Keynote Speakers
Dr Jeroen Wassenaar
Jeroen Wassenaar is the Head of Innovation at Cleanaway since January 2024. He is leading Cleanaway’s efforts to create circular and low carbon solutions for plastics and other recovered resources.
Prior to joining Cleanaway, he worked for more than 13 years in the petrochemical and plastics industries across Europe and Australia with TotalEnergies and Qenos in research and development, technical service, marketing, and project management. He holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Amsterdam and his areas of expertise include catalysis, polymer chemistry, plastics sustainability, and the circular economy.
Jeroen is also the Treasurer of the Society of Plastics Engineers: Australia – New Zealand Section and a member of the rigid plastics material stewardship committee at the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO).
Prof Minoo Naebe
Professor Minoo Naebe is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Sustainable Bioproducts (CSB) at Deakin University and the Founding Group Leader at Carbon Nexus within the Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM). She specializes in polymers and composites, with a strong focus on developing sustainable materials and processes to support transformative applications for a low-carbon economy. Professor Naebe has successfully led numerous collaborative projects with local and international industry partners across the transport, energy, and construction sectors. She is the Program Leader of the recently funded Solving Plastic Waste Cooperative Research Centre (SPW CRC) and her research has resulted in several commercial outcomes, including the establishment of a spin-off company at Deakin ManuFuture. Recognized globally for her contributions, Professor Naebe has been listed among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists in Materials (Stanford Career Rankings) for five consecutive years (2020–2024).
Andrew Kiesel
Andrew is an associate geotechnical and pavement engineer at Tonkin + Taylor and has over 13 years' experience in a wide range of projects including roads, port facilities, sport centres, landfills, landslides, retaining structures, foundations, earthworks, and deep fill projects.
Throughout his career Andrew has had a focus on pavement design and analysis and has worked on a broad range of infrastructure projects including major freeway and arterial road upgrades, local government project and private client project. More recently Andrew has been leading pavement design packages on the Eastern Fwy Upgrade between Burke Road and Tram Road, which has a major focus on sustainability across all stages of the works.
Prof Deli Chen
Deli Chen is a Distinguished Professor of Soil and Environment Research in the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne and Director of the ARC Research Hub for Smart Fertilisers.
Deli’s research focuses on the nitrogen dynamics of plant-soil systems, efficiency of nitrogen fertiliser, animal waste management, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and remediation of environmental pollution. Deli’s research and reach was recognised by Clarivate in the top 1% internationally for his publication citations.
His research achievements have been recognised with the IFA Norman Borlaug Plant Nutrition Award (2024), as a lifetime Honorary Member of the International Union of Soil Sciences (2024), he is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, Soil Science Australia and American Society of Agronomy. He was honoured as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2024 for distinguished service to sustainable agriculture.
Michael Walshe
Michael Walshe is the Managing Director and CEO of MTM Critical Metals Ltd (ASX:MTM), where he is leading the commercialisation of Flash Joule Heating (FJH) — a cutting-edge technology enabling sustainable rapid extraction of critical and precious metals from both ores and complex waste streams. With over 15 years’ experience in global engineering, technology commercialisation, and capital markets, Michael is driving MTM’s strategic growth, focusing on rare earth elements, battery metals, and decarbonisation solutions across its Australian and American operations.
Prior to MTM, Michael held senior leadership roles in the mining, energy, and chemical industries, including CEO of Voltaic Strategic Resources (ASX:VSR), Vice President of Minerals Processing at Outotec (Asia Pacific), and Director of Minerals at Metso (Asia Pacific). His expertise spans critical minerals, metallurgical processing, and the scale-up of process technologies, underpinned by extensive experience in publicly listed companies and capital market. Michael holds a First-Class Honours BEng in Chemical, Biochemical & Process Engineering, an MBA in Finance, and is a Chartered Engineer with Engineers Australia, and the Institution of Chemical Engineers. He is also an Associate Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy.
Dr Michael Thomas
Michael Thomas is the R&D Lead at Barwon Water. In this capacity he collaborates with research institutions and industry partners to advance projects that align with Barwon Water's Strategy 2030, focusing on areas such as the circular economy, emerging contaminants, smart networks, and climate change. Michael is also the Program Lead for the Intelligent Water Network's (IWN) Circular Economy initiative and co-chairs the Water Services Association of Australia's (WSAA) Research and Development Network. Prior to joining the water sector in 2017, Michael was an officer in the Australian Army, working in Signals Intelligence and other roles, including as a climate change adviser to the Department of Defence. Michael has completed two Masters degrees and has a Ph.D. in Political Science from UNSW.
Kerryn Lester-Smith
Kerryn Lester-Smith is the Research and Development Specialist at Barwon Water. In this capacity, she has supported innovative projects aimed at enhancing water management practices and circular economy initiatives. She focusses on advancing research translation and fostering strategic collaborations that address critical water-related challenges. She is also the Deputy Program Manager for the Circular Economy Program at Intelligent Water Networks (IWN), where she is co-hosting "The Ripple Effect," a podcast series exploring sustainable practices and innovations in water management.
She has a Masters in Health and Human Services Management and has also held senior roles in the social insurance sector across public sector agencies with experience in managing complex and evolving projects in fast paced environments.
Jason Cotton
Jason joined Intelligent Water Networks (IWN) in 2023 from Greater Western Water (GWW) where he was the Manager of Innovation and Continuous Improvement. Jason played a key role in the integration of GWW by leading the Operations Stream Integration.
Jason has an extensive innovation career in the Utilities Sector, small/medium enterprise and the education sector.He holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree from Flinders University and a Certificate of Management from Mt Eliza Business School. Jason also studied under Gary Hamel at the Innovation Academy in the US.
Dr Gavin Collis
Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO
Gavin was appointed to CSIRO (Clayton, VIC) in 2006 as a Chemist and has worked across a variety of multi-disciplinary projects involving materials design for specific end-use applications. He has expertise in energy generation and storage applications. His has a broad interest in developing and using sustainable chemicals and green processes that allow the reuse, recycling and upcycling of materials. In recent years, he has focused on the challenges and opportunities around circular economies towards recycling lithium-ion batteries.
Gavin completed his undergraduate and PhD degrees at the University of Western Australia. He held positions at Worsley Alumina (Collie, WA), AGC-Woodwood Clyde Consultants (Perth, WA), Massey University (New Zealand) as a Post-doctoral Fellow, Lecturer and Assistant Director of the Nanomaterials Centre, and Los Alamos National Laboratory (New Mexico, USA). He has received prestigious awards (e.g. CSIRO OCE Julius Career and 2020 Churchill Fellowship (LIB Recycling)) and active member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI), American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Minerals, Metal and Materials (TMS) Recycling & Environmental Technologies Committee (USA).
Prof Aleksandar N. Nikoloski
Professor Aleksandar (Aleks) Nikoloski is a renowned expert in extractive metallurgy and the Academic Chair at Murdoch University. With a PhD in Metallurgical Engineering and 30 years of teaching and research experience, he has also garnered several industry accolades, including the 2023 Vice Chancellor's Excellence in Research Distinguished and Sustained Achievement Award. Professor Nikoloski's work focuses on hydrometallurgy, applied electrochemistry, energy storage systems, and developing sustainable technologies for minerals processing. He leads the internationally recognised Hydrometallurgy Research Group and has published over 100 papers, produced several patents, and authored numerous industry reports. His research is instrumental in advancing the extraction and processing of lithium, vanadium, uranium, rare earths, base, and precious metals, and their industrial application.
Dr Minna Saaristo
Dr. Minna Saaristo is an ecotoxicologist with over 20 years of international experience in applying science-based approaches to assess the impacts and risks of contaminants of concern on the environment. She is a Principal Scientist in Ecological Risk and Emerging Contaminants at EPA Victoria and leads the Emerging Contaminants Program there. Since joining EPA in 2019, Dr. Saaristo has led projects assessing background concentrations of emerging contaminants in soil, freshwater, sediment, and biota across the state, uncovering their presence in influent and effluent waters, and investigating the uptake of contaminants of concern into edible crops. Prior to her work at EPA, Dr. Saaristo spent 10 years as a Research Fellow at Monash University. She is an internationally recognized behavioural ecotoxicologist whose multidisciplinary research has provided pivotal insights into how chemical pollutants affect sexual selection across multiple generations of wildlife.
Dr Roya Khalil
Roya is the Director of Research and Development and Stewardship at Incitec Pivot Fertilisers, where she leads a multidisciplinary team delivering innovation at the intersection of sustainable agriculture, circular economy, and climate resilience. Her current work spans enhanced efficiency fertilisers, nutrient recovery from animal and food waste, soil health, and greenhouse gas mitigation technologies —core pillars supporting the decarbonisation and sustainable agricultural systems.
With over two decades of experience in R&D and innovation leadership, Roya has held senior roles at organisations including Incitec Pivot Limited, Orora Packaging, Bega Cheese, Coca-Cola Amatil, SPC Ardmona, and Plantic Technologies. She has successfully led the development and commercialisation of several patented technologies, including bio-based and compostable packaging, nitrogen inhibitors, and organo-mineral fertilisers.
Roya is also a strong advocate for industry–academia collaboration. She serves as a Partner Investigator at the ARC Research Hub for Smart Fertilisers and Industry Advisor at the ARC Research Hub for Nutrients in the Circular Economy, both based at the University of Melbourne. Additionally, she is an Advisory Board Member at the Australian Graduate School of Engineering at UNSW and a former Chairwoman, Board Member, and Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Packaging (AIP).
Roya holds a PhD and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, as well as an MBA with a specialisation in strategic marketing.
Django Seccombe
Django is an environmental engineer and change broker, committed to unlocking new enterprise and creating a more sustainable economy.
Django’s experience spans operations, planning, project development, strategy and policy development in the water sector. His current role focuses on establishing and embedding circular economy practice in Sydney Water and building collaborations across industry sectors in the rapidly growing Greater Sydney. Django’s current projects focus on the integration of our water, energy, food and waste systems.
Angela McLaren
Angela holds degrees in Business and Economics, has completed post graduate studies in Artificial Intelligence for Business and Cyber Security and Networking, and holds certifications in Design Thinking for Innovation and Project Management. Angela is a Certified Health Informatician Australasia and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors with experience on not-for-profit and state government boards.
Angela's professional experience spans government regulation and analysis; private sector business establishment and management; membership organisation strategy and general management; and not-for-profit governance, compliance, transformation, and risk management.
In this presentation, Angela will share insights into how the Recycled First Policy and ecologiQ have increased the adoption of recycled and reused materials in major government infrastructure projects in Victoria.
Matthew Askeland
Matthew Askeland is an environmental professional engaged in the contaminated land, resource recovery, and circular economy sectors specialising in the management of emerging contaminants. Matt previously led ADE Consulting Group's Victorian Environment Practice which included a specialist Business Unit, focused on emerging contaminants.
Matt enjoys solving problems, challenging conventional approaches, and being generally disruptive.