Dr Kristy DiGiacomo graduated with a Bachelor of Animal Science and Management (honours) and then a PhD examining the physiological and metabolic responses to heat and dietary betaine in ruminants under the guidance of Prof Frank Dunshea and Prof Brian Leury; all from The University of Melbourne. Kristy is currently a senior lecturer in production animal nutrition and physiology at The University of Melbourne and the coordinator of the production animal major in the Bachelor of Agriculture. Kristy’s research involves a variety of production animal species including sheep, dairy cattle, dairy goats and pigs. Her research focuses on livestock nutrition, physiology and adaptation to the external environment. Dr DiGiacomo’s research examines the role of nutrition and nutritional supplements in managing and manipulating animal growth and production under various physiological and environmental conditions such as lactation and heat stress. The focus of this research is to understand the impact of nutrition on metabolism and nutrient partitioning to manage animals for improved productivity and environmental sustainability. Kristy is a passionate advocate for female leadership in STEMM and has completed the homeward bound (HB5) women in STEMM leadership program and the Oceanic Nutrition Leadership Program (ONLP, Nutrition Society of Australia). Kristy is a past Veski sustainable agriculture fellow, 2024 ATSE Agrifood award winner, winner of the Cornelius Regan Trust Award, honorary fellow of the Australian Association of Ruminant Nutrition and associate editor of the journal Animal Nutrition.

Dr Conrad Wasko is currently a Sydney Horizon Fellowship at the University of Sydney. Dr Wasko’s research focuses on understanding the effects of climate change on extreme rainfall and flooding. His work is cited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and he is a lead author of the current update to the climate change considerations in Australia’s guidelines on flood estimation. Dr Wasko worked as an engineer before undertaking his PhD in civil engineering at UNSW Sydney in 2016. He continued his research at the Water Research Centre at UNSW, followed by a McKenzie Fellowship at the University of Melbourne where he also held an ARC DECRA Fellowship. His work has received numerous awards, including the Lorenz G. Straub Award for the best thesis globally in water engineering in 2016, a Victoria Fellowship in 2020, and the Batterham Medal from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2023 for his demonstrated excellence, innovation, and impact in the field of engineering.

Tianyi Ma is an RMIT University Distinguished Professor, an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, and Clarivate’s Global Highly Cited Researcher in both Chemistry and Materials Science fields. He is Director of ARC Industrial Transformation Hub for Intelligent Energy Efficiency in Future Protected Cropping (E2Crop), and Research Director of Centre for Atomaterials and Nanomanufacturing (CAN). His international standing is evidenced by >400 publications in top-tier journals with an H-index of 95 and >40,000 citations. His ground-breaking research has been acknowledged by internationally recognised experts and authorities via 2024 Prime Minister's Prize for Science - the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year, AAS Le Févre Medal, Young Tall Poppy Science Award, ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, and Horizon Prize of Royal Society of Chemistry. His scientific impact and leadership are also evidenced by supervision of over 30 Ph.D. students, secured more than AU$40m in government and industry funding, and heavy engagement in international academic roles, such as Associate Editor, Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor for over 15 reputable international journals. He focuses on developing fundamental scientific breakthroughs and also up-scaling prototypes with far-reaching industry influence and real-life applications. Demonstrations and pilot plants have been established to drive his technologies to practical deployment and commercialisation, for example, the square meter sized solar-to-hydrogen generator, kilowatt level CO2 electrolyser, and high-energy density battery packs, which change the way how society generates and consumes energy and chemicals.