Ian Porter (Chair)

Ian has broad 45 years of experience in the oil, gas, nuclear and conventional power industries in roles ranging from R&D, project management, business development and over the last 20 years has concentrated on energy technology commercialisation with all of his current activities focused on renewable energy.  He has strong belief and confidence that Australia can play a major role in the future renewables economy and is deeply committed to ensuring that happens.

Kate Boland (Secretary)

BA (Politics, History) Melbourne University; Diploma in App Sc (Nursing) Curtin University

Kate currently works in nursing and has been active for Greens WA, including the coordination of candidates' election campaign and as office bearer in her local group. Her social justice activism includes supporting women's refuges and drug and alcohol advocacy. Kate’s diverse interests also include tracking evolving technology (especially in medicine and public health); Skeptics and Atheist meetups; learning Mandarin and planning a trip to China to discover their poverty alleviation methods and renewable energy initiatives.

Kate was elected as SEN Secretary in 2019.

Steve Gates (Vice Chair)

BSc (Mechanical Engineer). Post grad study in Robotics, aircraft design, structural and dynamics analysis.

Steve has almost 40 years of experience in engineering research and development in the offshore, defence, manufacturing and agricultural industries in the USA and Australia. His passion for sustainability and environmental preservation has led him to significant volunteer work in these areas, as well as providing technical solutions for people with disabilities. He was awarded WA Volunteer of the Year 2016, and in 2006 won the ABC New Inventors program weekly award (on behalf of “Technology Assisting Disabilities WA”) for the development of the “Beach Trekker” wheelchair.

Steve co-founded SEN in 2006 and has served almost continuously as Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and/or Technical Team Leader.

Mike Allen (Treasurer)

BCom; FCA

Mike has worked for 35 years as a Chartered Accountant and professional CFO. He is an expert in economic evaluation and has been a leader in project development teams for projects up to USD300m and worked in 11 countries. Mike is currently CFO and Co. Sec. Geo40 Limited, a New Zealand company that has developed a process to improve the productivity and economics of geothermal plants.

Mike has been a SEN Committee member and Policy committee contributor since 2017. He was elected as Treasurer in 2019.

Margo Keating (Events Coordinator)

Diploma in Dental Therapy; GradDip (Nutrition Education)

Margo has worked in vocational education research and in the public health sector. She managed research in WA’s largest TAFE, including student and staff satisfaction surveys and identifying labour market trends. More recently, she moved into industry specific research for an industry training fund was Construction Manager for Corrective Services, setting up live construction and maintenance projects for prisoners to gain skills and qualifications to enhance employment prospects.

Margo was initially elected as Secretary to the SEN Committee and since 2017 has been the SEN Events Coordinator.

     Adam Gangemi (Outreach Co-convenor)

BSc (Hons - Geophysics); MBA; GAICD
Adam has worked in the Energy sector for over 12 years and is passionate about providing sustainable solutions to his clients. He currently owns a company focusing on energy efficiency and sustainable power generation by removing diesel fuel consumption at remote locations.
Adam helps coordinate the Outreach team (with Rob Phillips) and the Membership team, with a focus on promoting SEN and attracting younger members.

Bruce Armstrong

Bruce works in the public transport space, designing software and equipment for ticketing and passenger information in Perth's train system. He also designs and manufactures urban air quality monitoring equipment used throughout Australia. In addition to his work for SEN, Bruce is Treasurer of the WA branch of the AEVA (Australian Electric Vehicle Association) and a member of Renew (formerly the ATA). He is currently owner-building a 10-star efficient dwelling.

SEN Member since 2014 and Treasurer  2016-2019.

      Len Bunn

BEng (Electrical/Electronics) UWA

Len has 30 years’ experience as a control/safeguarding systems engineer in the oil and gas industry. He co-founded and was director of Plexal Group International, providing engineering services consultancy 2002-2013. He has specific skills and understanding from R&D and conceptual design through to detailed engineering, project management, business development and business analysis. Since 2014, Len has actively worked as an advocate for sustainability and is passionate about expediting a well-planned transition to a renewables-based economy in Australia and globally.

Len joined SEN in 2011 and the Tech and Policy Teams in 2014/15. He was part of the team that developed the SIREN and PowerBalance energy simulation package (used to model a transition plan to renewable energy for the SWIS and for the Kimberley). Len’s analytical and policy development skills have been a valuable contribution to most of SEN’s submissions and reports.

      Dr Rob Phillips (Policy Convenor)

BSc (Hons - Physical Chemistry); PhD (Theoretical Chemistry); GradDip (Computer Science)

Dr Rob Phillips is a retired academic with a background in Chemistry, Computer Science and Educational Technology. Later in his career he contributed to university governance, and held various leadership roles in policy development around educational and educational technology initiatives.

Rob brings strong written communication skills to SEN and was the main author of the SEN publications: Briefing Notes (2017), Kimberley Clean Energy Roadmap (2018), Microgrids Inquiry (2018). He was also a significant contributor to the SEN submissions to Parliament: Coal Retirement Inquiry (2016), Fracking Inquiry (2018), Greenhouse Gas Inquiry (2019).

SEN Committee member since 2018, Policy team member since 2016 (Convenor 2017-2018), and Outreach Team Convenor 2019.

      Alastair Leith (Outreach Co-convenor)

Alastair brings to SEN a background in architecture/design, graphic design, film and motion graphics that is coupled with his strong technical literacy in climate science and renewable technologies. He has been a consultant for Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE), Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA), Australian Climate and Forest Alliance (ACFA), and volunteered with other climate and environmental organisations.

Alastair provided the publication design, layout, infographics, and illustrations and graphs for SEN’s Kimberley Clean Energy Roadmap (2018). He has represented SEN in briefings to government, initiated and conducted jobs modelling/analysis, coordinated outreach efforts. He currently supervises SEN’s social media presence.

Humphrey Boogaerdt

BSc (Geology) UWA; GradDip (Geographic Information Systems) Curtin University

Humphrey worked for many years as a geologist in mineral exploration for gold, base metals, manganese and iron ore. He also worked as a mine geologist in a manganese mine, a geoscientist for a WA based exploration and mining software developer, and enjoyed six years as a house-dad.

Since retirement, he has been active in various environmental issues including fracking. He has been a member of SEN for at least ten years, writing submissions regarding environmental issues and for some years as a member of the Tech-Policy committee.