3 Aug 2023
Today, 3rd August 2023, the CGLN are pleased to officially announce Dr Roy Tasker as the newest addition to our expert group of CGLN Fellows.
Roy Tasker BSc(Hons) DipEd(UQ) PhD(Otago) CChem FRACI FRSN is currently the Chief Scientific Advisor at the Planet Ark Environmental Foundation and Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the Western Sydney University.
Initially trained as a synthetic bioinorganic chemist his research interests evolved into using interactive multimedia visualisation of the molecular world to help people at all educational levels to gain a deep understanding of chemistry.Career highlights include The Prime Minister’s Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year in 2011, and an Australian Office of Teaching and Learning National Senior Teaching Fellowship (2014 – 2015) to promote research-informed, best-practice use of visualisation to teach university-level concepts in STEM in Australia and New Zealand.
At Planet Ark Dr Tasker has aimed to help the general public to understand important scientific issues relevant to the climate crisis, the planetary boundary for novel entities, systems thinking in the circular economy, and sustainability principles. He has also reviewed the toxicity and environmental risk of chemicals used in products certified by Planet Ark, with particular focus on emerging contaminants.
Dr Tasker have been involved with projects to phase out intractable harmful chemicals from consumer products—BPA from store receipts, additives to plastics for ‘oxo-biodegradability’, and PFAS from food contact packaging—and to reuse ‘waste’ streams, such as spent coffee grounds in the production of green steel.
In the climate activism space he has progressed from protesting in Extinction Rebellion to working as a Climate Reality Leader with Pacific Island peoples to mitigate their specific environmental challenges as they face the existential threats of extreme weather events.
The CGLN are delighted to welcome Dr Tasker to our network, expanding both our base of expert knowledge, but also the geographical reach of our network.
You can find our full list of Fellows here
About the CGLN:
The CGLN is an independent, private, and not-for-profit organisation, harnessing the power of networks to build a platform for academic and scientific innovators to connect with business leaders, financiers and policymakers to generate solutions to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean economy.
We recognise that individuals and organisations around the world are working to develop practical solutions as to how we decarbonise our world. We are building an organisation to connect thinking with action and to encourage collaboration across sectors, disciplines, and generations.