Keynote Speakers

Neville Nicholls

Professorial Fellow (part-time)
Regional Climate Group

Fields of interest:
Climate variability and prediction
Climate impacts (especially health impacts)
Monitoring changes in climate extremes

Research focus:
Professor Neville Nicholls is interested in how climate variations and change affect the environment, the economy and people (especially their health), and how to predict these variations. Most of his work is empirical, investigating relationships between climate variations and various climate impacts using historical data. He has a long-term interest in understanding how extremes such as frosts, heat waves, and tropical cyclones are changing as the climate changes, and what needs to be done to better monitor such changes. More generally, he undertakes studies to detect climate changes and determine their causes.

Other activities
He is a Lead Author of Chapter 9 (Understanding and attributing climate change") of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment, and a Lead Author of the Summary for Policymakers and Technical Summary for the IPCC Working Group 1 assessment.

More information...

Else Shepherd

Chair of Powerlink Queensland; executive director of Mosaic Information Technology; chief executive officer of Microwave & Materials Designs; non executive director of National Electricity Market Management Company.

Else Shepherd is one of only a handful of women to chair large Australian corporations. It is the culmination of a successful engineering career in the sugar, telecommunications and electricity industries.

Since 1994, she has been the chair of Powerlink Queensland, a government-owned corporation that owns, develops, operates and maintains Queensland’s $3 billion, 1700km high voltage electricity transmission network.

Shepherd is also the cofounder and an executive director of Mosaic Information Technology. Under her leadership, the company was responsible for the development of innovative telecommunications products using digital signal processing.

Recently Shepherd founded and was appointed CEO of a new company, Microwave & Materials Designs, which develops new microwave products using high temperature superconductor materials.
For her contribution to engineering, education and the electricity generating industry, Shepherd was appointed a Member in the General Division of the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
As a member of Engineers Australia’s Accreditation and National Industry Liaison Board, Shepherd is keen to see increasing public awareness of the role engineers play in society. She sees interdisciplinary collaboration, for example the early take-up by engineering professionals of recent developments in quantum physics and materials science, as an opportunity to enhance the standing and contribution of the profession.