Dr Peter Ridd, Chairman of the Board & Scientific Adviser

Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with more than 100 publications in international journals and books to his name. He worked on the Great Barrier Reef for 35 years. He also invented and commercialised scientific instrumentation used in marine science, mining and agriculture. He is now most interested in Quality Assurance systems to improve the scientific evidence used for public policy and legislation.

Email address: admin@australianenvironment.org

Jeffrey Rae, Executive Director

Jeffrey Rae is an economist, policy analyst and policy adviser on agricultural, transport and environmental issues. He led the Agricultural Policy Division of the Agricultural Directorate of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris and worked on exchange in the New Zealand Treasury in Wellington. His Australian experience encompasses the Prime Minister’s Department, the Australian Treasury, the Industry Commission (key predecessor organisation to the Productivity Commission), the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, and private consultancy firms.     

Email address: editor@australianenvironment.org

Dr Alan Moran, Director

Alan Moran is an economist and policy adviser on energy and environmental issues. He was the Director of the Deregulation Unit at the Institute of Public Affairs from 1996 until 2014 and a senior official in Australia’s Productivity Commission and Director of the Commonwealth’s Office of Regulation Review. He played a leading role in the development of energy policy and competition policy review as the Deputy Secretary (Energy) in the Victorian Government. Dr Moran has published extensively on regulatory issues, particularly focusing on environmental, energy and housing matters. In the case of energy his work includes responsibility for the Australian chapters in a series of books on world electricity markets, edited by Fereidoon Sioshansi. His most recent book, “Climate Change: Treaties and Policies in the Trump Era” was published in 2017 by Connor Court. He assembled and contributed to a compendium Climate Change: the Facts published in 2015. Earlier works covering the interface of economics and environmental issues include Markets, Resources and the Environment 1991 and The Price of Preservation 1993. He has authored many submissions to Parliamentary and regulatory bodies on energy, the environment and other regulatory matters and has written extensively for the (Australian) Spectator and other Australian media.

Ben Beattie, Director

Ben Beattie is a Chartered Professional Electrical Engineer, registered in Queensland, with more than 20 years’ experience in the power and gas sectors. His work history encompasses the entire project lifecycle: from concept, tendering and FEED; through to detailed design, procurement, construction, commissioning and operations. He has amassed significant on-site experience, particularly in the areas of control systems, heavy industrial machinery and electrical systems. Ben has been analysing and commentating on Australia’s energy systems since 2018 with highlights including consulting on Chris Uhlmann’s documentary The Real Cost of Net Zero, appearances on Sky News and the ABC, as well as producing and hosting The Baseload Podcast.

Jo Nova, Director

Jo Nova is an award-winning blogger. She wrote The Skeptics Handbook and her blog gets more than half a million readers each year. She has appeared as a regular guest on Sky News and ABC radio. She once hosted a children's television series, and managed a Science Circus. Jo Nova is a prize winning graduate of genetic engineering, and formerly an associate lecturer in Science Communication at the Australian National University (ANU).

Peter Rutherford, Director

Peter Rutherford is a forester and has worked in the management of native forests, softwood and hardwood plantations and paper recycling industries in NSW and Victoria for more than 40 years. He has a long-term interest in the management of fire on public and private land, to mitigate the ecological, social and economic risk of high intensity bushfires. In recent years, the quality of peer reviewed research relating to fire and ecological management and restoration of native forests has been a growing interest.

Robert Onfray, Director

Robert Onfray is a professional forester with more than 30 years’ experience in natural resource management across New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland. His career included senior roles in forestry and the mining sector, where he developed extensive practical experience in land and bushfire management across a wide range of Australian landscapes. Since retiring, Robert has focused on historical research and writing on environmental management. He is the author of Fires, Farms and Forests: a human history of Surrey Hills, north-west Tasmania and Paradise Preserved: a history of forestry on Fraser Island, and remains an advocate for evidence-based environmental policy.