Chris Lee is the CEO of Climate KIC Australia and played a key role its establishment. Chris has extensive climate change experience and from 2009 to 2017 led the development and implementation of Climate Change Adaptation programs for the NSW Government. He has degrees in Economics and Environmental Management, and has experience across, public, private and university sectors.
Genevieve is responsible for managing projects which aim to drive systemic change. Her careers spans impact assessment, research, stakeholder engagement and sustainability in the mining, forestry and energy sectors. She takes a systems perspective, integrating technologies, decision-making processes and organisational change strategies to solve complex problems.
As a Director – Strategic Initiatives at Climate KIC Australia, and Director of the Business Renewables Centre Australia (BRC-A), Jackie manages a national membership platform and corporate education initiative to accelerate corporate transition to renewable energy. Jackie brings rich experience in renewable energy procurement and carbon management to the BRC-A to expand corporate renewable energy support to an even wider group of organisations nationally.
As a Research Director at Climate KIC Australia, Jason focuses on the environment, planning, and human and planetary health. His expertise is in the transition to regenerative and climate-resilient cities and regions, with a focus on collaborative and transdisciplinary approaches. Jason has led 51 national and international research projects through productive collaborations with research organisations, government, industry, NGOs, communities and the professions. His research has been published widely in various journals, edited collections, and through public reports and interactive tools.
Jason is a member of the Global Alliance for Inter- and Transdisciplinarity Leadership Board. Jason is also a registered planner and architect.
As a Research Director at Climate KIC Australia, Caitlin specialises in communications and capacity-building, working with and for communities on sustainability and climate resilience initiatives. Her research explores the transition to regenerative and climate-resilient cities and regions, with a focus on collaborative and transdisciplinary approaches. Caitlin has 25 years’ experience in the design, analysis and evaluation of policies and programs for sustainable, resilient built environments, with a particular focus on housing. Her research has informed policies and programs for all levels of government.
Sina brings a strong background in NGO management, international project development, communications and an education from Harvard University. Sina is best equipped to point the next climate change innovators in the right direction.
Jason develops and leads multi-stakeholder system transition initiatives, leveraging his experience in Europe over the past decade working with large scale demonstrations and innovation ecosystem building initiatives for industry and cities.
Andrew has a strong track record of designing and co-leading projects with diverse stakeholder coalitions to deliver real-world practical outcomes. His work focuses on smart cities and has centred on the use of smart low-cost environmental sensors in smart city applications, including data collection methodologies, and data management, interpretation, activation and sharing strategies. Andrew has worked extensively with local and state governments and public sector organisations, private sector partners and other research institutions to design and deliver a variety of critically acclaimed and award-winning projects.
As Director – Strategic Initiatives at Climate KIC Australia, Belinda brings her global experience in accounting, marketing, strategy and innovation for financial services to develop strategies to build greater resilience.
Kathy delivers large, multi-stakeholder collaborative projects. Her experience in this sector includes the built environment, embodied carbon, hard-to-abate industries, international climate policy and sustainable finance.
Kathy has over 12 years’ experience in setting up systems for the delivery of complex projects with large and diverse groups of stakeholders across industry, government and research organisations. Before moving to Australia, Kathy worked for a senior lawmaker in Germany’s parliament and international development agencies in Europe and Asia. She has a background in business administration, economics, literature and philosophy.
As Director – Strategic Initiatives at Climate KIC Australia, Meredith brings her experience in strategy, design, innovation and facilitation to shape and deliver projects and portfolios for systemic impact. She leverages her experience in consulting, financial services, corporate innovation and a start up to help people and organisations tackle the complexity of climate action.
As Project Officer for Climate KIC Australia, Alexi is involved in communications and membership management for the Material and Embodied Carbon Leaders’ Alliance (MECLA). He has a background working in various environmental NGOs, a passion for tackling climate change, and a first class honours from the University of Sydney in philosophy.
As Lead – Strategic Projects, Melinda specialises in climate change adaptation and resilience. She delivers applied, collaborative research and innovation across Australia, Europe and the Pacific. Melinda draws on on her legal and policy background, as well as qualitative research and co‑design to support place‑based and systems‑focused resilience outcomes.
As a Project Officer, Viv works on complex multi-stakeholder projects across various areas, with a focus on adaptation and resilience. She has a Master of Environmental Management with Excellence from UNSW, where she was a casual academic and teaching assistant. Having pivoted from a biology and ethology background in Montreal, Canada, she brings a passion for delightfully disrupting the humancentric status quo toward sustainable worldmaking.
Nodoka designs and leads multi-stakeholder collaborations that enable systems-level climate action. With over six years’ experience across energy, transport, agriculture, heavy industry and health, her practice combines systems innovation, experience design, knowledge brokering, and visualisations to shape strategy, unlock shared value, and support coordinated action to accelerate decarbonisation solutions to market scale. Nodoka also leads cutting-edge co-design initiatives that integrate bespoke AI tools with human-centred processes to generate actionable insights and support collaborative decision-making.
As Lead – Marketing and Communications at Climate KIC Australia, Sophie brings her background in strategic communications and media production to partner with knowledge experts and craft compelling content and strategy. Sophie is passionate about the role of storytelling in elevating brands and solving complex environmental problems.
As a Project Officer, Clare brings her background in project management and research administration to enable seamless convening and coordination a complex collaboration of researchers, industry participants and affiliated projects. An environmental biotechnology major, Clare is passionate about helping organisations adapt to the evolving needs of the environment, and brings to this project relevant experience analysing the impact of urban environments on the health of people and the natural environment.
Bridget Weston is a Project Officer at Climate KIC Australia, holding a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Technology Sydney. With a strong passion for sustainability and the environment, Bridget has an interest in the nexus between renewable energy initiatives and their implications on biodiversity.
She has previously worked with the University of Technology’s Climate Change Cluster (C3), performing laboratory work using microalgae to extract Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from mining waste. Bridget has also worked with UTS’s Institute of Sustainable Futures (ISF) alongside the Energy Futures and Healthy Environments teams.
Amy is an Administration Assistant and Executive Assistant to the CEO of Climate KIC Australia. Amy has over 5 years’ experience in event coordination and administration management across various sectors, ranging from NGOs and small businesses to the performing arts and educational institutions. Amy is primarily engaged with business integration, logistical support for events, CRM and membership support, and providing day-to-day support in various areas such as meetings and business development.
Dominic McGann is a commercial lawyer with over 35 years experience in native title, cultural heritage, government advisory, resource development and carbon farming. He has acted for various State Governments, Local Governments, infrastructure and resources companies, as well as Traditional Owners, sugar and timber entities and pastoral companies.
Melita Grant is Associate Director Research at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, where she leads research at the intersection of climate resilience, water governance, and gender equality across the Asia-Pacific region. With over two decades of experience, Melita is internationally recognised for her work embedding climate justice and locally-led approaches into water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems, particularly in Pacific Island nations.
Currently working as a consultant, Stephanie Ziersch has over 15 years experience as an executive responsible for climate change policy and program delivery at the state, national and international level working on issues such as climate strategy, climate finance and climate innovation. A strategic and innovative leader, she excels at developing collaborative partnerships and building high-performing teams.
As CEO of Climate KIC, Kirsten brings over 30 years of experience catalysing systemic transformations in a career spanning academia, consulting, banking, and insurance. Kirsten serves on various Advisory Boards and is a recognised leader at the European Commission Economic and Societal Impact of Research and Innovation (ESIR) expert group.
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