Fiona Lord

Fiona Lord (GDLP ’11, MEnvMan&Dev ’16) is a public policy professional, with a focus on resource and environmental management, and qualifications in law. She has worked on domestic and international climate change policy for the Australian Government, focused on carbon markets and climate change financing policy. Fiona also worked with AusAID and DFAT on sustainable development, in policy and program management roles. She led DFAT's policy work on the United Nations post-2015 development agenda in 2014 and 2015. She previously managed GGGI's country office in Cambodia, and led GGGI's program on green urban development with Cambodia's National Council for Sustainable Development, Ministry of Environment. Fiona is passionate about sustainable economic development, poverty reduction and natural resource management. She has focused on finding innovative ways to tackling climate change, sustainable development and natural resources management at local, regional and global scales through her work in the Australian Government and with GGGI.

Professor Mark Howden

Professor Mark Howden is Director of the Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions at The Australian National University. 

He is also an Honorary Professor at Melbourne University, a Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and is the Chair of the ACT Climate Change Council. He was on the US Federal Advisory Committee for the 3rd National Climate Assessment, was a member of the Australian National Climate Science Advisory Committee and contributes to several major national and international science and policy advisory bodies.

Mark has worked on climate variability, climate change, innovation and adoption issues for over 30 years in partnership with many industry, community and policy groups via both research and science-policy roles. Issues he has addressed include agriculture and food security, the natural resource base, ecosystems and biodiversity, energy, water and urban systems.

Kirsty Ruddock

Kirsty Ruddock (BA (Hons) '94, LLB (Hons)/GDLP '96) is an experienced climate lawyer and litigator, having been involved in representing and advising clients on a range of environmental law issues. She is currently the Managing Lawyer (Safe Climate - Corporate & Commercial) at the Environmental Defenders Office. She also has considerable experience in regulatory investigations, prosecutions and civil enforcement cases, particularly in the environmental and consumer law area.

She has recently worked in senior Government enforcement roles, including as the Director of the Water Enforcement Taskforce with the NSW Natural Access Resources Regulator (NRAR), Director of Compliance and Investigations at the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) and Director of Enforcement Group (NSW) for Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

She previously worked as Principal Solicitor at EDO NSW and EDO NQ where she worked on a number of important early climate law cases. She also worked early in her career at the Australian Government Solicitor as well as in Attorney-General’s Department in Samoa and the Public Solicitor’s Office in Solomon Islands. 

Lee Constable (Moderator)

Lee Constable (BA '12, BSc (Hons) '14, M Sc Comm '15) is  TV+digital presenter and producer with a focus on science, technology, society, climate crisis, justice and sustainability, and the intersect between these topics. Lee has previously hosted an Australian national science and tech TV show, Scope (2016-2020) that aired nationally twice a week and was heavily involved in researching, writing, presenting, field producing and offline editing and have hosted over 150 episodes on themes that span the STEMM spectrum, using humour, curiosity and relatability to engage its young audience.

Lee has founded the youth-run social justice and sustainability radio show, SoapBox and was the host and producer of the show for 18 months. She is also the founder of Co-Lab: Science Meets Street Art where scientists and street artists collaborate to create research-inspired murals live for the public. In 2018, Lee was on board the largest ever all-female expedition to Antarctica with 80 international women in STEMM as part of the Homeward Bound leadership program. In 2019, she published her first book, 'How to Save the Whole Stinkin' Planet' (Penguin) which continues to engage parents, teachers and young people in solving huge problems by being everyday heroes.