Deck Program Speakers 2023

Suzanne Ardagh

DIRECTOR – BOARD ADVISORY, LESTER BLADES

Courtney Bailey

TRAINING AND ADVISORY OFFICER, VOCONIQ

Trevor Flint

DIRECTOR, CAPSTONE ASSOCIATES

Matt Hern

FINANCIAL PLANNER, HPH SOLUTIONS

Evy Yeo

EXPORT MARKETING OFFICER, KB SEAFOOD COMPANY

Jayden Mair

MANAGING DIRECTOR, GLOBAL MARINE DESIGN

Simon de Lestang

PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST, DPIRD

Matt Watson

SENIOR FISHERIES PROGRAM MANAGER, ASIA PACIFIC, MSC

Greg Hart

DIRECTOR, WILD OCEANS

Nathan Harrison

DIRECTOR, AQUATIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, DPIRD

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Suzanne Ardagh

DIRECTOR – BOARD ADVISORY, LESTER BLADES

Suzanne is a governance professional and Non-Executive Director with extensive international experience. She leads the Board Advisory Team at Lester Blades. Her career has spanned diplomacy, corporate affairs, tertiary education and professional associations. She has lived and worked in Europe, Latin America and most recently in South East Asia.

As a Director, Suzanne has served on both international and national Boards. She is currently on the Board of the WA Cricket Foundation, WA Ballet and Chairs the Board of Stanley College a private tertiary international College. She is also the Patron of the WA Vietnam Business Council.

Suzanne will talk about the role of the Board and Directors and how they can and should add value to the leadership of an organisation. She will explore some of the contemporary topics that Boards need to consider, such as the role of stakeholders, the importance of people and culture and other strategic issues that future facing Boards should tackle in their roles.

Courtney Bailey

TRAINING AND ADVISORY OFFICER, VOCONIQ

Courtney Bailey is the Training and Advisory Officer at Voconiq. Courtney has a broad range of experience in education, community engagement and project management across various agriculture sectors. In her role at Voconiq she works on extension and adoption of research outcomes and project management of agriculture and training programs. 

Courtney has a Bachelor of Agribusiness and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Animal Production) from the University of Queensland; a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning and a Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) from the University of Southern Queensland. She recently graduated as an AgriFutures Horizon Scholar and this year, is being mentored as part of the ARLF National Mentoring Program. 

Courtney is passionate about improving community understanding of Agriculture Industries and the impact connection to land and culture has on wellbeing.

Trevor Flint

DIRECTOR, CAPSTONE ASSOCIATES

Trevor is the Founder and Director of Capstone Associates, a consultancy and training company specialising in working with organisations and individuals to help them achieve greater levels of success.

As a strategic thinker with the proven ability to transform the performance of both individuals and organisations, his programmes inspire clients through his engaging style and ability to help them overcome challenges to get the results that they want.

An MBA-qualified senior leader with over 25 years of experience working internationally, Trevor’s passion and experience together with world-class content, ensure his programmes deliver experiences that create lasting change for businesses.

Matt Hern

FINANCIAL PLANNER, HPH SOLUTIONS

Matt Hern is passionate about helping people afford the life that lights them up! He is a Certified Financial Planner professional with over 20 years of experience in helping people achieve their financial goals.

Matt blends behavioral science with personal finance to help people make smart financial decisions that reduce their financial stress and boost their overall happiness.

Evy Yeo

EXPORT MARKETING OFFICER, KB SEAFOOD COMPANY

Evy Yeo has extensive experience in Sales & Marketing, Procurement, Import and Export as well as Relationship Management. She has a strong sales background servicing local foodservice providers, major retailers, industrial caterers, Quick Service Restaurants, and more recently, marketing premium Australian seafood to the world.

Being fluent in five languages, Evy has built strong relationships with suppliers from around the globe. This has included buying frozen vegetables from Europe, cooking oil from Malaysia and Indonesia to sourcing seafood throughout Asia, Africa, North and South America and Norway. She has worked closely with senior management in managing relationships with key stakeholders.

Evy has a special interest in international trade of food products and is currently the Export Marketing Officer at KB Seafood Company.

Simon de Lestang

PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST, DPIRD

Simon de Lestang is the Principal Research Scientist at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional
Development in charge of offshore crustaceans, which includes the western rock lobster.

Simon got his PhD in 2000, which was based on the biology and assessment of blue swimmer crab along the west coast of WA. He has now been working on lobster for over 15 years, mainly in the area of stock assessment. The majority of his work nowadays involves programming computer-based stock models.

Matt Watson

SENIOR FISHERIES PROGRAM MANAGER, ASIA PACIFIC, MSC

Matt Watson is the MSC’s Senior Fisheries Program Manager for the Asia Pacific and is based in Fremantle, Western Australia. Matt works with MSC’s fisheries teams across the Asia Pacific implementing the program’s vision pursuing a balance of healthy oceans and access to sustainable seafood.

Matt has worked in and around the fishing industry since 2009 including roles at sea and always looking to work collaboratively with stakeholders. When presented with the opportunity, Matt will often look to learn how a fishery works by spending time on the deck and talking to fishers to understand the fabric that makes their fishery unique. This offers a nuanced understanding of a fishery’s needs and how to encourage the best possible outcomes across environmental, social and economic indicators of success.

Matt has a Bachelor of Science in Oceanography and Marine Biology from Southampton University, UK and a Master of Research in Sustainability and Climate Policy at Curtin University, Western Australia. He is also the President of Western Australia Seabird Rescue, supporting an organisation that rescues and rehabilitates over 2,500 seabird and waterbirds each year.

Greg Hart

DIRECTOR, WILD OCEANS

As a Founding Director of Wild Oceans, Greg Hart has over 30 years of experience in the Australasian and Global seafood market. With sales in excess of US$50m per year, the Wild Oceans company represents a range of high valued seafood producers from across the globe, with lobster as one of its main categories.

Apart from a successful trading career, Greg has written and presented many research papers for various government and private organisations.

Greg is also a member of the Total Allowable Commercial Catch Committee established by Western Rock Lobster and in his role brings a vast amount of knowledge and expertise to the Committee.

Nathan Harrison

DIRECTOR, AQUATIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, DPIRD

Nathan Harrison has 30 years’ experience working in fisheries management in WA. His roles have been many and varied from being the first community education officer appointed in the Department of Fisheries, to his currently role as the Executive Director Fisheries and Aquaculture at DPIRD. This position has responsibility for coordinating the management and research of fisheries and aquaculture in WA and overseeing DPIRD’s involvement in Marine Park planning and strategic policy development.