Our Team

Adam Townley is a Sydney based chartered accountant with over 25 years of experience in financial markets. He is credited with setting up one of the first carbon funds in London (2003) and has published books on insolvency and bankruptcy. He is a commercialisation and corporate specialist who uses design thinking processes to implement market technologies such as Waste to Energy, Fintech, AgTech and Telematics. Adam has been the Director for AI Carbon (AIC) for five years overseeing numerous carbon projects within Australia.

Mark Lewis is a former WA Minister for Agriculture and Food, member for the Mining and Pastoral Region in the WA Legislative Council from 2013 to 2017 and foundation member of the federal Regional Investment Corporation (charged to deliver a $4 Bn concessional loan facility). He is currently a member the Climate Change Authority (which advises federal Ministers and government on related matters) and director of several public and private companies. 

Mark has a lifetime of involvement in agriculture and rural communities and years of engagement in water resource development. He completed undergraduate studies in the Animal and Health field before going on to complete a Master’s in Applied Science and an AdvDip and Gradcert in Management.

Simon has been involved in broad acre farming and grazing in South Australia for 34 years and has co-managed their family farming properties with his brother. Their properties include 12,200 Ha of mixed farming (grains and sheep) and 51,500 Ha of pastoral grazing land.

Simon’s interest in carbon farming to increase on-farm profits came from serving on the South Australian No Till Farmers Association board for six years, including two years as a resident.

Hafiz Stewart is a South Australian rangelands specialist with decades of field survey experience within the South Australian government and private industries. Hafiz has led one of Australia’s largest native planting projects in the lower Murray River during the millennium drought and the New South Wales Saving our Species program.

Ross Sawers has a family pastoral property in the Northeast Pastoral district of SA and is well known around the region in both pastoral and mining networks. Ross started out in the industry at Prominent Hill. He has worked in consultancy for the mining, oil and gas industry in South Australia and the Northern Territory since 2006. He has also worked in youth employment and the wool industry.

Ross is a former Board Member of SA Arid Lands Natural Resource Management (eight years), Northern Regional Development and Regional Development Australia Far North (SA). He is currently the Presiding Member on the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board and the Native Vegetation Council. He is also a former Board Member of the Board.

Iain Hale is a remote sensing specialist with expertise in satellite imagery interpretation, modelling and spectral analysis.

Ben Rate is a remote sensing graduate currently undertaking further specialist studies in spectral classification.

James Thiessen holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Biodiversity and Environmental Management) and Geographical Information Systems (Arc Map). He was also awarded the Dean’s Merit Award for Academic Achievement.

James commenced his career working for BHP Billiton (Olympic Dam) as an environmental officer in 2005. Since then, he has worked as a Geographical Information Systems Officer for the Queensland Local Government and an ecologist with the Queensland Government. James was awarded a position in the South Australian Government in 2010 to work on a Commonwealth and State funded land restoration program, the largest on the southern hemisphere at the time. In 2016, James moved into rangeland and Indigenous land management, and has been the Program Manager for the Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board in South Australia.

James brings expertise in indigenous land negotiations, stakeholder liaison and pastoral land management. .

Bridget holds a Bachelor of Science. Bridget has expertise in GIS, revegetation methods and has undertaken project management and field work in Fiji.

Nick Bradley was raised on and has managed cattle stations in the East Kimberley region of WA and he has been professionally engaged in Agricultural sectors across Australia for 25 years.

More recently, Nick spent seven years managing stakeholder engagement and contracts for the $2 Bn Connections Project and modernising irrigation infrastructure for 3500+ farmers in Victoria’s Goulburn-Murray irrigation districts. He then spent three years as the national head of sales for an Australian AgTech company that supplies remote water monitoring solutions to the pastoral industry.

Nick has worked with graziers and member organisations like the Arid Lands NRM in every corner of the country and he is a committed advocate for Australian Agriculture and the benefits of carbon farming.  Nick is based in Wangaratta, NE Victoria. Mobile: 0408 946 406.

Matthew holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and Master’s in Marine Science and Management. Matthew has conducted hydrodynamic research on the Hunter River (NSW) using RMA2 and marine research on the Sydney Harbor and Great Barrier Reef.

Through his research, Matthew has developed his hydrodynamic modelling and field data collection skills, python coding expertise, and team management. He has also developed his leadership, management, and mental fitness through being an Engineering Officer in the US Army for over two years.