Associate Professor Johanna Nalau is an award-winning climate adaptation scientist who thrives on finding clues how humans can better see into the future and adapt. Her research focuses on understanding climate adaptation heuristics and the role these play in adaptation decision- and policy-making processes globally and in Australia. A/Prof Nalau is Lead Author in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment report in Working Group II, Co-chair of the Science Committee of the World Adaptation Science Program at United Nations and an advisor in Resilience Frontiers, UNFCCC’s foresight initiative on enabling global resilience and adaptation. She is also the Program Director for Masters of Climate Change Adaptation at Griffith University. She was recently awarded the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Award 2023 for Emerging Leadership for her work on climate adaptation. She is passionate about the role of innovation, imagination, and foresight in enabling better futures.

Chris leads the Gold Coast Waterways Authority (GCWA) through place-based planning and delivery and management of marine and land-based infrastructure that improve access, connections and destinations for the Gold Coast waterways users and the community. Prior to joining GCWA, Chris was the Sustainability Director at the City of Sydney where he led them to become the first carbon neutral certified government organisation in Australia, implement decentralised energy and water grids, embed climate resilience into $8B asset portfolio and establish globally leading industry partnerships. Chris has previously worked in the property, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors locally and overseas, both in government and consulting roles. Chris has an Environment Engineering Degree, and Executive MBA, and is a recipient of the Vincent Fairfax Leadership and Ethics Award.

Murray is a coastal engineer and public servant with nearly 30 years’ experience in climate change adaptation.  After many years in coastal management with the South Australian Government, Murray joined the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water in 2023.

He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University and Deputy Chair of the college’s Industry Advisory Board. Research interests include restoration of coastal ecosystems, the interaction between sea level rise impacts; demographics and value-adding opportunities in climate change adaptation; wave hydrodynamics and seagrass interactions; and impacts of rising sea levels on coastal processes and hazard management.

He was the South Australia representative on Engineers Australia’s National Committee on Coastal and Ocean Engineering (NCCOE) from 2002 to 2017 and served two terms as Chair. He remains a corresponding member, involved in maintaining NCCOE’s guidelines on climate change and sustainability in coastal and ocean engineering.