About the IEA

We are a co-operative, and registered charity.

The structures of institutions reflect the true values and agendas behind their rhetoric. The IEA is an incorporated co-operative and official registered charity.

Co-operatives have a member-owned, community-led governance model that distributes decision-making and empowers those who would otherwise not have a voice. They build resilience in communities by giving capacity to make their own decisions.


Structure & function

Co-operative rules

Originally established in 2009, the association evolved into a co-operative structure in 2016 registered under the Co-operatives Act [1992] operating under a defined set of rules formally set out in the IEA Rules [Constitution]. These rules have been submitted to the Co-op Registry and comply with, and to some extent, expand (environmentally) the rules and principles of the International Co-operative Alliance for the purpose of a co-operative that works in the agricultural/environmental arena.

Charity Status

In January 2024 the IEA co-operative successfully gained registration as a charity under the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission [ACNC]. Our formal registration profile and documentation can be accessed here. Becoming a charity has several benefits for stakeholders involved with the IEA as outlined here.

10 Principles of membership

We are led by a board of elected members who determine directions; represent members in interactions with other institutions (national and international) or government; and lobby on behalf of members.

IEA is beholden to, and fully supportive of, the seven international principles of cooperation as established by the International Co-operative Alliance. In addition, the IEA has identified and adopted three of our own principles for an ecological context:


International Co-operative Alliance principles

  1. Voluntary and open membership: co-operatives are voluntary organisations, open to all who are able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without discrimination.

  2. Democratic member control: co-operatives are democratic organisations controlled by their members, who actively participate in the setting of policies and decision-making. Members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote).

  3. Member economic participation: members contribute equally to the funds of the co-operative and control the allocation of surplus funds.

  4. Autonomy and independence: co-operatives are independent organisations controlled by their members. Any agreements entered into with other organisations must ensure democratic control by members and the co-operatives independence.

  5. Education, training and information: co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operative. They inform the general public about the nature and benefits of co-operation.

  6. Co-operation among co-operatives: co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together.

  7. Concern for community: co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.


Additional IEA principles

Three additional principles have been developed by IEA to guide membership in an ecological context:

8. Concern for a declining environment: IEA is concerned about the impacts of a declining rural environment and the harm done from current and potential (future) land uses on farmland and natural ecosystems.

9. Concern for lack of holistic approaches: IEA is concerned about the lack of emphasis on holism in education and agriculture; and the impact this has on the natural environment, farm productivity and the well-being of people.

10. Collaboration for climate: IEA aims to collaborate with national and international bodies responding to climate change in an ethical manner beholden to social and environmental standards and the principles of climate justice.

 

Meet the Board

Dr Ethan Gordon

President

Ethan is an environmental scientist who completed his PhD with the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney. In February 2023 Ethan begun a post-doctoral, applied research position in holistic grazing based out of the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences unit at Oregon State University, USA.

Through action research, Ethan aims to understand how transformation can be facilitated in agriculture to prevent further degradation of planetary systems.

Ethan’s PhD research explored regenerative agriculture and other ecological alternatives to extractive agricultural models and focused on the social side of regenerative agriculture – examining the different interpretations and approaches that exist.

Ethan grew up on and is a director of ‘Moffat Falls’, a family-run regenerative pastoral property and steer trade operation near Ebor, NSW, Gumbaynggirr country. Practicing holistic management, Ethan and his family utilise their grazing animals for carbon sequestration and are early adopters of carbon farming. Moffat Falls has recently started fencing off critical springs and wildlife corridors in partnership with the Local Land Services (LLS). The property includes eco-tourism facilities, including the Little Styx River Cabins, Moffat Falls Lodge and Cottage, and the Yaraandoo Eco-Lodge and Function Centre.

Ethan has undergone holistic management training with Resource Consulting Services (RCS) and Inside Outside Management, as well as in regenerative design and development and permaculture.

Joining the IEA in 2020, Ethan is passionate about protecting biodiversity and shifting agriculture towards a more ecological paradigm and believes the IEA has an important role to play.

 

Kerry Cochrane

Vice President

Kerry believes a new era in agriculture has emerged, which will put an understanding of ecology front and centre of farm decision-making and will require a shift from reductionist to holistic thinking.

Kerry was the 2009 Foundation President of the Australian Ecological Agriculture Association (EAAA) and in 2016 was instrumental in transforming the association into today’s Australian Institute of Ecological Agriculture Cooperative Ltd (IEA).

Kerry’s 35-year academic career commenced with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgSc) from The University of Sydney (USYD), followed by postgraduate studies in the humanities from Western Sydney University (WSU) and Lancaster University (US) in the United Kingdom (UK).

Kerry’s time in the UK provided a further understanding of holism and he embraced its interpretation of life. Connected to this was a passion for an ecological approach to agriculture.

Introducing Human Ecology as a unit of study led to the creation of a Bachelor of Ecological Agriculture at the University of Sydney (CSU), of which he was Course Coordinator for 15 years. He also co-designed the Regenerative Agriculture stream within the Bachelor of Science at Southern Cross University (SCU). Kerry has recently retired from teaching Human Ecology into the degree program at SCU and Transformational Change into the Graduate Certificate at SCU.

Kerry believes that the IEA has a critical role to play in the evolution of regenerative agriculture in Australia. Furthermore, he believes the Institute of Ecological Agriculture (IEA) provides an important link for students graduating from Southern Cross University (SCU) at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Kerry lives in Orange, NSW, Wiradjuri country, having spent his early life on a 120-cow dairy farm in the Bega Valley, NSW. He is committed to the ethos of ecological/regenerative agriculture.

 
 
Jono Forrest

Jono Forrest

Treasurer

Jono grew up on a mixed farm on the edge of the Barossa Valley in South Australia and then spent four years jackerooing near Wagga Wagga and Albury, NSW. Following that, he completed a Bachelor of Business (Ag Commerce) through the University of Sydney's Orange campus. Jono has spent 26.5 years in public practice accounting, with most of his clients in the agriculture industry.

Jono completed a Holistic Management (HM) course with Bruce Ward 20 years ago, which sparked an interest in more ecological approaches in agriculture. This experience led to his decision to leave the accounting business in December 2021 to pursue his interest in regenerative agriculture practices.

Jono started formal studies in the Post Graduate Diploma in Regenerative Agriculture through Southern Cross University (SCU), as well as undertaking various short courses and attending conferences.

During this period, Jono was introduced to The Mulloon Institute and commenced a role in mid-2022 as the General Manager of Mulloon Consulting (MC). MC completes landscape rehydration and restoration work in various locations around Australia.

From Ngarigo country, Cooma in the Snowy Mountains and after becoming an IEA member in 2022, Jono is keen to share his knowledge and skills.

 

Rachelle Armstrong

Secretary

Rachelle grew up on a dairy/beef property in Yackandandah, Victoria. From the beginning of her career, Rachelle’s care for human and planetary health led her to achieve a Bachelor Degree in Health Science, majoring in Public Health. Her gift of bringing people together, naturally found her in Community Development roles, living and working in Sri Lanka for 3yrs and in Nannup, Western Australia, where she worked for local government as a Youth & Community Development Officer for 3 years.

In 2005, she partnered with her parents to commercialise and develop the NutriSoil business based on a vermiculture product developed by her father, Graham Maddock. Joined by her husband, Justin, they developed the team and business into a significant concern. Under their leadership, NutriSoil became a multi-award winning and B-Corp certified business (businesses that Benefit the world). They used education and networking to build the biological and regenerative agriculture movement, along with raising the profile of the NutriSoil Biological Solution to become a household name in the industry.

Rachelle and Justin decided to leave the NutriSoil business in 2020 to pursue the next dream of building Soil Restoration Farming, a business based on a community of support for independent coaches and consultants who work with farmers on the journey of farming more regeneratively. They developed a Coach the Coach and SRF FUNdaMENTALs program to disrupt the traditional consulting and advising services currently mainstream in agriculture.

Rachelle has been part of the Syntropic World community since 2020, to create new models for doing business that leaves everything better and is a Syntropic Coach. In short, this means observing and applying the laws of nature to the way we behave and do business. Rachelle has also been certified as a Results Coach through the International Coaching Foundation (ICF).

Rachelle’s top values are Community, Health and Holism. She is driven by people being their own kind of different, which is needed to grow the regenerative agriculture movement and build new models that make the existing degenerative models obsolete. She is passionate about building the regenerative community through synergistic collaborations and also does individual coaching for coaches, consulting, educators and regenerative farming businesses who are ready to do business differently.

 

Kallista Bolton

Communications - Manager

Joining the IEA Board in December 2023, Kallista brings experience in stakeholder management, communication, and building social networks.

Kallista is a Sydney girl, who after a 1-year lap around Australia, swapped the 'big smoke' for a life in the country surrounded by horses and trees, settling in regional Western Australia.

Kallista has a Bachelor of Business, marketing major from the University of Technology Sydney, a Graduate Certificate in Regenerative Agriculture from Southern Cross University (2022), and has completed studies with Cambridge University Institute for Sustainability Leadership in Communicating for Influence and Impact (2021), and High Impact Leadership (2020).

After a career in regional tourism, Kallista transitioned into agriculture in 2016 working with Elders for three years alongside running her own artisan olive oil enterprise from her 10-acre Crossman property for 11 years.

Since 2020 Kallista has worked with the Grower Group Alliance in WA as the Stakeholder & Communications Manager which is a thriving network of over 60 farmer-led grower groups throughout the state.

Kallista’s interest in Regenerative Agriculture, as well as systems design, was awoken after completing a Permaculture Design Certificate in 2016, and today she now has a growing interest in agroforestry [in particular agro-silvopasture systems]. Building on her understanding of holistic thinking and complex adaptive systems, in 2023 Kallista recently completed the Capra Course - a Systems View of Life.

Through the Institute of Ecological Agriculture, Kallista sees a great opportunity to build a national network for regenerative agriculture across Australia, providing an enriching 'Community of Practice' of expertise supporting access to, and advancement of regenerative agriculture globally.

Adam Coates

Communications - Technical Systems

Adam has worked as a technical Regenerative Agriculture consultant for the last six years, with approximately a decade of experience in this field.

Beginning with a Permaculture Design Course (2012), he quickly diversified into Holistic Management (HM), Keyline farming, Natural Sequence Farming (NSF), Natural Farming, Syntropic Agriculture, and any other systems of merit he could integrate. Adam is now completing his final stages of the Southern Cross University (SCU) Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree, majoring in Regenerative Agriculture (RA).

Adam grew up in a small rural farming community in northwest Tasmania, Lutruwita country, living on and around a wide range of agricultural operations. He currently lives near Kyogle, NSW, Bundjalung country. Working in various roles, from general farm hand to technical management positions, has allowed him to appreciate and understand the diversity of people working and living in and around agriculture.

Previously he worked as a water treatment consultant, travelling much of Australasia troubleshooting problems. Adam is currently on the SQNNSW Innovation Hub Next Generation Council and is a moderator on the 50,000 member Regenerative Agriculture Facebook group.

Adam is passionate about Regenerative Agriculture as a part of the solution to climate change and the many other dire issues facing Australia and the world. He sees effective scaling, integrity, and the psychological challenges of cooperation as some of the major issues confronting RA as it grows and envisages the IEA playing an important role in dealing with these challenges.

Adam’s diverse experience in holistic problem-solving brings a unique perspective to IEA.

 
Lorraine Gordon

Lorraine Gordon

Education

Lorraine is currently Principal at Natural Capital Australia. Prior to this she was the Founder and Director of the National Regenerative Agriculture Alliance (NRAA) and previous Director of Strategic Projects at Southern Cross University (SCU). In these roles Lorraine served as a conduit between industry and research, delivering regenerative agriculture solutions nationally with a focus on mitigating the effects of climate change.

Lorraine was the instigator and co-designer of the Bachelor of Science in Regenerative Agriculture – the only degree of its kind in the world and now the largest agricultural degree in the country.

As Director of the Commonwealth Government's Farming Together Program, she has assisted over 28,500 farmers, fishers, and foresters in progressing collaborative projects, including establishing Cooperatives that will benefit their industries.

Lorraine was awarded the 2018 Rural Community Leader of the Year for Australia for her work with farmers, the 2019 Australian Financial Review Award, and the 2019 BHERT Higher Education Engagement Award. She was also a finalist for the 2020 Australian of the Year Award.

As a Director of Moffat Falls Pastoral Company, Lorraine is also a registered carbon farmer and holistic beef cattle trader at Ebor, in the New England Tablelands of NSW, living in Urunga and Ebor, Gumbaynggirr country.

Previous positions have included CEO of Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast (RDA), Regional Agribusiness Manager with Westpac Bank, Director of the Graduate Network of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (ARLF), and Executive Director of Economic Security for Women (eS4W). Lorraine has also presided on the Small Business Review Panel of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

A Graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP) and previous NSW ABC Rural Woman of the Year, Lorraine is currently completing her PhD in Ecological Economics through the University of New England (UNE), looking at a triple bottom line comparison and resilience between regenerative and conventional grazing systems.

 
Katharine Brown

Dr Katharine Brown

IEA Accreditation Program

Katharine is an accredited soil scientist specialising in soil conservation and land rehabilitation. She holds an MSc (Soil Science) from the University of Aberdeen and a PhD (Soil Science) from the University of Western Australia (UWA).

Katharine has a broad range of experience in government, industry, consultancy, and education. She recognised the growing interest in soils and regenerative agriculture in recent years but saw little opportunity to effect change while working in the more traditional roles of her profession.

After attending a participatory leadership program, Katharine founded her one-woman consultancy, GroundEd, specifically to engage with like-minded others. This experience led her to join the Institute of Ecological Agriculture (IEA) in 2021 and complete the Graduate Certificate in Regenerative Agriculture at Southern Cross University (SCU) in 2022.

One of Katharine’s many roles was managing the Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPSS) accreditation program for Soil Science Australia. She is looking forward to leading development and implementation of the IEA accreditation program.

Katharine has a natural desire to build and share soil knowledge. She is a proficient communicator and considers a well-hosted conversation on soil to be second only to getting her hands dirty. She lives and works on Dharawal Country, near picturesque Kiama on the south coast of NSW.

 
Nathan Strawbridge

Nathan Strawbridge

Membership & volunteer coordinator

Nathan grew up in a rural town in Mid-North, South Australia, relocating to pursue a career in the building industry as a Carpenter and small business operator until he became enthused about natural building and permaculture. The latter led him to complete Certificate III and IV in Permaculture at Byron Community College when living in Northern NSW.

With a desire to learn and support both the people and the management of larger landscapes into ecological alignment, Nathan enrolled in the Bachelor of Science (BSc) majoring in Regenerative Agriculture (RA) at Southern Cross University (SCU), completing in early 2023. Following that, Nathan spent 7 months in postgraduate research at the University of Adelaide, looking at soil biology in agricultural systems.

Nathan recently started a new role in Nutritional Agronomy and in addition to his role at IEA, he is a committee member of Soil Science Australia SA and Future Farmers SA. The latter is a local farming group increasing the awareness and knowledge of regenerative agriculture and offering support for young farmers by acting as the SA chapter of Young Farmers Connect.

Nathan joined the IEA in 2021 as a member whilst completing the Human Ecology course unit with Kerry Cochrane at SCU.

 
Chanelle Abdipranoto

Chanelle Abdipranoto

Fundraising & extension

Chanelle is a teacher and has experience in outdoor education. She enjoys all things outdoors, especially hiking, and has taken students on expeditions overseas and around Australia. She lives in Wollongong, Dharawal country.

Chanelle first learnt about regenerative agriculture when she took students from her school's environment committee (Jindabyne) to Dr Charles Massy's farm and was inspired by his presentation at the school. Her passion and concern for the environment have led her to pursue regenerative agriculture.

Chanelle is currently studying a Bachelor of Science (BSc) specialising in Regenerative Agriculture (RA) at Southern Cross University (SCU), adding to her qualifications: a Bachelor of Medical Radiation Physics (Honours), Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education (Science) and Certificate IV in Outdoor Recreation.

In 2022, Chanelle completed a Holistic Management (HM) course with Brian Wehlburg and is currently participating in the pilot Holistic Management Educators program. She looks forward to contributing her skills with IEA.