Management Team

Mr Peter Balsarini
Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer

Mr Balsarini holds a Bachelor of Economics Degree, is a CPA and has a Masters Degree in Business. He has over 17 years’ experience in the financial services industry, having spent considerable time both as a public practicising accountant and Chief Financial Officer of a major Funds Management business. Mr Balsarini’s experience spans project feasibility, investment case analysis, implementation of financial control systems, staff management, taxation, product development and distribution, amongst others. He has significant experience in the development and ongoing operation of Managed Investment Schemes, including regulatory and compliance requirements.
 

Mr Steven Blakely
Chief Operating Officer

Mr Blakely joined Carbon Conscious in October 2010 as Chief Operating Officer. He has over 30 years’ experience in financial markets including Project Finance, Investment Banking and Global Markets. Mr Blakely has a strong trading markets background with over 20 years’ experience in foreign exchange, interest rates and metals markets.









Mr Stephen Bodeker
Chief Financial Officer

Mr Bodeker holds a Bachelor of Accounting degree and is an AGA(SA) member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. He has over 15 years’ experience in financial management, including external audit experience gained with KMPG, internal audit, financial control and management accounting. He has worked in the transport, medical research, health services, media and FMCG industries as a financial controller or head of finance, together with internal audit roles. Mr Bodeker has recently joined Carbon Conscious from the UK where he spent the last 10 years in the greater London area, and originally hails from South Africa.





Mr Daniel Stevens
Director – Business Development

Mr Stevens is responsible for Business Development activities with a focus on working with clients expected to have liabilities under the Federal Government’s upcoming CPRS. He has been with the company since its inception and was a founding Executive Director, working closely  through the listing and early establishment stages. Dan was a founding member of the team that commercialised AACL and its Grain Co-Production product in 2004, which has now grown to operate the largest grain farming enterprise in Australia. Dan holds formal qualifications in Business and Marketing and possesses an excellent knowledge of Australian and international carbon markets and how these large and emerging markets interact with agriculture and forestry projects in Australia.

Mr Collins has guided mallee tree establishment and research projects for the company, drawing on his broad agricultural experience in Western Australia, including in the Mallee Tree industry.  The company has now established more than 8,000 hectares of Mallees in the wheatbelt on land which he has sourced for the company. He has a degree in agricultural science, and post graduate qualifications in business and marketing.
 

 





Mr Tim Helder
Carbon Development Manager

Mr Helder is a Master Tree Grower and previously has established his own tree seedling nursery in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia. He was a significant supplier of Mallee Trees to the Oil Mallee Tree industry throughout the 1990s. In addition, Mr Helder contracted his Mallee Tree establishment skills to the Oil Mallee Tree industry during this time. Mr Helder’s skills include site selection, mapping of plantations, arranging planting teams and seedling survival assessment.








Mr Tom Reynolds
General Manager, New Zealand

Mr Reynolds joined Carbon Conscious in 2008 and was involved in identifying and establishing large scale forest estates in Western Australia. Tom has 28 years’ experience in the forestry industry, including management roles with Fletcher Challenge Forests throughout New Zealand. His involvement in forest establishment, silviculture, harvesting and marketing have provided a solid understanding of supply chain management principles. Tom has formal qualifications in Forestry, Management, Marketing and Logistics.  He moved back to New Zealand in November 2010 to launch Carbon Conscious New Zealand Limited. www.carbonconsciousnz.co.nz 






Mr David Groom
General Manager Operations

David has over 20 years’ experience in the plantation industry while working with organisation, including Bunning Wesfarmers, ITC, Timbercorp and Rewards Group. David has been involved in all aspects of plantation management including research and development, land evaluation and procurement, establishment operations, including the development of over 20,000 hectares in a single year, plantation inventory, harvesting, contract management and product sales. David has a Degree in Forestry (ANU) and Masters of Business Administration (Mt Eliza). In addition to his forestry career he has been involved in the setup of several businesses in the health services and construction industries. David’s focus has been on the development of efficient management systems to deliver high quality risk managed solutions.





Mr Jeff Douglas
Land Manager

Jeff brings to the company over ten years of experience in the acquisition, administration and divestment of rural land throughout Australia. Previously responsible for fulfilling the land requirements of timber plantation companies, carbon sequestration interests and conservation focused groups he has recently coordinated several large scale farming and carbon sequestration projects in WA and SA. Originating from the family farm in southern WA, Jeff has a good understanding of the needs and aspirations of today’s farmers and is well placed to integrate Carbon Conscious’ plantations into the rural landscape. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Murdoch University and a WA real estate agent’s licence.

Board of Directors
The Board of Directors comprises 6 Directors. The directors have been identified based on their background and understanding of investment banking, law, primary production, marketing and agriculture.

Mr Lowe has worked in capital and financial markets for more than 30 years with a focus on energy commodities for the last 13 years. He brings to Carbon Conscious senior relationships with major energy and mining companies, investment banks and fund managers in national and international markets. His most recent role was as the Head of Energy Services with Tricom whilst prior to that he held the role of General Manager Trading with Integral Energy, a government  owned electricity, distribution and retailing company, for over five years. Mr Lowe is also well acquainted with the renewable energy market, having a personal interest in a waste to energy technology business currently under development.






Mr Trevor Stoney
Non Executive Director

Mr Stoney brings more than 48 years of involvement, knowledge and relationships within the agricultural industry to Carbon Conscious. From 1962 until the farm’s sale in 2009, Mr Stoney managed his family’s mixed farming operations of 70,000 acres which stretched from Dongara in the mid west, Esperance in the south and Donnybrook in the south west of Western Australia. In addition to being a Director at Carbon Conscious, Mr Stoney is also on the board of directors of AACL, a publicly listed company that is the largest grain production enterprise in Australia and which Carbon Conscious is associated with.
Mr Stoney’s experience brings invaluable insight into the carbon market and its close relationship with Australian farmers.






Mr Kent Hunter
Non Executive Director

Mr Hunter is a Chartered Accountant with over 16 years corporate and company secretarial experience. He has been involved in the listing of over 20 companies on ASX in the past 9 years. He has experience in capital raisings, ASX compliance and regulatory requirements and is also currently a director of Cazaly Resources Limited, Red Emperor Resources NL and Cauldron Energy Limited.








Dr Robert Payne
Non Executive Director

Dr Payne has significant corporate finance and operational experience coupled with technical expertise in the financial, industrial, resources and technology sectors. Between 2000 and 2006 he was Chief Executive Officer of State Development Fund Limited.


 






Mr Andrew McBain
Non Executive Director

Mr McBain has significant corporate and business management experience, having successfully developed a number of start-up businesses over the past 10 years. Mr McBain successfully founded and developed the largest grain production business in Australia, AACL, in addition to founding and being part of the development team in Carbon Conscious - the most successful carbon sequestration business in Australia. The capital raised for these ventures has been in excess of $250 million since 2005. Previously, Mr McBain was a director and founding shareholder of Scimitar Resources Ltd (now Cauldron Energy Ltd) and AACL Holdings Ltd. Mr McBain has experience in capital raising, business management and business development.