Panel Membership

Mr Stuart Ellis, AM
Chair

Stuart Ellis was as an Army Officer for over 20 years serving with the Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment in Australia, Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe and Africa. He was also the Commanding Officer at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and retired from the Army as a Colonel. In 1996 he changed careers to become the Chief Executive Officer/Chief Officer of the Country Fire Service in South Australia. Leading and managing an organisation of 17,000 staff and volunteers, he oversaw significant change within the CFS during his five-year appointment. During this time he was also appointed to the executive of the Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC).

Since 1995, Stuart has spoken and consulted on leadership and performance including presenting at national seminars and conferences. In 2001 he established Leading by Example Pty Ltd, an Adelaide based consultancy focussed on leadership, teamwork and performance. His past military operational experience, together with his involvement in the fire industry and his current consultancy business, has led him to be involved in previous major inquiries and performance reviews including:

• Black Hawk helicopter disaster 1996
• Performance Audit of Victorian rural fire agencies in 2002
• Operational Response to the Canberra Bushfires 2003

Professor Peter Kanowski

Peter Kanowski is Professor of Forestry and Head of the Australian National University’s School of Resources, Environment and Society. He was Schlich Medallist at ANU’s Department of Forestry and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University; he worked in forest management and research in regional Australia, and lectured at Oxford University’s Forest Institute, before taking up the Chair of Forestry at ANU in 1995. Peter became Head of the Department of Forestry in 1996 and inaugural Head of the School of Resources, Environment and Society in 2001. SRES focuses on the relationships between people and the environment; how societies shape and are shaped by the environment, how societies manage and use natural resources, and how people impact on the environment.

Professor Robert Whelan

Professor Whelan was the Head of Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Wollongong from 1993 to 2000. In 2001, he was appointed Director of the newly established Institute for Conservation Biology at the University. Professor Rob Whelan was appointed Dean of Science at the University of Wollongong in July 2002.

At the University of Wollongong, Rob Whelan developed a large research group focussing on two main research programs - fire ecology and conservation biology. In each of these areas, he has been supported strongly by external funding from the Australian Research Council and other agencies. He has worked in these research areas in eastern and western Australia, North America, the UK and Brazil.By 2002, Rob Whelan has published 65 refereed articles and book chapters, numerous unrefereed articles and reports, and his research students and postdoctoral fellows have independently published 38 refereed papers, based on work as part of his research group. In 1995, he published a research monograph "The Ecology of Fire" (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge), reviewing the ecological effects of fire in ecosystems across the world.

He has served on a number of government advisory committees including the NSW Govt. Forest Advisory Council (1996-2000) and he currently chairs the National Parks Advisory Council.