Helen Garnett

Em Prof Helen Garnett PSM, BSc (Hons), PhD, FTSE, FAICD
Chair, Australian Biosecurity Intelligence Network

Dr Helen Garnett has over 25 years experience in transforming technical innovation into practical commercial outcomes. She has 15 years experience as a Chief Executive and over 20 years as a Non-Executive Director having been closely associated with the bioscience, resource and energy sectors throughout this time.

She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Academy of Technical Sciences and Engineering. Helen is the Chair of the Crawford Fund’s Northern Territory Committee and a member of the Board of Directors.

Helen is a director of three bioscience entities, the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, an entity with government and business investment, the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation and Sugar Research Australia. Helen is also active in the philanthropic and not-for profit sectors, chairing the Council of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory Foundation. She is a past chair of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra inc.

As the foundation Vice Chancellor and President of Charles Darwin University she was responsible for merging 4 public institutions to create a new entity which became the fastest growing university in Australia within just 3 years at the same time as its reputation for research and community development and Indigenous participation, reached the top level. As the Executive Director of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation for 10 years, she was responsible for achieving the biggest single investment in scientific infrastructure in Australia – the OPAL reactor at Lucas Heights, the many public enquiries and the commercial negotiations that followed. She also represented Australia at the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN body, for 10 years.

Dr Helen Garnett is Chair of the Crawford Fund’s Northern Territory Committee and a member of the Board of Directors.