Mr Brown Bai, Chairman of the Rural Industries Council of Papua New Guinea, has been appointed to ACIAR’s Policy Advisory Council.  Mr Bai, a former Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Department, has been involved in agriculture and community development, both in PNG and internationally throughout his career. This includes working in a variety of capacities in the PNG Government’s Departments of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Primary Industries, Finance and Treasury and the National Planning Office.  Mr Bai has also been involved in a number of industry groups in agriculture, chairing the Livestock Development Corporation and the PNG Oil Palm Management Board, and was founding chair of Ramu Sugar. He has also served on the Coffee and Cocoa Industry Boards and the Copra Marketing Board.  The Rural Industries Council promotes the agricultural industry in PNG. The council’s membership is made up of regional or national associations that represent growers or primary producers of agricultural crops and livestock.  Dissemination of relevant information of interest relating to rural industries is a main priority of the council, achieved in part through radio programs, publications and grower conferences.  Mr Bai’s three-year appointment to the Policy Advisory Council began on 7 March 2005.

Paul Barker, from the UK, came to PNG in January 1978 and was based in the Highlands for five years with the Primary Industry Department. He headed the economics, marketing and statistics Branch of the Primary Industry Dept until 1988, when appointed special economic sector adviser in the Prime Minister’s Dept., a post filled until mid-2004. He was technical adviser with the European Delegation in the Solomon Islands until January 2006, and then appointed Executive Director of the Institute of National Affairs.

Eric is an agricultural economist in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He obtained his Bachelor of Economics Degree from the University of PNG (UPNG) in 1990. He obtained a postgraduate Diploma in Agricultural Economics and an MA in Economics & Management of Rural Development from the University of Manchester, UK between 1994 and 1996 under a EU Scholarship. Eric obtained his PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Western Australia in 2003 under a John Allwright Fellowship from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). Eric was one of 6 recipients of the John Dillon Memorial Fellowship in 2005 under ACIAR and also attended the Master Class in Research Management in Agriculture in Sydney Australia, sponsored by ACIAR and the Australian Academy of Technology, Science and Engineering (ATSE) Crawford Fund.

Joanne Ridolfi is project coordinator for the Pacific Outreach program. She has a bachelor of arts majoring in Political Science and Italian from the Australian National University and is currently doing her Masters in Public Policy at the Crawford School. Joanne manages and implements all activities associated with the program, which includes around 20 community and policy updates within the Asia-Pacific region each year.

Lois Stanley is a lecturer in the Law Department at the University of Papua New Guinea.

Peter Yates is coordinator of GDLN-Australia at the Crawford School in Canberra. He has a bachelor of commerce from the ANU and is currently completing his second degree in Development Studies. Peter manages and coordinates the training programs for the GDLN via multiple mediums including videoconferencing, face-to-face and multimedia, liaising with Regional Managers in Distance Learning Centres overseas. He often reports to sponsors regarding the evaluation of courses and trainers. Peter continues to develop the GDLN-Australia clientele base of providers as well as users. He markets the GDLN throughout Australia to the business, government and academic sectors.