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WQRA Board

Pictured from the left: (Back Row) Simon Beecham, Anne Howe, Keith Cadee, Melita Stevens, David Waite, Jan Bowman, John Howard, Dharma Dharmabalan, (Front Row) Hamish Reid, Michele Akeroyd, Michael R Moore, Jodieann Dawe, Phillip Auckland.

WQRA Board directors are elected by the membership at the Annual General Meeting. The Chair is elected for a term of three years, while other non-executive directors serve terms of two years. The Board represents a broad cross-section of experience and expertise from within the water industry and associated research and regulatory organisations.

The Board of Water Quality Research Australia is composed of 9 director positions:

  • An independent non-executive Chair
  • Four non-executive directors nominated by Industry Members and elected by Members
  • Three non-executive directors nominated by Research Members and elected by Members
  • The CEO
  • Professor Michael R Moore: Chair
    Qualifications: B.Sc (Hons), Ph.D (Medicine), D.Sc, JP, MACM
    Professional Memberships: AWA, BTS, ACTRA, IWA
     Appointed as a Non-Executive Director on 11th July 2008. Prior to becoming Chair of WQRA, Professor Moore was the Director for Entox, the National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology. He has a rich academic background including as a Professor in Medicine, Honorary and Adjunct Professorships, Reader in Medicine and Therapeutics, and Clinical Pharmacologist with research interests in water quality and in genetic disease since 1967.
  • Ms Jodieann Dawe: Executive Director
    Qualifications: BSc (Hons), MAppSc, MBA, Grad Dip Corp Law
    Professional Memberships: GAICD, AFAIM, MRACI, CChem, CPMgr, CSA(Cert)
     Appointed as CEO and Managing Director on 7th June 2008. Ms DAwe is also Chair of the Regulatory Advisory Committee. Ms Dawe has a broad base of experience across research, commercialisation, marketing, program management and governance. Before joining WQRA as CEO Ms Dawe was Managing Director for Arc@UNSW, Manager Research Operations for Meat & Livestock Australia, and Business Development Manager at UNSW's Unisearch Limited.
  • Professor Simon Beecham: Non-Executive Director (Research Member)
    Qualifications: PhD (Civil Eng); BSc (Hons)(Civil Eng); GCHE
    Professional Memberships: MAICD; FIEAust; CPEng; SIA; AWA
     Appointed as a Non-Executive Director for WQRA on 27th November 2009. He was a member of the original Implementation Committee for WQRA in the lead up to its incorporation. Professor Beecham is Professor of Sustainable Water Resources Engineering and Head of Civil Engineering at the University of South Australia, and Director of the Centre for Water Management and Reuse. His Centre is highly successful at attracting research funding and projects currently include water sensitive urban design (WSUD), the effect of climate change on total water cycle management (TWCM), and siphonic roof water harvesting and reuse.
  • Mr Keith Cadee: Non-Executive Director (Industry Member)
    Qualifications: BE (Hons); ME, MIEAust, CP Eng
    Professional Memberships: MIEAust; CP Eng; GAICD
     Appointed as a Non-Executive Director for WQRA on 6th November 2007. Mr Cadee was Chair of the original Implementation Committee formed to establish WQRA and Interim Chair until the selection of and appointment of Professor Michael Moore in July 2008. Mr Cadee is the General Manager - Acquisition Group for Water Corporation of Western Australia. Mr Cadee has over 30 years experience in the Water Industry, particularly in respect of water quality, water treatment, and research. He is also a Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Desalination.
  • Dr Dharma Dharmabala: Non-Executive Director (Industry Member)
    Qualifications: MEng, DipH(Delft), GD (Comp.), BScEng (Hons)(Civil)
    Professional Memberships: FIE (Aust), CPEng, FICE, FASCE, MAICD, MAWA
     Appointed as a Non-Executive Director for WQRA on 26th March 2008. Dr Dharmabalan is the General Manager Planning & Infrastructure for Coliban Regional Water Corporation. He is also an Adjunct Professor with the Institute for Sustainability and Innovation at Victoria University, and a Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Desalination. Dr Dharmabalan is also a certified Auditor for Drinking Water Quality Management Systems, with RABQSA International.
  • Dr John Howard: Non-Executive Director (Research Member)
    Qualifications: BSc (Hons), PhD (Freshwater Chemistry)
    Professional Memberships: FAICD
     Appointed as a Non-Executive Director for WQRA on 6th November 2007. Dr Howard also Chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr Howard is the Head of the Australian Water Quality Centre (a business unit of SA Water Corporation) and for SA Water Corporation is Head of Water, Quality & Environment. Dr Howard is also a Board Representative for the Australian Water Association.
  • Dr Hamish Reid: Non-Executive Director (Industry Member)
    Qualifications: PhD (Environmental Toxicology)
    Professional Memberships: WSAA Water Quality and Health Committee Member, WaterReuse Asscoation Australian Management Committee
     Appointed as a Non-Executive Director for WQRA on 26th October 2010, Dr Hamish Reid is the Strategy General Manager at South East Water. In this role he has responsibilities across a broad range of key water industry issues relevant to WQRA, including water resource management, water sensitive cities, research and development, sewage quality strategy, environmental management, economic regulation and sustainability. Hamish has previously contributed to working groups for the National Water Recycling Guidelines and held regulatory and policy roles with EPA Victoria and the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment.
  • Dr Melita Stevens: Non-Executive Director (Industry Member)
    Professional Memberships: WSAA Water and Health Committee
     Appointed as a Non-Executive Director for WQRA on 26th October 2010, Melita Stevens has a background in public health microbiology and has been involved in water quality and research for 20 years. Melita was involved in the development of HACCP-based systems for drinking water and recycled water and contributed to the WHO Guidelines for drinking-water qualtiy, the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and the Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling. Melita was a member of the Implementation Committee that supervised the start-up of WQRA and was the Melbourne Water representative before becoming a member of the Board in 2010. Melita is an adjunct professor at RMIT and an Honorary Senior Fellow at Melbourne University.
  • Professor Stephen Gray: Non-Executive Director (Research Member)
    Qualifications: BE (Chemical Engineering), PhD (Chemical Engineering)
    Professional Memberships: AWA, IWA, ACS
     Appointed as a Non-Executive Director for WQRA on 28 October 2011. Prof Gray is the Director of the Institute for Sustainability and Innovation at Victoria University, where he is responsible for Victoria University's water research program. He was previously team leader of the CSIRO Urban Water team and has over 20 years research experience in water and wastewater treatment. He is AWA's co-convenor for the Desalination and Membranes Special Interest Network and is an Editor of the IWA journal Desalination and Water Reuse, an Associate Editor of Water Research and on the Editorial Board of Desalination.