ICRAR is governed by a nine member competency-based board established under the Joint Venture Agreement and appointed by the State Government.
Dr Jacqui Coombes is the current acting Board Chair and we extend a warm welcome to her. We would like to thank our previous Board Chair Dr Ken Michael for his guidance and advice. The previous, and inaugural, chair was Dr Bernard Bowen. We thank Dr Bowen for his service and his instrumental role in the formation and growth of ICRAR since 2009.
Current Members
Independent member
Appointed June 2010
Mr Graham McHarrie has a depth of experience in advising boards and management on financial reporting and audit, compliance requirements, transaction due diligence, risk assessment and corporate governance.
Mr McHarrie chairs ICRAR’s Finance and Audit Committee.
Nominated member
Appointed August 2016
Professor Chris Moran joined Curtin University on 1st August 2016 as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research. From 2007 to 2016 Professor Moran was Professor and Director, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland. The Institute comprises seven discipline-based research centres and is one of the largest entities of its kind in the world.
Professor Moran’s previous roles include Founding Director, Centre for Coal Seam Gas (UQ) and Founding Director, Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry (UQ). Across a 16 year career with CSIRO, he held a range of leadership roles, including heading the team that developed the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship Program.
Professor Moran has been a Board Member of five Cooperative Research Centres. In the international domain, he was Director of the International Mining for Development Centre (IM4DC), and established an International Centre of Excellence for the mining industry located in Chile.
He holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences (with Honours) and a PhD from the University of Sydney and has a strong international and national reputation for his research and expertise in soil science (digital image processing), natural resources (spatial modelling and statistics) and water management. Professor Moran has published widely in scientific literature and the broader media.
Independent member
Appointed August 2018
Professor Virginia Kilborn is a radio astronomer with the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing at Swinburne University. Her primary research interests include tracing galaxy evolution by studying the neutral hydrogen gas in galaxies, and she is now working towards preparations for surveys with the next generation radio telescopes, such as the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) and the SKA. Professor Kilborn is involved in the WALLABY ASKAP hydrogen survey, and is also chair of one of the survey’s scientific working groups.
Independent Member
Appointed September 2020
Jahna Cedar is a Nyiyaparli/Yindjibarndi woman from the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with family connection to the Gija people of the Kimberleys, and is recognised as a strong Indigenous community leader. She has worked for over 20 years advocating for equal rights and reconciliation of Indigenous people and has represented Indigenous Australia at the United Nations in New York, on three occasions. In 2012, Jahna was the youngest person to be elected into the West Australian International Women’s Day Hall of Fame and in 2017 proudly won Business news 40 under 40, First amongst equals. Jahna was also awarded Telstra Business Women Awards WA – For Purpose and Social Enterprise Winner in 2017 and enjoys speaking at various events on issues of social justice, Indigenous rights and business management.
A motivational leader, Jahna’s corporate experience includes 18 years in business/human resources management and consultancy, including the implementation of organisational and change management strategies, projects and policy development, in both the Not for Profit and Private sector.
Offering an innate leadership style and proven business acumen, Jahna drives consistent results and is passionate about encouraging and developing others, while working ethically towards corporate and strategic goals. Jahna is dedicated to challenging preconceptions, breaking down damaging stereotypes and working hard to make a difference for Indigenous people, specifically women and youth.
Nominated member
Appointed September 2020
Professor Tim Colmer is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and has responsibility for research policy development and leadership of the University’s research activities, postgraduate education, industry liaison, intellectual property and commercialisation.
Professor Colmer is a plant physiologist and enjoys working across various academic disciplines to support research at UWA, including research infrastructure initiatives. His substantive position is as a Teaching and Research academic in the School of Agriculture and Environment, the Faculty of Science. His contributions to coursework teaching have been recognised by two national awards. He has supervised 35 PhD students to completion.
His research is on abiotic stress tolerance (salinity, flooding, and drought) in grain crops, forages, turfgrass and halophytes. He has long-standing collaborations with key scientists in various countries (e.g. Argentina, Denmark, England, India and Japan) and success in winning competitive grants, publishing in well-ranked journals, and engaging with industry. He has a strong service record (e.g. degree coordinator; postgraduate coordinator; editor of scientific journals; organising conferences/workshops; President of Australian Society of Plant Scientists); Associate Dean for Teaching & Learning; Head of School; Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research)).
Professor Colmer is a Board member of the Integrated Marine Observing System, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Microscopy Australia and the Population Health Research Network.
Acting Board Chair
Appointed September 2020
Dr Jacqui Coombes is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Amira Global. Amira Global is a global, member-based, not-for-profit organisation that provides platforms for thought leadership; builds collaborations to address key R&D and Innovation breakthroughs; and develops pathways to enable those outcomes to be delivered in industry.
Jacqui is a minerals industry thought leader with experience across the mine value chain, commodities, and across the globe. Jacqui’s passion for governance frameworks and accelerating change in society is augmented by her skill in building collaboration across the industry, government and academia; her experience in developing capability of businesses and people; and her deep commitment to fundamental science and integrity of data.
Jacqui holds a Bachelor of Science degree (double major: Statistics and Mathematics); a Masters degree in Statistics; a Masters degree in Resources and Commercial Law; and a PhD in statistical reasoning and competency development.
Nominated Member
Appointed November 2020
Linda is a senior executive with more than 25 years experience working in large Australian and multinational organisations across the resources and utilities sectors. She has held diverse portfolio roles across operations, human resources, health safety environment, corporate affairs, corporate services and community social performance functions. She currently works with Western Australian state government Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation as the Deputy Director General Industry, Science and Innovation.
Linda holds a Masters of Education and Bachelor of Physical Education from the University of Western Australia, is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Certified Professional of the Australian Human Resource Institute and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.
She is also currently a Board Member of Workpower, Scitech and AROSE; Vice Chair of Midland Womens Health Care Place Inc and a member of the Sir Charles Gardiner and Osborne Park Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee.
CSIRO Nominated Member
Appointed November 2022
E: Elanor.Huntington@icrar.org
Professor Elanor Huntington FTSE
Executive Director – Digital, National Facilities & Collections at CSIRO and Non-Executive Director on the Boards of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, Industry Innovation and Science Australia, Significant Capital Ventures, Questacon, Pawsey Supercomputing, and other government scientific advisory roles.
Former Members
- Dr Ken Michael, Chair, January 2015 - June 2022
- Dr David Williams, Nominated member, July 2015 – November 2021
- Professor Brian Boyle, independent member, February 2009 - August 2012
- Dr Vanessa Guthrie, independent member, February 2011 - March 2013
- Professor Alistar Robertson, nominated member, February 2009 - November 2012
- Mr Phillip Jenkins, nominated member, February 2009 - 2014
- Professor Lyn Beazley, independent member, February 2009 - 2014
- Dr Kerry Sanderson, independent member, July 2013 - October 2014
- Ms Michelle Reynolds, nominated member, June - December 2014
- Professor Tom Spurling, nominated member, February 2009 - June 2015
- Ms Jennifer McGrath, nominated member, December 2014 - August 2015
- Professor Graeme Wright, nominated member, May 2012 - July 2016
- Dr Bernard Bowen, chair, February 2009 - July 2016
- Professor Ron Ekers, independent member, November 2012 - June 2018
- Professor Robyn Owens, nominated member, November 2012 - June 2020
- Ms Fiona Roche, nominated member, September 2015 - August 2020
- Dr Erica Smyth, independent member, July 2016 - May 2020
- Dr Tom Hatton, independent member, July 2014 - June 2020