Our Board

Tom Gavel (Chairman)
Board member since March 2004 Tom owns and manages a mixed farm near Molong, he is well known in the Central West and is committed to engaging the community in natural resource management that will create vibrant communities and healthy landscapes.

He has extensive experience in natural resource management boards and committees and is particularly interested in engaging the whole community including landholders, the younger generation, Aboriginal communities and the urban population.

Contact: 0427 030 356

Christine White
Board Member since September 2011 Christine operates a sheep and beef livestock business with her husband near Coolah. She has worked in research and extension agronomy across central and northern NSW and has facilitated Landcare Groups in the Coolah area. Christine is a representative on the NSW Veterinary Practitioners Board and a past representative on the Sustainable Grazing Systems program and the Kondinin Group.

Christine has a strong interest in developing communication and adaptive NRM management principles with our communities, land managers and local government.

Contact: 0458 774 540

Robert McCutcheon
Board Member since February 2011 Rob is a landholder who runs a mixed farming enterprise that involves the irrigation of cotton and dryland crops and grazing in the Trangie area.

He is a strong advocate for building ties with the Aboriginal community and has vast experience in natural resource management, as the foundation Chair of Macquarie 2100 and Macquarie Valley Landcare and past Chair of Macquarie Cotton Growers Association. This experience will help guide and promote effective natural resource management outcomes.

Contact: 0429 889 664

Ian Rogan
Board member since July 2010 Ian has lived and worked in the Central West catchment for most of his working life. He is committed to advancing the agricultural and other industries in the region while considering the careful management of natural resources.

He was a Rural and Natural Resource Management consultant, worked in local government and developed a 10 year Regional Plan for Regional Development Australia-Orana.

Contact: 0418 484 088

Rob Napier
Board Member since November 2011
Rob is Director of Napier Agrifutures, a firm specialising in strategic planning for agriculture and agribusiness. He was Principal of orange Agricultural College for fourteen years.
Rob studies global changes in agriculture with particular emphasis on the future of family farms and lives with his wife on a 30ha beef cattle farm near Orange, New South Wales.
Rob has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from the University of Tasmania, a Diploma in Agricultural Studies from Cambridge University and a Master of Economics from the University of New England.
Rob is a Vice President of the International Farm Management Association and is a member of the Australian Federal Government Agricultural Finance Forum.

Contact: 0438 603 993