Governing Board

Naomi Brown has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) since December 2006 and is also a Board member of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC).

Prior to being appointed CEO, Naomi Brown was an active AFAC member, having been heavily involved as a member of the organisation’s Community Safety Group.

She took up the role of Director Community Safety at the Country Fire Authority (CFA) of Victoria in 2003 having previously worked in Western Australia with the Fire and Emergency Services (FESA) for five years. She spent time there as Executive Director Community Safety and also Executive Director State Emergency Service and Volunteer Marine Rescue.

During her time at FESA and CFA she worked extensively with all of the Australasian Fire Services, the Bushfire CRC and Emergency Management Australia.

Ms Brown has also worked in Human Resource Management and Education and started her working life teaching children with intellectual disabilities and behavioural problems. She has also worked in the water industry, welfare, unions and health.

She has a Diploma in Teaching, Graduate Diplomas in Special Education and Business and has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors course.

Mark has held Professorial appointments at UWA, the University of Melbourne, and most recently at UNSW.

In 2006 he finished a six-year term as a member of the Board of Trustees for the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya and has served in an honorary capacity with other international research organizations focused on helping the world’s poor.

Mark publishes widely with a focus on sustainability and biogeochemistry of natural and managed ecosystems. He has held a range of fellowships and awards in Australia, France, NZ and Germany.

Fire has been a constant element of his research since the 1982 and 1983 fires burnt his PhD study sites on the outskirts of Melbourne.  His current research focuses on water, carbon and greenhouse gas emissions and how these are affected by climate and fire.

He is particularly concerned that the general public are better informed about the need for human engagement in management of terrestrial ecosystems, as opposed to philosophies that suggest ‘nature rules’.

A passionate believer in “conservation through use”, Mark enjoys working with students and with people who live on and work the land.

Mike Taylor is the current Chair of the Gardiner Foundation and was previously the part time Chair of the Murray Darling Basin Authority.

Prior to this appointment Mike has had more than 15 years of extensive experience at chief executive level. This included that of Secretary to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, regional services and Local Government (2007-09), Secretary to the Department of Transport and Regional Services - Australia (2004-07) and Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry – Australia (2000-04). 

Prior to 2000 he was Secretary for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (1996-2000) and before that, he was responsible for the leadership and management of two other Departments for the Government of Victoria(1992-1996). He was also Chief Executive of the Australian Dairy Industry Council (1991-92).

Mike is a member of the Melbourne University-Melbourne Business School Board of Directors (2008-), a Member, of the Crawford Fund Board of Governors (2001- ) supporting international agricultural research, and a Member, of the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (2004- ) providing support to rural communities.

Ewan Waller was elected to the Governing Board of the Bushfire CRC in February 2007.

He is currently Chief Fire Officer for Victoria’s Department of Sustainability and Environment and, prior to his election to the Bushfire CRC Board was End User Leader for Program B.

Shane Fitzsimmons has 25 years experience with the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) serving as both a volunteer and salaried officer. In 1998 he was appointed an Assistant Commissioner with the RFS and has held portfolio responsibilities for Operations, Strategic Development and Regional Management.

In 2004 he was appointed the inaugural Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) Visiting Fellow to the Australian Institute of Police Management (AIPM) for a period of 12 months. In September 2007 he was appointed Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service. In March 2008 he was appointed a Director of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) and is currently the Chair of the NAFC Board. He is a member of the NSW State Rescue Board and has recently been appointed Chairman.

Shane was awarded the National Medal in 1999 and the Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) in 2001.

He is a Director on the Board of the Bushfire CRC and on the Bushfire CRC Stakeholder Council.

Murray Dudfield is the National Rural Fire Officer for the National Rural Fire Authority in New Zealand. Murray was appointed to this position in 1990.

His role is to ensure the effective and efficient administration of fire management over the 27 million hectares of forested and rural lands of New Zealand.  This includes the national administration and co-ordination of the 97 Rural Fire Authorities.

He also has a forest management background holding a number of management position  for the New Zealand Forest Service from 1973 through until 1987.

He is a current member of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council and is the Chairperson of the Rural Land Management Strategic Group. He was elected to the Board of the Bushfire CRC in May 2007.

Alistar's research discipline is the ecology of natural and agricultural systems with a particular emphasis on food chains and biogeochemistry.

He has held research positions with Dalhousie University in Canada, the CSIRO, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and Charles Sturt University. He was the Dean, of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UWA between 2003 and early 2008. His current role focuses on strategic environmental research initiatives with government agencies and industry.
He has served on national and international committees responsible for resource management, training and research. These include the Torres Strait Baseline Study Management Advisory Committee, the Water Quality Technical Advisory Panel for the Great Barrier Reef, the Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Committee, the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s Environmental Engineering/Science Task Force, the Australian Research Council’s Biological Sciences Discipline Panel and Expert Advisory Committee on Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, and as a member of the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Centres of Research  Excellence Fund.

He is currently a Director on the Board of the Bushfire CRC and a member of the Boards of the Western Australian Marine Research Institution, the International Water Centre and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research.