Our People

Andrew Leighton brings a wealth of technical, management and leadership experience relevant to the role of CEO at FWPA.

His senior executive roles have included seven years as Managing Director of Norske Skog Australasia and time as Vice-Chair of the Australian Forest Products Association.

Andrew is excited to lead FWPA, and sees huge potential for increasing the applications for, and use of, forest and wood products as the world adapts to a carbon-constrained economy.

Chris joined FWPA in March 2002. As Research and Development Manager, Dr. Lafferty is responsible for implementing FWPA’s policy of supporting R&D projects across the entire forest and wood products value chain.

Professionally qualified as a chemist, Chris was awarded a Master’s degree in Applied Chemistry from RMIT and a PhD in chemistry from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland.

Before joining FWPA he was a senior research scientist with the CRC for Clean Power from Lignite. Prior to that, Chris was a senior research scientist at the Center for Applied Energy Research at the University of Kentucky.

Jodie manages RD&E projects and programs of interest to forest growers.

Jodie holds a Bachelor of Forest Science and a Master of Business Administration. She has over twenty years’ experience in forest management, with focus on operations, certification, forest carbon and environmental auditing. She has worked in both native forest and plantation management and provided consulting services to the sectors for fifteen years, across Australia and internationally.

John joined FWPA in July 2023.  He is responsible for the business and financial functions of the Corporation.

John is a CPA with more than 20 years experience in CFO roles in the private and not-for-profit sector, including the Sports industry, professional associations and service industry.  Recent roles have included a Research Foundation and Government co-funding models in alignment with FWPA’s structure.

Jan joined FWPA in 2022 to assist with the management of the forestry RD&E program.

She has an extensive career in forestry working in both the public and private sector, and as an independent forester specialising in policy and the provision of advice to state government departments and forest organisations. Jan holds a Bachelor of Forest Science, Graduate Diploma of Business Management, and Graduate Diploma of Education (Applied Learning).

Jarrod joined FWPA in March 2012. As R&D Projects Officer, Jarrod assists the R&D Manager and the Forest Research Manager with the management of FWPA’s portfolio and R&D activities.

Jarrod completed a Bachelor in Biological Sciences at La Trobe University, majoring in zoology, and microbiology with a minor in botany.

Before joining FWPA, he worked at the Department of Primary Industries for five years in various roles including Project Officer in PIRVic Plant Genetics & Genomics and also at Fisheries Victoria’s Fisheries Co-management Council.

Boris is responsible for managing FWPA’s activities in building codes and material standards.

Boris has had more than 24 years of direct involvement in the Australian forest and wood products sector and holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Structural) degree and a Graduate Diploma in Building Fire Safety and Risk Engineering.

He has represented the timber industry on a number of Standards Australia’s Technical Committees including TM-002 Timber Framing and TM-006 Timber Preservation and Durability. He is actively involved in the drafting of technical guides, informing designers, specifiers and regulators in relation to timber engineering and bushfire compliant solutions, and is a member of Standards Australia’s Timber Standards Coordination Group.

Beth manages the ForestLearning Education program, aiming to serve educators, children, and the public with information on Australian forests and forest-based products, and provision and access to forestry teaching resources. The program is further supported by links to key government, industry organisations and educational service providers.

Before joining FWPA, Beth spent the previous 13 years involved in the formation and management of peak school to industry partnership programs with AgForce Queensland and the Gateway Schools to Agribusiness South region. Beth has held roles in communications, teaching, science research, science curriculum extension, curriculum development, and strategy within schools, peak agricultural industry associations, the Plant Biosecurity CRC and various government agencies including CSIRO, DAFQ and DNR&M.

Beth served as a non-Executive Director for the first Primary Industries Education Foundation Board and was a participant in Australia 2020 and the DAFF Rural Leaders Course.  She holds a Grad Dip Ed (Science), 1st class Hons Science (Entomology), Bachelor of Applied Science, CERT IV Training and Assessment and Cert IV TESOL.

Kevin has an extensive background in the forestry industry. He studied forestry at Australia National University and has worked in policy advocacy for increased R&D funding for the forest industry and also as chamber manager for pulp, paper, and bioproducts sector members. He was also an executive officer for Timber Towns Victoria and the National Timber Councils Association.

Erick is an experienced economist with more than 10 years working in academia, government, and the private sector. His expertise includes economic modelling and environmental economics.

Before joining FWPA, he was a Research Fellow at the National Centre for Social Economic Modelling and a Senior Economist at KPMG. Erick holds a Master’s degree in International and Development Economics from ANU and a PhD in Economics from the University of Canberra. Erick is also an active member of the Economic Society of Australia (ESA) as well as the American Economic Association (AEA).

Peter joined FWPA in March 2023. He is responsible for the assistance in the business and financial functions of the organization.

Peter holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with double major in accounting and finance from Melbourne University. He is also CPA qualified and has more than 4 years of experience in the private and public sector. Before joing FWPA, he worked as an Assistant Accountant at Nexif Energy.

Sarah is a talented marketing and communications manager with over nine years of proven experience developing integrated marketing and communication strategies in the education and construction industries.

As an integral part of FWPA’s marketing and communications team, she manages the development and creation of key marketing and communication initiatives while making a difference by focusing on sustainability and the built environment.

Driven by team success, Sarah actively contributes to a positive work culture by developing positive relationships with all stakeholders.

Rhiana obtained an Associate in Arts degree from Valencia College in 2014. She then went on to study Marketing & Management at the University of Central Florida before moving to Melbourne in 2017. Rhiana worked in hospitality management for more than 10 years. She is also a freelance writer.

At FWPA Rhiana is part of the Marketing & Communications team. She coordinates events, digital content, social media management, EDM, digital analytics, copywriting, editing and print advertising.

Emmy is a seasoned marketing professional and brings experience across comms, project management and coaching from a range of organisations both in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors.

Born and raised on a small farm in the forests of southern Sweden, she’s passionate about the important role wood products can play in the built environment and a sustainable community. At FWPA you can find her bringing a wide range of marketing communications, campaigns and strategic initiatives to life.

Campbell is responsible for developing and implementing marketing campaigns with the Marketing and Communications team in collaboration with each of the FWPA program managers.

A marketing generalist, he has experience in designing and executing digital marketing strategies from start to finish in the education sector. Campbell holds a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Marketing and Finance from RMIT University. Campbell is excited to bring his skills and experience to FWPA and to help position and promote wood products as the most renewable material available.