Our People
Team
Fiona Chambers
CEO
Fiona has 30 years business experience in the production and marketing of agricultural and horticultural commodities both in Australia and overseas.
Before taking up the position of CEO with the Wheen Bee Foundation, Fiona lectured in business management and marketing at Marcus Oldham College in Geelong, Victoria.
As convenor of the Marcus Oldham Rural Leadership Program and the Apple and Pear Australia Ltd (APAL) Emerging Leaders’ Program, Fiona developed extensive networks across a range of rural industries throughout Australia.
Fiona is passionate about conserving rare and endangered breeds of farm livestock. In addition to breeding Wessex Saddleback pigs and Shropshire sheep, Fiona was instrumental in establishing a rare breed meat marketing scheme for the Rare Breeds Trust of Australia, of which she was a founding director.
She has delivered papers at numerous national and international conferences. In 2004, Fiona became a director of the international NGO, Rare Breeds International, and remains actively involved in advocating for the global conservation of farm livestock breeds for food security.
Key strengths and experience brought to the Foundation by Fiona:
- Extensive business and leadership experience and expertise
- Broad industry networks across a range of pollination-dependent industries
- National and international understanding of sustainability and food security
Lea Hannah
Project Manager Powerful Pollinators
Lea Hannah is a pollination biologist fascinated by all aspects of plant-pollinator interactions and improving biodiversity within both natural and agricultural landscapes.
Current Zoology.
Anita Vogel
Partnerships & Engagement
Anita Vogel is a professional grant writer with over a decade of experience working with businesses, NFPs, primary producers, charities, start-ups and entrepreneurs to understanding their unique funding needs.
Rowena Danks
Programs Manager
Rowena is an experienced project coordinator in the agriculture industry and has spent extensive time working in South Australia with livestock crop and horticulture producers supporting them with regenerative agriculture projects and community engagement.
Rowena’s lifelong love of animals sparked her early interest in ensuring their wellbeing and shaped her career path. Inspired by a special interest in horses, Rowena spent time in the United States and France working in natural horsemanship. After returning to Australia, Rowena completed a Bachelor of Environmental Science majoring in Conservation Management at Charles Sturt University.
Rowena developed an appreciation for bees working in the horticulture industry. She learned how critical it is to ensure there are secure floral resources for pollinators, especially during drought and how that directly impacts the industry.
Tracie Armstrong
Australian Pollination Strategy Program Manager
Tracie has 20 years’ experience working in the sustainability and tertiary sector having held positions in local government and at Monash University specialising in policy and strategy development.
Tracie has had extensive experience working in local government, shaping and executing climate change and sustainability policies. She added to her experience in the field while working at the Climate Council on Australia’s largest local government climate program, to drive the transition to a zero-emissions future.
Most recently, Tracie led the strategic stakeholder engagement strategy for the Land Use Futures program at Climateworks, an independent not-for-profit within Monash University.
Kade Harrex
Research Apiary Manager
Kade has more than 20 years of beekeeping experience and a passion for bees, inspired by his grandfather who was his mentor growing up.
Originally from Tasmania, Kade grew up on a farm learning first-hand the skills of beekeeping from his grandfather, who managed more than 1,000 hives. Kade then moved to Sydney to work in the horticulture industry as a landscaper, and brought his love of bees with him, managing 50 of his own hives.
Deborah Perkins
Business Development Lead
Deborah is a corporate banking professional with extensive experience in food and agribusiness having held positions at Australian and international banks. Deborah recently served as the Global Head of Food and Agribusiness at ING.
Directors
Peter Knoblanche - Chair
Peter brings 40 years of involvement in the food and agriculture value chains and finance, including his roles as Regional Manager Australia and New Zealand for Rabobank and CEO and Director of Rabobank Australia, the world’s leading food and agriculture bank. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Business Management Program, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and the University of Wollongong, and is currently a Director at GrainCorp.
Since retiring from Rabobank in 2023, Peter remains deeply committed to the viability and sustainability of the food and agriculture industries, and his leadership and vision will be instrumental as we continue to champion pollinators and their crucial role in food security, biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Jodie Goldsworthy AM
Jodie is the outgoing President of the Oceania Regional
Commission of Apimondia, an international organisation that represents
beekeepers worldwide and protects honey bees. She was recently awarded a life
membership for her services to the global beekeeping community. In 2021 she
finished a six-year term on the Board of Directors of the Australian Food &
Grocery Council advocating for a more sustainable Australian food industry.
Former Board roles include the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, Tourism North
East, President of the Honey Packers & Marketers Association of Australia,
a member of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Regional Women’s Advisory Council and
the Australian Government’s Food Processing Industry Strategy Group.
Jodie’s passion projects include establishing a Bee
Arboretum – a specialist planting for bees just outside Beechworth and
developing a “Bee School” to educate school children about the
importance of bees.
Jodie is a strong advocate for the recognition of the
essential role of honey bees in food production. She is driven to work to
disrupt honey adulteration and has spoken out against ‘fake’ honey imports into
Australia. Jodie is a sought after international speaker on the topic of honey
authenticity and is a founding member of the International Working Group
against Honey Adulteration. She collaborates globally for better honey quality
standards and traceability in order to keep beekeepers viable and bees pollinating
food crops, improving biodiversity and positively contributing to our planet.
Robert Costa
Co-founder of the Australia’s largest grower and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, Robert has extensive experience in the commercial aspects of the horticultural industry. Throughout the development years of the Costa Group, Robert managed the Group’s asset base and liquidity. This experience formed a strong knowledge base for his current position as Chairman of Costa Asset Management.
Throughout the development years of the Costa Group, Robert managed the company’s asset base and balance sheet, including working capital, liquidity and cash flow.
This experience formed a strong knowledge base for his current position as Chairman of Costa Asset Management, a privately owned investment company that focuses on developing, managing and sustaining capital across a portfolio of agriculture, private equity and property assets.
Key strengths and experience brought to the Foundation by Robert:
- Exceptional financial and business sense
- A thorough knowledge of Australia’s horticultural industry
- Well connected in both the agricultural sector and commercial world
Des Cannon
Des was a commercial beekeeper for 25 years and Editor of Australia’s leading beekeeping journal, The Australasian Beekeeper, for 14 years. His science teacher background and decade of teaching ‘Beginning in Bees’ and ‘Beekeeping as a Business’ for NSW DPI played a role in his appointment to the RIRDC Honeybee R&D Advisory Committee for 11 years, including 5 years as Chair.
His Science background played a role with him being on the RIRDC Honeybee R&D Advisory Committee for 11 years, the last 5 as chair. His passion for education continued, working part-time for 10 years with the NSWDPI, teaching ‘Beginning in Bees’ and ‘Beekeeping as a Business’. In 2007 he became the Editor of Australia’s leading beekeeping journal, The Australasian Beekeeper, a role he fulfilled for 14 years.
Rex Carruthers
Rex Carruthers is a commercial beekeeper from Cooroy, northern Sunshine Coast hinterland, Qld. He started beekeeping in 1993 following a successful career running his own Agricultural earth moving and soil preparation business. He rapidly expanded his apiary to 2000 colonies with his main business focus being the pollination of almonds in Victoria.
Rex is motivated by improvement and success and is constantly trialing changes to his practices in bee breeding and health, whilst finding new ways to manage and maintain the wellbeing of his bee colonies. He is also devoted to helping improve his industry.
Rex has been a member of the Queensland Beekeepers Association (QBA) for 25 years, and was on the state executive for 9 years, three as the State President. He was the Bee Industry Consultative Committee (BICC) Chairman from 2006 – 2010. During that time, he worked at both state and federal levels to improve issues relating to resource scarcity and was part of the development team who sort to make changes to legislation regarding the closure of Apiary sites in state Forests.
Living by the ethos “Hard work never hurt anyone, so why not devote your life to it” and “How could I make it better” whenever asked how his day has been, Rex replies “just sensational!”
Key strengths and experience brought to the Foundation by Rex:
- Practical understanding of commercial beekeeping and industry issues at the state and national levels.
- Strong desire to innovate and seek continuous improvement.
Tom Simmons
Originally from Meningie in South Australia, Tom Simmons grew up on a small property in a farming community. He has worked on broadacre cropping properties, a 14,000 head cattle feedlot, a northern grass-fed cattle operation, a thoroughbred stud and a large Western District sheep and cattle property. He has also spent time on conservation projects in the Amazon Jungle in Peru, before completing a Bachelor of Business degree (Agriculture) at Marcus Oldham College.
Tom now works for AWN (Australian Wool Network) as a Wool and Livestock Specialist and is based in Victoria. Throughout his career he has kept a small number of hives and maintains a keen interest in beekeeping and its importance to the agricultural industry. He has a passion for sustainable and regenerative farming practices that are mutually beneficial to the environment and the producer.
He is a keen advocate for biodiversity and for practices such as the planting of native trees on the boundaries of paddocks to form shelter belts to provide protection to livestock, crops and pastures whilst creating wildlife corridors to promote native animals and pollinators returning to the farm. Flowering trees and shrubbery provide a source of pollen and nectar to bees and native pollinators which can be incorporated into a farming system to improve crop and pasture production.
Tom is on farms and speaks with farmers everyday. He hopes to be a conduit to share knowledge, experience and expectations between those producing food and fibre and the foundation. With the honey bee population under threat from it is more important than ever to actively encourage landholders to be more aware of and promote habitats for native pollinators.
Rob Wheatley
Rob is General Manager at Turners and Growers Fresh and has had an extensive career in the horticultural industry in Australia and New Zealand. Rob is a Director New Zealand FrostBoss and the Chair of FrostBoss Australia. Rob has a long interest in pollination, developed through his roles as Director of the Almond Board of Australia and Chair of its Pollination Committee.
Rob has a long interest in pollination especially in his time as Director of the Almond Board of Australia and Chair of its Pollination Committee. Rob has served on several industry boards including Avocados Australia, Australian Table Grape Growers Association, Australian Melon Association among others. He is currently a Director of New Zealand FrostBoss and the Chair of FrostBoss Australia.
Past Directors
Dr Max Whitten AM
Founding Director 2009 - 2024
Max Whitten (BA, BSc, PhD, FAA, AM) is an Adjunct Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland. He was formerly Chief of CSIRO Entomology and Professor of Genetics at the University of Melbourne.
Max was the first Chairman of the Honeybee Research and Development Council. His research interests centred around genetic means of controlling insect pests and the ecological genetics of pesticide resistance. His wider interests have been in public good research, sustainable agriculture and biodiversity.
Max has served as Visitor for a number of Cooperative Research Centres and chaired the Advisory Board for the Special Research Centre on Environmental Stress and Adaptation at the University of Melbourne. Max was a member of the Research Committee for the Slade Foundation. Since retiring from CSIRO in 1996, Max has worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, helping governments and farmers in Asia reduce their dependency on pesticides. He is also helping Australian beekeepers and pollination-dependent industries restructure to cope with new pests and diseases.
Key strengths and experience brought to the Foundation by Max:
- Extensive experience in biological research and research management
- Experience in scrutinising and grading research proposals
- A network of connections internal and external to the industry
Sam Malfroy
Director 2017 - 2020
Sam Malfroy comes from a well-known beekeeping family from the Central Tablelands and Blue Mountains of NSW and is passionate about honey bee biology and optimising pollination of agricultural and horticultural crops.
Between 2011– 2016 Sam worked at Plant Health Australia and managed many of the honey bee and pollination programs. This included the establishment of the BeeAware website, the honey bee biosecurity Code of Practice and National Bee Biosecurity Program, and the Varroa Continuity Strategy. Sam also managed the National Bee Pest Surveillance Program and led the development of many educational resources, such as the Honey Bee Biosecurity Manual. For this work, Sam was given the AHBIC Award of Excellence in 2016 for service to the honey bee industry.
Sam has also led honey bee surveillance efforts on behalf of the Australian Government in Norfolk Island (2014), and participated as a beekeeping specialist for a SE Asia aid program that focused on improving beekeeping management practices and the development of university syllabus (2013 – 2015).
From 2016, Sam has been working at the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in trade and market access. He has a degree in Horticultural Science (Honours) from Sydney University where he specialised in plant pathology.
Key strengths and experience brought to the Foundation by Sam:
- Well-established connections with the honey bee industry and pollinator-reliant plant industries
- A thorough knowledge of honey bee biology and beekeeping practices
- Understanding of the research sector and government agencies
Colin Powell
(1949-2025) Founding Director 2009 - 2017
Qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1974, Colin worked in professional offices, private practice, government and non-government “not for profit” organisations.
In 1995 he gained an Advanced Diploma in Horticulture through Sydney University completing his final year project on Horticultural Management on Gretchen Wheen‘s pecan farm in Richmond, NSW. Colin was an Executor of Gretchen Wheen’s will and helped oversee the formation of the Wheen Bee Foundation during Gretchen’s life and helped ensure a smooth transition in keeping with Gretchen’s wishes after her death. During his time as a Director of Wheen Bee Foundation from 2009 to 2017 Colin’s special responsibilities include financial reporting and taxation matters.
Colin retained an interest in Wheen Bee Foundation matters and continued his support for the Foundation in his capacity of Emeritus Director until 2025.
John Linton Briggs (AM)
(1930- 2020) Founding Director 2009-2019
Linton was one of the true greats in Australia’s magnificent beekeepers and was ahead of his time in recognising the importance of stock improvement for Australian honeybees.
Gretchen Lewers Wheen
(1929 - 2012) Founding Director 2009-2012
Gretchen was one of Australia’s best known beekeepers who donated her estate through a living bequest to establish The Wheen Bee Foundation.