Committee

Mr Nick Goddard

CEO, Australian Oilseeds Federation

Nick Goddard is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF), the peak oilseed body in Australia. Nick has had a long and successful career in the food industry, working for the end-user portion of the oils value chain, with companies such as Goodman Fielder and Unilever. Nick draws on his end-user and consumer knowledge in bringing a ‘market driven’ approach to the oilseed value chain.

Nick holds a B.Comm (Marketing), an MBA and a Grad.Dip in Rural Science, and is based in Sydney, Australia.

Dr Matt Miller

President, The Australasian Section of the American Oil Chemists' Society, Cawthron Institute

Dr Matt Miller is a lipid chemist working for the Cawthron institute in Nelson, New Zealand. Dr Miller has over a decade of research experience and over 40 publications looking into the chemistry and novel sources of marine oils, in particular omega 3. Dr Miller is the president of the Australasian section of the American Oil Chemist Society (AAOCS) since 2013 and is a member of the NZ fats and oil group. Dr Miller received his PhD at the Uni of Tasmania (UTAS) with collaboration from the CSIRO Food Futures Flagship in 2007. His thesis was awarded a Dean Commendation prize and he was part of the team awarded the 2010 CSIRO medal for research achievement. Matt’s research interests include sustainable sources of omega 3 oil, lipid chemistry, regiospecific analysis, oxidation of nutritional oils, as well as micro algal sources of oil.

Mr Greg Seymour

CEO, Australian Olive Association

Greg Seymour joined the Australian Olive Association as Chief Executive Officer in March 2017, following 19 years as General Manager of the Australian Mushroom Growers Association. President of the International Society for Mushroom Science since 2004, Greg brings over two decades of CEO and project management experience with Australian and International horticultural organizations to the AOA role, including extensive involvement in industry R&D programs.

Greg holds a Masters degree in Applied Science (Agriculture) and post-graduate qualifications in Marketing and Executive Management. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Australian Institute of Management, and Australian Institute of Marketing.

Dr Rod Mailer

Australian Oils Research Expert, Australian Oils Research

Dr Mailer is an oil specialist with over 35 years industry experience. He was Principal Research Scientist with NSW Department of Agriculture during which time he established the Department’s oil research laboratory. The laboratory was recognised internationally with accreditation form various authorities including the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) and the International Olive Council (IOC).

Dr Mailer worked with the canola breeding program with agronomic and environmental studies to develop rapeseed cultivars with improved quality characteristics. He studied olive oil quality focussing on quality control through Irrigation, harvest timing, processing and storage.

He has played a role on numerous international organisations such as Codex Alimentarius, International Standards Organisation (ISO) and AOCS on quality standards and issues of fraud and authenticity in edible oil.

Dr Mailer is a Fellow of the AOCS and a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. He continues to play a role in edible oil research through association with national and international organisations including Horticultural Innovation Australia, ISO and the International Rapeseed Council (GCIRC).

Mr Rob Wilson

President, Australian Oilseeds Federation

Robert (Rob) Wilson has had a long and distinguished career with Pioneer Hi-Bred, 37 years and counting. Rob started in 1981 as a seed production agronomist before moving into research in 1988. From 1988 to 1996 he was Lucerne (Alfalfa) breeder based in Bendigo, Victoria during those eight years he released 5 varieties that became widely grown such as L90, L52 & L69. In this period Rob managed Lucerne research projects that generated data which clarified future breeding directions. One such project showed the true genetic potential of Lucerne under optimum growing conditions to be 36 tonne Dry Matter/ha.

During 1996, Rob relocated to Wagga Wagga, New South Wales to set up Pioneer’s Australian Canola research program. Over the following 18 years he bred and released 33 canola varieties, each regarded benchmark varieties at the time of release for their yield and oil characteristics and agronomic package. He successfully launched the first Clearfield® and Roundup Ready® canola hybrids into the Australian market.

In addition to his canola commitments, Rob has recently collaborated as a co-writer of the Lucerne online project, sharing his knowledge and experience on the lucerne plant.

Rob has long been an active grains industry representative and is the current President of the Australian Oilseed Federation (AOF) the peak oilseeds body within the Australian grains industry, and a former President of the Canola Association of Australia (CAA). He is a well-travelled Plant Breeder and communicator familiar with agronomic challenges and growing conditions for canola across the globe.

His current role with GenTech Seeds Pty Ltd Exclusive Producer Distributor of Pioneer® Brand Products is Canola Market Development Manager based in Wagga Wagga.