University of South Australia Biosecurity Seminar
A group of industry leaders spoke at the University of South Australia’s inaugural biosecurity seminar held on Wednesday, 16 November 2022 at the University of South Australia's Bradley Building.
Guest speakers
Chris Aitken, Director, ExoFlare
Chris will speak about how new technology is providing improved preparedness, new operational efficiencies and business continuity.
Co-founder of ExoFlare and CEO at SaltGrid, Chris is working to help industry use machine learning and AI to predict, understand and prevent biosecurity, health, safety, and environmental incidents. ExoFlare has created new technology which can enable the agriculture and food sector to simply and effectively manage biosecurity risks in real-time while meeting reporting requirements.
Dr Mila Bristow, General Manager, Partnerships and Innovation, Plant Health Australia
Mila will explain how partnerships enable us to be more prepared and build capacity to tackle threats to our biosecurity.
Mila leads PHA's partnership innovation to achieve their goals connecting strategies, supporting plant industries to adopt biosecurity practices, integrating data and technology for improved decision-making, and improving the identification and detection of plant biosecurity threats for the benefit of the economy, environment and community. Mila is well-versed in the priorities and directions of Australian agriculture and has valuable Incident Controller experience.
Dr Susan Stone, Credit Union SA Chair of Economics, UniSA Business
Susan will will look at biosecurity from a global market perspective and the impact of regulatory measures on international trade.
Susan joined UniSA Business from the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) where she was the Head of the Emerging Policy Issues Division for the Trade and Agriculture Directorate. She also spent two years at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) where she worked with governments to support trade, trade facilitation, foreign direct investment, SME development, technology and technology transfer, and innovation.
Dr Bethany Cooper, Senior Research Fellow, UniSA Business
Bethany will discuss how the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in food, agriculture and the environment requires new approaches.
An applied economist, Bethany’s work spans resource economics with a focus on water policy and management, the interface between gender and resources, and agriculture for development. Bethany's work has focused on applied research and has led research projects for CSIRO, SA Water, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Victoria, the NSW Metropolitan Water Directorate and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
Nathan Rhodes, Executive Director, Biosecurity SA
Nathan will provide insight into what an outbreak, and our response, might look like and the potential impacts on our rural economy
Biosecurity SA’s priorities include ensuring market access for producers and protecting and improving our state's economic, environmental and social assets and public health. Current activities include responding to outbreaks of fruit fly in the riverland, legislative reform, significant pest animal programs, and additional preparedness activities in response to heightened risk of exotic animal disease in Indonesia. During his time at the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Nathan held senior roles in import regulation and export certification and was responsible for the regulation of all international ports across SA and the Northern Territory.
