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Our Board
The Antarctic Science Foundation Ltd was registered in September 2017.
PROFESSOR TONY HAYMET FTSE
Professor Tony Haymet FTSE was the Chair of the Board of The Antarctic Science Foundation from November 2021 to January 2025 when he was appointed to be Australia’s Chief Scientist.
Professor Haymet is a scientist, an academic and a business leader. He is co-founder and co-owner of MRV Systems LLC, a for-profit company manufacturing sea and air-launchable in-ocean robots.
He was formerly Director Oceans, for the Minderoo Foundation based in Perth, Western Australia, and Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of WorldFish (Penang). He worked in Antarctica for three summer seasons as a researcher.
Professor Haymet was the Vice-Chancellor for Marine Sciences at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and is currently Emeritus Director and Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Professor Haymet was the tenth Director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Founded in 1903, Scripps is a US$200 million earth science institution. More than 1,600 people at Scripps address societally relevant issues in solid earth, seismology, oceans and atmosphere, fisheries and marine biology.
Professor Haymet was previously Chief of CSIRO Marine Research, then Marine & Atmospheric Research, founder of the “Wealth from Oceans” Flagship, and held the Established Chair of Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Sydney. He is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Engineering and the Australian Chemical Institute. He is the author of 175 peer-reviewed publications, many highly cited, and numerous Opinion-Editorial pieces for leading global newspapers.
CHERYL WALMSLEY
CHAIR
Cheryl Walmsley’s career has primarily been in the engineering and project management sector, working in change management, organisational development, human resource management and employment relations. For over 35 years, Cheryl has worked in multinationals, including Elders IXL, Levi Strauss, Cathay Pacific Airways, KBR, Downer EDI, and for Bechtel and Ove Arup on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Project.
Cheryl has served on the Board of Lifeline Northern Beaches, was its Chair for two years and continues to be involved in the work of Lifeline. She attained a Master of Science degree in Organisational Psychology from the University of London (Birkbeck College) and is a member of the AICD and AHRI.
DR TONY PRESS AO FAIIA
COMPANY SECRETARY
Dr Tony Press is an adjunct professor at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania. He was CEO of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre from 2009 to 2014, following a decade as Director of the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD).
Dr Press chaired the Antarctic Treaty’s Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) from 2002 to 2006; was Australia’s representative to the CEP, and Delegate to Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings from 1999 to 2008. He was Australia’s Commissioner to the Commission for the Convention on Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) from 1998 to 2008. Dr Press provided the Australian Government with the 20 Year Australian Antarctic Strategic Plan in 2014. He is a founding Board Member of the Antarctic Science Foundation.
For his contribution to the study of Antarctic policy Dr Press was made a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2022. In 2023 Dr Press was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the preservation of the Antarctic and Kakadu.
SOPHIE TAYLOR-PRICE
DIRECTOR
Sophie Taylor-Price is a sustainability professional and geographer working with Ernst & Young in climate change and sustainability. For the past 15 years, Sophie has worked with organisations to understand and take action on their sustainability risks and opportunities.
As a four-year-old, Sophie vividly remembers sitting on her grandfather’s knee, the late former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, as he launched Australia’s first ‘State of the Environment’ report’. Now an environmental leader in her own right, Sophie continues his legacy and flies the flag for the next generation. Sophie has inherited his courage and conviction for conservation and building a better world. Sophie travelled to Antarctica with fellow sustainability leaders in 2012.
SAMANTHA O’CONNOR
DIRECTOR
Samantha O’Connor is an experienced senior executive with a solid commercial, legal, and governance skill set, having worked in both commercial and not-for-profit organisations for over 20 years. She commenced her career in funds management & investment banking at Bankers Trust and Citibank.
Samantha has more recently worked at a smaller boutique investment manager, Private Portfolio Managers, as General Counsel and COO. She has held COO and CEO roles at the not-for-profit organisations of the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) and the Cleaning Accountability Framework (CAF).
Samantha is passionate about environmental research, sustainability and social responsibility. She is a member of The Governance Institute and of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). GAICD, GIACert, FGIA.
DAVID SINCLAIR
DIRECTOR
David Sinclair is an experienced corporate/commercial lawyer and an accomplished polar expedition leader and photographer. David has managed dual careers for the past two decades, working as in-house counsel for several leading Australian businesses, including BHP, Orica and EnergyAustralia and guiding and leading expeditions to the polar regions. David’s guiding career has taken him all over Antarctica, including the South Pole, Ross Sea, Mawson’s Huts, the Antarctic Peninsula and Queen Maud Land and seen him work alongside a range of Antarctic science subject matter experts. David recently founded his own polar-focused expedition business, Islands & Ice Travel, delivering small group expeditions to remote locations, including deep-field Antarctica. David has been a big supporter of the Antarctic Science Foundation since arriving in Hobart in 2018. David said, “I am delighted to join the ASF Board. I am brimming with ideas to support Antarctic science and look forward to working with the Board to deliver upon the Antarctic Science Foundation’s mission.”
INDIAH HODGSON-JOHNSTON
DIRECTOR
Indi is a Senior Lecturer in Antarctic and Marine Governance at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania. She is also Chief Rapporteur at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings. Indi holds various governance roles, including as Senior Deputy Chair of the Tasmanian Polar Network and on the boards of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival and the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research’s Antarctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.
Indi was previously Chief Operating Officer of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science and Deputy Director of Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System. She holds degrees in law, policy, and Antarctic studies, a PhD in international law, and is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Tasmania.
Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO FTSE FAICD
EMERITUS DIRECTOR
Dr Katherine Woodthorpe is one of Australia’s most influential people in innovation. She is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of ATSE since 2015. She currently serves as ATSE 10th president. In 2017, Katherine received an Order of Australia for her ongoing service to research and technology innovation in Australia. Dr Woodthorpe holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and an honorary doctorate from the University of Technology Sydney.
She has been a professional director for over 20 years, including as Chair of the Great Barrier Foundation, Natural Hazards Research Australia and the HEARing Cooperative Research Centre. She has been a Director of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Bioplatforms Australia (NCRIS), the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, Vast Solar, and listed companies Sirtex and Anteotech. She previously chaired the National Climate Science Advisory Committee and currently chairs the Government’s “Vision 2040” committee reviewing the strategy for investment in medical research for the next two decades.
From July 2019 to November 2021, Dr Katherine Woodthorpe was Chair of the Antarctic Science Foundation. She was unanimously voted by our Board in April 2023 as our first Emeritus Director to acknowledge her contributions to the Foundation and to help shape its future.