The Climate Group and is a member of the international faculty of the Prince of Wales' Business and the Environment Programme.
Cathy Zoi is the chief executive of former U.S. vice-president Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection in San Franscisco. Formerly group executive director of the Bayard Group, a Sydney-based global investor in energy measurement and efficiency technologies, she served as chief of staff of environmental policy under former U.S. president Bill Clinton. She was also the founding chief executive of the Sustainable Energy Development Authority in New South Wales and is a former assistant director-general of that state's Environment Protection Authority.
