Plenary Speakers
Dr Ian Dagley, FTSE, FRACI, MAICD
Dr Ian Dagley is the Chief Executive Officer of the recently funded Solving Plastic Waste Cooperative Research Centre (SPW CRC). Prior to this appointment he was Chief of the Science Partnerships and Engagement Division of the Defence Science and Technology Group (DST), and had been the CEO of the CRC for Polymers for 21 years.
Ian has a PhD from the University of Melbourne, an MBA from RMIT, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).
Lara Olsen
Managing Director, South East Water
Lara was appointed Managing Director of South East Water in 2020, leading the delivery of water, sewerage and recycled water services to 1.8 million people. Lara is also a director of Iota, a wholly-owned subsidiary of South East Water, a director of Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) and a director on the Frankston Revitalisation Board.
Lara has extensive experience in the utility sector, focused on customer experience and innovation. Before joining South East Water, Lara was the Global Head of Business Development and Industrial Products at Tesla Energy based in the USA and also led the Business Development and Industrial Products team for Tesla Australia. Previous roles include Head of Strategy for CitiPower PowerCor and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Project Leader with the Boston Consulting Group and co-founding Billcap, an energy platform that helps customers and retailers manage their usage and bills.
Dr Sean O’Malley
Circular Economy Manager, Coles
Dr Sean O’Malley is a behavioural ecologist by training but has spent most of his early working life as a research and development manager in a range of fast-moving consumer goods companies in local and international roles. Following these roles Sean joined Planet Ark working across many areas of sustainability including waste, packaging, forestry, carbon and the Circular Economy with a focus on its measurement. Achievements whilst at Planet Ark include the creation of the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL), working on a critical paper on PFAS presence in packaging and a participating in the creation of a range of certification standards.
After a short period of consulting and working in the plant-based protein industry Sean joined Coles in 2023 as the Circular Economy Manager within the central sustainability team. The role encompasses a range of activities linked to the Circular Economy and Product Stewardship including working on food waste, in store used battery collection, the various container deposit schemes and working to resolve the challenge of soft plastic collection and recycling. Sean is a graduate of the CIRCO Circular Economy training programme.