Meet Our Speakers
Filter Speakers
- All Session Types
- Masterclass
- Opening Remarks
- Panel Discussion
- Break
Akaash Sachdeva
.png?width=400&height=100&name=HESTA%20(1).png)
Aletta Boshoff
BDO
Alfonso Chinnici
Adelaide University
Alina Chaparro
Turner & Townsend JukesTodd
Anish Muchhala
ARENA
Beth Schutz
Turner & Townsend JukesTodd
Dani Siew
Fran Burgess
Ausenco
.png?width=400&height=100&name=Ausenco%20(2).png)
Hannah Gardiner
Ildikë Piercy
Peabody Energy
Jenny Agnew
Sedgman
Jessica Dwyer
.png?width=400&height=100&name=Resizing%20WEB3%20logos%20(3).png)
Jia Norris
Ergon Energy/Energex
Jialin Shen
AGP Sustainable Real Assets
Kellie Charlesworth
Arup
Kishore Mishra
Kent
Kristy Nell
Sustainable Minerals Institute
Mahdi Mason
Mark Couchman
Michael Probert
Project Director
Turner & Townsend JukesTodd
Michael Williams
Michelle Gane
Engeny
.png?width=400&height=100&name=Engeny%20(1).png)
Paula Dell-McCumstie
Community Engagement
.png?width=400&height=100&name=Community%20Engagement%20(1).png)
Steve Jukes
Tamsin Senders
Arca
Tom Measham
CRC TiME
Yonggang Jin
CSIRO
.png?width=400&height=100&name=csiro%20(2).png)
Zoe Whitton
Beth Schutz
Director, Sustainability & ESGTurner & Townsend JukesTodd
Beth Schutz is a Director at Turner & Townsend and is the subject matter lead on Sustainability and ESG. With over 17 years of experience in large infrastructure projects within the resources and energy sector, she currently heads the Sustainability and ESG Advisory team at Turner & Townsend JukesTodd.
For the past 3 years, she has worked with clients in natural resources and infrastructure to embed sustainability and decarbonisation goals into their operations and project planning. Beth has strong lateral thinking capabilities and a passion for delivering positive change and practical outcomes. Beth is also currently completing a Master’s in Sustainable Energy at the University of Queensland.
Speaking at
09:00
Masterclass A: Getting ready for mandatory sustainability reporting in compliance with the new AASB S2 Climate-related Disclosures.
Alina Chaparro
Senior ConsultantTurner & Townsend JukesTodd
Alina is a qualified Chemical Engineer (NER) and Sustainability professional with international experience across the Oil & Gas, Infrastructure, Mining, and Defence sectors. Her expertise spans energy, risk management, operational readiness, and advisory consulting, with a strong focus on climate action and just transitions.
With hands-on technical and onsite experience, Alina supports clients in embedding sustainability and energy transition strategies into operations. Recently, she has played a key role in aligning sustainability with business strategy through change management, stakeholder engagement, and value proposition development. Alina has recently completed her Masters in Sustainable Energy at the University of Queensland.
Speaking at
09:00
Masterclass A: Getting ready for mandatory sustainability reporting in compliance with the new AASB S2 Climate-related Disclosures.
Aletta Boshoff
National Lead Partner, IFRS & Corporate ReportingBDO
Aletta is an Advisory Partner and National Leader of both IFRS & Corporate Reporting and Sustainability at BDO in Australia. With more than 30 years of experience in financial reporting and accounting, Aletta’s expertise spans IFRS, financial accounting and reporting, carbon accounting and sustainability.
Priding herself on her technical excellence, approachability, commercial acumen and ability to solve problems practically, Aletta applies her wealth of experience to real-world business situations, bringing her clients along every step of the journey. Recognising that every business decision has a financial consequence, Aletta is dedicated to empowering clients to understand how she came to a recommendation so they can test her assumptions and make informed, strategic decisions. Having worked with for-profit and not-for-profit clients, Aletta understands the challenges boards and finance teams face.
Focusing on an organisation’s capacity to generate lasting value in a rapidly changing world, while also managing the associated risks and opportunities, led to Aletta’s interest and subsequent leadership in BDO’s sustainability practice. Aletta also drove the development of BDO in Australia’s Sustainability Report since 2022, including measuring our carbon footprint.
Aletta is committed to fresh, brave and innovative thinking, demonstrated by her involvement in implementing BDO Lead, BDO’s IFRS 16 Technology Solution in Australia and developing BDO’s Lease Management Services (i.e. outsourced lease accounting services).
Throughout Aletta’s career, her passion for education and sharing knowledge has been prevalent. She conducts monthly webinars and masterclasses on topics such as carbon accounting and lease accounting. Aletta has also collaborated with numerous external organisations to support their education initiatives. She has lectured on financial accounting and reporting, auditing and assurance and taxation at various Australian and South African universities. As an Associate Professor, Aletta authored various financial reporting and accounting textbooks. Aletta also spent several years at the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) as a Project Manager.
Speaking at
09:00
Masterclass A: Getting ready for mandatory sustainability reporting in compliance with the new AASB S2 Climate-related Disclosures.
12:20
“Assurance Ready”: Preparing for Climate-Related Financial Disclosure in Mining
Hannah Gardiner
Hannah is an experienced environment and energy policy professional with over a decade in mining, renewables, and ESG. After starting her career in environmental consulting, she held principal roles across the resources and energy sector, including Mitsubishi Development and the Queensland Resources Council, and now leads strategic renewables policy initiatives at the Queensland Renewable Energy Council (QREC). Her work spans regulatory reform, decarbonisation, the role of BESS in grid firming, land-use coexistence, and regional workforce supply chains. Hannah was instrumental in developing QREC’s Queensland’s Renewable Growth and Investment Strategy, designed to accelerate clean energy deployment and support industrial decarbonisation through commercially viable, regionally grounded solutions.
Speaking at
08:50
Opening comments from the Chair
09:30
Panel discussion: Real-world decarbonisation: how to navigate financial, technical & operational realities
Mahdi Mason
Dr Mahdi Mason is an accomplished Environment and Sustainability Executive and author with more than 20 years’ experience across the mining, government and transport sectors. She has a passion for improving sustainability culture in organisations. Currently, she is the Head of Sustainability, Safety and Compliance at Sojitz Blue.
Speaking at
09:00
Operationalising decarbonisation: site strategies, innovative processes & overcoming challenges
09:30
Panel discussion: Real-world decarbonisation: how to navigate financial, technical & operational realities
Michael Williams
Speaking at
09:30
Panel discussion: Real-world decarbonisation: how to navigate financial, technical & operational realities
Michael Probert
Project Director
Turner & Townsend JukesTodd
Michael is a qualified civil engineer (RPEQ) and project management professional with 13 years of experience in delivering mining, civil, and rail infrastructure projects across Queensland’s resource and transport sectors. He has comprehensive, ground-up expertise in project execution—from scoping and studies to engineering management, risk management, procurement, and delivery.
Michael has led the engineering and delivery of surface infrastructure for both underground and open-cut mines, including civil works, transport infrastructure, water systems, site services, and accommodation facilities. He also brings strong capabilities in project risk management and in integrating sustainability objectives into project execution.
Speaking at
09:30
Panel discussion: Real-world decarbonisation: how to navigate financial, technical & operational realities
Anish Muchhala
Investment ManagerARENA
Speaking at
10:50
Establishing a decarbonised minerals processing industry in Australia
Jessica Dwyer
Speaking at
11:40
From strategy to scope: designing decarbonisation into a mining project pipeline
Dani Siew
Speaking at
12:10
Panel discussion: How to fund & scale decarbonisation through strategic planning, collaborative partnerships and savvy capital initiatives
Zoe Whitton
Speaking at
12:10
Panel discussion: How to fund & scale decarbonisation through strategic planning, collaborative partnerships and savvy capital initiatives
Steve Jukes
Steve is an experienced engineer with over 20 years in the resources, infrastructure, and energy sectors, having worked across Australia, Asia, the Pacific, Canada, and South America. He began his career delivering resource projects with construction and engineering firms and has since led teams through the full project lifecycle—from opportunity identification to operational handover.
Steve’s expertise includes execution and contracting strategies, stakeholder negotiations, and project financing. As the Global Mining Sector Lead at Turner & Townsend, Steve leverages his international experience to help clients develop, fund, and deliver complex projects with balanced, strategic outcomes.
Speaking at
12:10
Panel discussion: How to fund & scale decarbonisation through strategic planning, collaborative partnerships and savvy capital initiatives
Akaash Sachdeva
Speaking at
12:10
Panel discussion: How to fund & scale decarbonisation through strategic planning, collaborative partnerships and savvy capital initiatives
Mark Couchman
Speaking at
12:10
Panel discussion: How to fund & scale decarbonisation through strategic planning, collaborative partnerships and savvy capital initiatives
Jia Norris
Ergon Energy/Energex
Jia Norris is the Manager of the Remote Embedded Generation Design Team at Energy Queensland. With nearly 20 years of engineering and program leadership experience across Australia and overseas, she has led multidisciplinary teams in the delivery of complex generation and infrastructure projects. Jia is currently focused on advancing decarbonisation outcomes in regional and remote communities, leveraging her background in renewable integration and practical design to drive sustainable energy transformation.
Speaking at
14:00
From diesel dependence to renewable-ready: evolving remote energy projects
Jialin Shen
DirectorAGP Sustainable Real Assets
Speaking at
15:20
Strategic energy planning: optimising electrification & power procurement while balancing cost, reliability & emissions targets
Jenny Agnew
Business Sustainability ManagerSedgman
With 23 years in the resources industry at Sedgman, I leverage my engineering and strategic planning experience to link people and ideas across disciplines both at a company and industry level. I love getting the most out of all the expertise in a room to develop effective strategies to deliver the mission of the teams I work with. Alongside leading ESG strategy at Sedgman, I am contributing to a more sustainable resources industry through organisations such as enviroMETS QLD (as Non-Executive Director), AusIMM’s S&E Committee (as Chair) & Decarbonisation Accelerated (on the Leaders Group).
Speaking at
16:20
Reducing emissions in mineral processing through design, innovation and efficiency
Alfonso Chinnici
Chair of Sustainable Energy and Energy TransitionAdelaide University
Speaking at
08:50
Opening comments from the Chair
Fran Burgess
Manager – ProcessAusenco
Fran is a highly experienced process manager with over four decades in the mining and mineral processing industry, specialising in process and operational optimisation. Her expertise includes significant work in lead, zinc, copper, gold and silver processing, notably during her tenure with Glencore at Mt Isa, where she oversaw operations of the Zinc Lead Concentrator and the Lead Smelter.
Fran was the first female Mill Superintendent and the first female Mine General Manager in Australia and was named as a influential top 100 woman in mining in 2013.
Fran has contributed significantly to optimising metallurgical processes and commissioning plants at brownfield and greenfield sites.
Fran's ability to implement advanced metallurgical solutions and lead complex projects has made her a respected figure in the industry, with a proven track record of optimising performance in challenging environments. Fran is a leader who focuses on culture change, safety excellence with a emphasis on process safety and continuous improvement.
Speaking at
09:00
Building a decarbonisation-ready workforce: skills, culture and capability for low-carbon mining
Ildikë Piercy
Senior Manager Environment, Cultural Heritage and Social PerformancePeabody Energy
Ildikë Piercy is a senior cultural heritage, environmental, and social performance leader with 17+ years’ experience across mining, renewable energy, infrastructure, and defence. As Senior Manager – Environment, Cultural Heritage and Social Performance at Peabody Energy, she leads ESG-aligned governance frameworks, community engagement, and Indigenous partnerships including co-designed heritage management practices. A Certified Environmental Practitioner with EIANZ and Full Member of ICOMOS, Ildikë holds a Master of Environmental Law and Sustainable Development from UNSW, a Graduate Diploma in Cultural Heritage Management, and First-Class Honours in Archaeology from UQ.
Speaking at
09:30
Fireside Chat: Just transition in mining: ensuring decarbonisation delivers social and economic resilience
Paula Dell-McCumstie
Director and FounderCommunity Engagement
Paula is a UK-qualified Geologist who came to Australia and gained experience working in Exploration, Underground, Resource Definition Geology and QAQC. Whilst at Newcrest’s Cadia, Paula joined the Community Relations Department where she realised her passion for connecting with people. She then worked with Fortescue Metals Group and Rangott Mineral Exploration before founding Community Engagement in 2020.
Paula is recognised by her peers, as an expert in the field of Community Engagement.
Speaking at
09:30
Fireside Chat: Just transition in mining: ensuring decarbonisation delivers social and economic resilience
Tom Measham
Research DirectorCRC TiME
Tom is an internationally recognised research leader with extensive experience designing integrated research programs in regional communities. As a Principal Research Scientist & Group Leader for CSIRO, Tom led a portfolio of interdisciplinary research projects focused on economic transition in resource rich regions. He has provided expert advice to government and industry on a wide range of social and economic issues, published 2 books and over 100 reports and more than 50 scholarly articles.
Over the past two years, Tom has been asked to share his expertise globally and nationally, including at the Global Coal Transitions Workshop (Poland), as Chair of the World Mining Congress Special Symposium on Mine Closure and Post-Mining Transitions and on the Steering Committee for the Global Coal Transitions Research Network. Tom also co-chaired the International Association for Society and Natural Resources Conference in 2024.
Speaking at
10:00
Driving decarbonisation through CRCs and collaborative R&D models
Kristy Nell
Research FellowSustainable Minerals Institute
Dr Kristy Nell (née Campbell) is a Research Fellow at the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC), part of the Sustainable Minerals Institute at The University of Queensland. With a PhD in Engineering from North-West University, South Africa, her work focuses on decarbonisation in the mining industry, including GHG quantification, emissions reduction, and life cycle assessments. She has extensive industry experience, including roles in energy savings quantification and emissions reporting across gold and platinum mines, ferrochrome smelters, and oil and gas refineries. She is a Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP) and works closely with industry to advance sustainable solutions for the minerals sector.
Speaking at
11:50
Measuring, verifying and reporting emissions reductions: frameworks, data & technology
Yonggang Jin
Team Leader Environment and SustainabilityCSIRO
Speaking at
13:50
Operational pathways for methane abatement: from identification to integrating methane management into site decarbonisation plans
Kishore Mishra
Package Manager – DecarbonisationKent
Kishore Mishra is an expert in Project Engineering, Management, and Delivery with over 20 years of experience across energy transition, decarbonization, hydrogen, oil & gas, metals and mining sectors. Currently based in Brisbane, he works with Kent and is pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration focused on Decarbonization and Energy Transition. Kishore has successfully led FEED, EPC, and LSTK projects for major clients including ADNOC, Ampol, BHP, ALCOA, Rio Tinto, and Shell. He has published many papers on decarbonization, hydrogen, and energy transition. Kishore holds an MBA from UCAM Spain, a PGDBA, and a Bachelor of Engineering degree
Speaking at
14:20
Greenfield vs brownfield decarbonisation strategies across the asset lifecycle
Michelle Gane
Energy Transition Services Discipline LeaderEngeny
Speaking at
14:50
Hydrogen in mining: hope, hype, or viable decarbonisation pathway?
Kellie Charlesworth
Energy Transition LeaderArup
Speaking at
15:40
Building energy systems & infrastructure to support electrification, hybrid power & future fuels
Tamsin Senders
General Manager AustraliaArca
Tamsin is the General Manager for Arca Climate Technologies Australia. Arca is commercialising technology based on 30 years of research carried out by Prof Greg, Dipple, one of Arca’s founders, to mineralise atmospheric carbon dioxide in mine wastes. For the past 18 months, Arca has been running a pilot trial at Mt Keith in WA, where Smart Churning and monitoring, recording and validation (MRV) technology has been deployed.
Tamsin has over 27 years’ experience in the mining industry across multiple commodities. She is a specialist in treatment of low-grade and waste streams and is skilled in moving R&D through from laboratory testing through to field deployment and commercial implementation. The need to problem-solve and her commitment to responsible use of resources and reducing the impact of mineral extraction and processing on the environment have been main driving forces behind her career. This has led to the development of new technologies, operating philosophies, process enhancement and the application of microbiological systems to assist in recovering metals from problematic ores.
Speaking at
16:10
Preparing mines for next-gen decarbonisation
Download the Brochure
