Overview
The National Benefit Advisory Committee (NBAC) was established in 2016 as an advisory committee to provide advice to the Marine National Facility Steering Committee (MNFSC) on the Research Benefit of research proposals under the Merit Assessment Process and any other matters requiring expertise as needed.
The NBAC is governed by Terms of Reference PDF (245 KB).
Members
Adjunct Professor Peter Cochrane | Chair
Mr Peter Cochrane has over thirty years experience in senior executive leadership and governance roles in the public and private sectors. He consults on environment and sustainability issues. Peter is a Councillor and Vice President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and chairs the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute and the Australian Tropical Herbarium. He is a director of TierraMar Ltd.
Peter is an Assistant Commissioner with the NSW Natural Resources Commission. He was a Commissioner of the NSW Independent Planning Commission for two terms from 2017-2023. He chaired the Steering Committee of the National Environmental Science Program's Marine Biodiversity Hub from 2015-2021.
Peter was an adviser to the national State of Environment Reports for 2016 and 2021, focussed on building the report's audience and utility; co-chaired the 2016 Commonwealth Reserves Review on the management and zoning of Australian Marine Parks, was a member of its Expert Scientific Panel; and was a member of the science evaluation panel for Geoscience Australia's marine program.
Peter was Director of National Parks and head of Parks Australia from 1999-2013 and Deputy Executive Director of the Australian Petroleum and Production Association from 1994-1999.
Dr Peter May | Member
Dr Peter May has more than 35 years experience studying cloud systems, their impact and circulations using advanced radar and has led major field campaigns using multiple aircraft along with the MNF as well as overseeing major weather and climate research programs. He retired from the Bureau of Meteorology in early 2020 after leading the research program for a decade. This experience has given him a broad perspective across multiple disciplines.
Peter has been active in the marine community through associations with IMOS, the Forum for Operational Oceanography and the National Marine Science Committee as well as overseeing Bureau contributions to the BlueLINK partnership with the Royal Australian Navy and CSIRO, development of the ACCESS coupled modelling system and numerous climate programs.
He has been deeply engaged with a number of National Research Infrastructure Programs including IMOS, NCI and the new ACCESS Model National Research Initiative. Peter's experience includes membership of the WMO Commission for Atmospheric Sciences overseeing the World Climate Research Program and the World Weather Research Program. He is a past chair of the AMS Committee for Radar Meteorology, .a past editor of the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology as well as Reviews of Geophysics and is currently an editor for the Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth System Science.
Peter has long been a supporter, user and advocate for the Marine National Facility. One of his proudest contributions was being part of the technical advisory group for the RV Investigator representing the weather and climate community.
Mr Rhys Arangio | Member
Rhys Arangio has worked for Austral Fisheries since 2009 and is currently the General Manager Science and Policy. Rhys holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science from Murdoch University, and was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 2012 to extend his studies abroad. Rhys has spent several months at sea in both the Northern Prawn Fishery and the Heard Island & McDonald Islands Toothfish fishery, and in his current role is primarily involved with the science and policy aspects of running Australia’s Southern Ocean fleet. Through this role Rhys works closely with crew and vessels, as well as collaboratively with multiple Government agencies and NGOs to ensure these unique Australian fisheries remain sustainable. This includes being a member of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority’s (AFMA) sub-Antarctic Resource Assessment Group (SARAG) and the sub-Antarctic Management Advisory Committee (SouthMAC).
Rhys is also the Executive Officer of COLTO, Inc. – the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators – which is the global peak body for the toothfish industry, and through this position, represents the toothfish fishing industry at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Resources (CCAMLR) meetings each year.
Since Austral Fisheries became a carbon neutral certified organisation in 2016, Rhys has managed all primary aspects of its carbon neutral and Australian Government Climate Active program commitments.
Dr Lyn Goldsworthy AM | Member
Dr Lyn Goldsworthy is a research associate at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, and Member of the IMAS Geopolitics and Human Engagements with Antarctica projects. Her current research focuses on high seas and Antarctic conservation, governance and geopolitics. She has served on many Antarctic-related government committees and is currently a Member of the Sub-Antarctic Fisheries Management Advisory Committee (SOUTHMAC). She has attended many Scientific Committee and Commission meetings of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Resources (CAMLR), the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) and the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Arrangement, either as part of the Australian delegation or representing conservation groups ASOC (Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition) and DSCC (Deep Sea Conservation Coalition).
Prior to moving to academia, Lyn spent more than 30 years working in the non-government arena as an advocate for high seas and Antarctic conservation and governance. In 1991 she was awarded an Order of Australia (AM) for her Antarctic conservation work and specifically her role in achieving the designation of the Antarctic Treaty area as a ‘nature reserve dedicated to peace and science’ and a prohibition on mining across the Antarctic Treaty area. Since 2000, Lyn has also provided consultancy services to a broad range of non-government organisations to improve their governance, strategic planning and delivery outcomes.
Ms Emily Jateff | Member
Ms Emily Jateff is the Senior Curator, Maritime Trade and Industry at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Her role includes exhibitions, programs, partnerships and collections acquisition, as well as oversight of the museum’s 10-year program of exhibitions, events, collections and programs in support of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, 2021-2030. Emily has worked in museums for over 10 years. Before this, she was a university lecturer and archaeologist.
Throughout her career, Emily has managed laboratories, and recovered, analysed (and sometimes conserved) artefacts from periods throughout history. She has delivered lectures, supervised students, wrestled with various forms of survey and science kit, produced short films and conducted fieldwork on a variety of terrestrial and underwater sites.
Some of the achievements Emily is most proud of include:
- Developing the largest museum collection of historic-to-contemporary oceanographic instruments and technologies in the southern hemisphere to better share with the public ‘how science is done’. This includes acquiring the first Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) used in Australia, which was part of the longest running marine biological survey in the world.
- Developing an inclusive regional engagement program that connected 200+ regional and remote organisations to local and national maritime heritage through the Submerged program.
- Collaborating with internal colleagues and external partners to create science and tech-focussed permanent, temporary and touring exhibitions like the Sydney Harbour Gallery, James Cameron: Challenging the Deep, RSV Nuyina, One Ocean, Our Future, and Ocean Wonders.
- Locating the site of the torpedoed merchant navy vessel SS Iron Crown in Bass Strait after 77 years, with the support of the CSIRO Marine National Facility.
Emily is also an ardent supporter of community engagement and outreach and has delivered a plethora of professional and public talks, including for VIVID Sydney, Ocean Impact Organisation and TedX Darlinghurst. She currently also serves as Chair of the Inspiring NSW Executive Committee and has served on the boards of the Australian Maritime Museums Council, Blue Mountains City of the Arts Trust Advisory Committee, Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE), as Chair of the Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology Scholarship Committee.
Dr Chels Marshall | Member
Dr Chels Marshall is a cultural systems ecologist belonging to Gumbaynggirr Jagun from the Baga Baga/Ngambaa clan (Northern NSW).
Chels has extensive experience in environmental science and marine science and management and a PhD on traditional knowledge systems and climate change in the Pacific, with the school of International Governance at the Australian National University. She currently holds a Masters in Marine Science and Management from the National Marine Science Centre /University of New England on Spatial Analysis of Indigenous Marine Associations in Gumbaynggirr Nation. Chels also has Degrees in Wildlife Management and Cultural Resource Management.
Chels has worked within the NSW Government for 27 years in coastal management, karst (caves), wildlife management, policy and protection development, operations and co-operative and integrated cultural land/sea scape management. Over the last 28 years, Chels has also been actively involved locally and nationally in increasing the capacity of Aboriginal people to participate in land and Sea Country management, planning, research and monitoring.
Chels sits on a number of ministerial councils that provide advice, analysis and direction to the NSW and Australian Government on Fisheries and Marine research, Protected Management regarding policy, legislation and initiatives that affect Aboriginal cultural values, providing advice and analysis on the Ecological and Cultural values of marine estate as it relates to technical, ecological, climatic and cultural engagement of Aboriginal people and associated cultural values and issues.
Chels is a Senior Research Fellow in the Deakin University Indigenous Knowledges Systems (IKS) Lab of the NIKIRI Institute, implementing cultural ecological knowledge and First Nations science frameworks to creating virtual and physical environments for sharing knowledge through art, science and Indigenous metaphysics.
Ms Belinda Jago | Member
Ms Belinda Jago is currently the Branch Head of the Ocean and Wildlife Branch within the International Environment, Reef and Ocean Division in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, with responsibilities for:
- the conservation, protection and sustainable management of the environment by representing Australia’s international wildlife trade interests, and assessing the performance of Australian marine (including commercial fisheries) and terrestrial wildlife commercial harvest operations consistent with the requirements of the EPBC Act
- facilitating the listing of, and conservation planning responses to, marine threatened species and ecological communities under the EPBC Act
- leading delivery of Australia’s Sustainable Ocean Plan - the first of its kind, and providing a focal point for domestic ocean matters in the department and other Australian Government agencies with ocean-related responsibilities and interests
- managing Australia’s implementation of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the List of specimens taken to be suitable for live import.
Belinda has over 20 years of experience in marine policy and protection - including international environmental priorities (e.g. International Whaling Commission, High Seas Marine Biodiversity (BBNJ) Treaty agreement and the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy) and implementing key reforms and expansion of protection for Australia’s marine protected areas in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Australian Marine Parks.