Keynote Speakers

Andrew Greensmith

Mr Andrew Greensmith is a plastic surgeon that has published on a broad range of topics covering aesthetic facial surgery and paediatric plastic surgery in peer reviewed journals/books. He has special interests in facial aesthetic surgery, including rhinoplasty, reconstructive and aesthetic breast surgery, ear deformities, skin cancer and general hand surgery.

Andrew is better known for his recent work at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne in the successful separation of conjoined twins Krishna and Trishna, from Bangladesh. Andrew is based in Melbourne, as a consultant at the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne.

Tim Jarvis

Tim’s most recent expedition was a retracing of polar explorer Sir Douglas Mawson’s polar journey of 1912/13. The modern expedition used the same clothing, equipment and starvation rations as Mawson on a journey where both of his colleagues died.

Tim Jarvis was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to environment, community and exploration in the 2010 Australian honours list. He is committed to finding pragmatic solutions to major environmental issues including climate change mitigation and adaptation, and unsustainable land use. Tim uses his public speaking engagements, films and books about his expeditions/work to promote progress/thinking in these areas in addition to working as a sustainability adviser on multilateral aid projects for organisations including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank & AusAID. www.timjarvis.org

Tom McFadden

Tom McFadden graduated from Stanford in 2008. He majored in Human Biology with a focus in Neuroscience and Behavior. He has spent the past two years as a full-time instructor in the Human Biology program, exploring innovative teaching techniques both in the classroom and online. He has collaborated with local science teachers at both the elementary and high school levels combining hands-on science lessons, music writing workshops, and live performances of biology-inspired rap songs.

His science music videos have been featured in the New York Times science blog, the UK Guardian, Trends in Cell Biology, and will be shown at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He hopes to pursue a MSc in Science Communication at the University of Otago in Dunedin, NZ before pursuing a PhD in biology and ultimately a career that involves spreading an infectious love of biology with both students and the general public.

Julie Biuso

Julie Biuso has a passion for food. You might say it's her life. She went on to open her own cooking school, La Dolce Vita, but eventually shifted gears to pursue her writing career.

She has had a long and successful career in food journalism, and on radio and television including being a regular guest on breakfast television for 5 years and having her own television series on Italian cuisine. She is the author of 12 food books and one semi-autobiographical book and is currently Food Editor of Taste and Your Home & Garden magazines.

Julie has an impressive list of credits to her name, including five Gourmand World Cookbook awards, and a Montana Book Award and a Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Award to name a few.

Her love for good food shines through her work and her mission is to keep people cooking because she believes food is the glue that holds families together. www.juliebiuso.com

Julie Woods - that blind woman

Julie Woods is a professional, inspirational speaker and coach who loves demonstrating “cooking without looking.” When Julie went blind in 1997 she had to start cooking without looking. Now she does workshops and demonstrations which include her most famous recipe – “those bloody truffles again.”

Known by her family and friends as Julie Woods, one day Julie realised that to others she came in contact with she was remembered as something different. “Returning to a shop one week later” told Julie, “the man behind the counter turned to his wife and said ‘this is that blind girl’ I was telling you about!” Hence the title That Blind Woman. www.thatblindwoman.co.nz