Our Board

Rob de Fégely has worked in the Australian forest industry for over 40 years. He is a Registered Professional Forester with a Bachelor of Science, Forestry from the Australian National University and a Master of Science, Forest Business Management from Aberdeen University in the United Kingdom.

Rob has worked in plantation development and forestry consulting and was a founding Director of Margules Groome Consulting Pty Ltd until he retired on 30 June 2024.

Rob is a Fellow of Forestry Australia and of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Rob is a non-executive director of Sustainable Timber Tasmania

Jane Bennett has extensive experience as a non-executive director and in building and nurturing premium Tasmanian food brands including Ashgrove Cheese, Meander Valley Dairy, Betta Milk and Pyengana Dairy.

Jane has over 30 years’ experience working in agrifood businesses across Tasmania and the United Kingdom and was the Managing Director of Ashgrove Cheese and TasFoods Ltd.

Previously, Jane chaired the Tasmanian Food Industry Council for eight years and was a nonexecutive director at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CSIRO, Tasmanian Ports, and the Australian Farm Institute.

Currently, Jane chairs the Board of Hop Products Australia and Nuffield Australia and is a non-executive director of Grain Growers Ltd.

Jane was named 2010 Tasmanian Telstra Business Woman of the Year, 1997 Australian ABC Rural Woman of the Year, and 1994 Tasmanian Rural Achiever of the year.

Jane is a non-executive director of Sustainable Timber Tasmania

Kathy Schaefer has over 30 years’ experience working across government portfolio areas of economic and industry development, infrastructure and major projects delivery, tourism, education, training and employment, land use planning and local government.

Kathy is currently a non-executive Director of TasNetworks and the Tasmania Devils Football Club.

Kathy is also a Commissioner on the Tasmanian State Grants Commission, a Divisional Council Member for the AICD Tasmanian Division, and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee for the Department of Treasury and Finance, Tasmania.

Kathy holds a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Education, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Kathy is a non-executive director of Sustainable Timber Tasmania

Kathryn Westwood is a highly experienced non-executive director, Chair and committee member with over 20 years’ experience in commercial, finance and risk management roles within forestry, water, metals processing, insurance industries and government in Tasmania.

Kathryn is currently the Chair of Blue Line Laundry Inc. and a non-executive director of Tasmanian Water and Sewerage Corporation Pty Ltd (TasWater).

Kathryn has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Tasmania and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Kathryn is a non-executive director of Sustainable Timber Tasmania.

Professor Rod Keenan has extensive experience in ecosystem science, forest management and resilience.

Rod has a Bachelor of Science, Forestry, from the Australian National University and a PhD in forest ecology from the University of British Columbia, with research interests in forests and climate change, forest ecosystem services and forest and environmental policy.

Previously, Rod was Professor and Chair of Forest and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne and Director of the Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaption Research, a research partnership between Victorian universities, and Chair of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Advisory Group for the Global Forest Resource Assessment.

Rod has worked as a research scientist and science adviser in several Australian states and with the Australian Government, and has undertaken research projects across Australia, Canada, Papua New Guinea and south-east Asia.

Rod is a non-executive director of Sustainable Timber Tasmania.