The Directors


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	*The Wheen Foundation Directors*

	*Dr Max Whitten BA BSc PhD FAA AM (Chairman)*

		Max Whitten is Adjunct Professor, Dept of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland. He was formerly Chief of CSIRO Entomology and Professor of Genetics at University of Melbourne. Max was the first Chairman of the Honeybee Research and Development Council. His research interests centred around genetic means of controlling insect pests and the ecological genetics of pesticide resistance. His wider interests have been in public good research, sustainable agriculture and biodiversity.

He has served as Visitor for a number of Cooperative Research Centres and chaired the Advisory Board for the Special Research Centre on Environmental Stress and Adaptation at the University of Melbourne. Max is a member of the Research Committee for the Slade Foundation. Since retiring from CSIRO in 1996, Max has worked with FAO helping governments and farmers in Asia reduce dependency on pesticides. He is helping Australian beekeepers and pollination dependent industries restructure to cope with new pests and diseases.




	*Gretchen Wheen BA Dip Ag*

		*Gretchen Wheen, Recipient of the Goodacre Award, 2005*

		Gretchen Wheen, Bachelor of Arts, Sydney University 1952. Diploma of Agriculture, Sydney Technical College 1960. In 1970's Gretchen was well established as a leading supplier of untested queens to the industry and the export market including Iran and Afghanistan


	In 1976 Gretchen played an important part in a bee breeding school under the tutelage of Professor Jersey Woyke of Poland and Dr Vern Sisson of the USA which helped to achieve the Commonwealth quarantine facilities at Wallgrove Sydney. For many years Gretchen served on the HAC honeybee improvement advisory committee and provided technical services including AI for the duration of the project.

1977 after meeting the world renowned German geneticist and bee breeding scientist Professor Frederich Ruttner Gretchen was invited to enrol at the Oberusel University at Frankfurt for advanced tuition in bee breeding and AI.

In 1981 Gretchen was responsible for bringing to Australia, European lecturers in the persons of Dr V Maul, Dr H Pechacker and Tilly Kuhnert. During this period, Gretchen visited European bee breeding institutions on several occasions to expand her knowledge and bring that knowledge back to Australia. Gretchen has also assisted John Rhodes in a research project regarding the fitness of drone stock. In December 2009 the Wheen Foundation was launched after Gretchen bequethed her 18 acre property at Richmond NSW to benefit beekeeping for generations to come.




	*Linton Briggs AM*

		John Linton Briggs has resided for the whole of his life in the Glenrowan district of North Eastern Victoria, Australia, where he has been continually engaged in the business of primary production, including commercial apiculture (beekeeping). Linton Briggs’ practical beekeeping experience began when still a child, before he left school at fifteen years of age, in the year 1945. For much of his working life, he was a commercial honey producer, migrating his apiaries each year to districts principally within North Eastern Victoria and the Riverina of Southern New South Wales, working both native and introduced flora.

Eucalypt species biology including the search for new species, and the systematic genetic improvement of honey bees, have been particular beekeeping related interests throughout his lifetime. From an early age, Linton became drawn to participate in various formal representative organisations of the beekeeping industry, regional, state, and nationally based, including a period when he served the national peak industry representative body, the Federal Council of Australian Apiarists’ Association Inc. (FCAAA) in various capacities between the years 1976-1998, including the offices of national president, secretary, and treasurer. Following the transition of the industry’s statutory marketing arrangements from the Australian Honey Board to the Australian Horticultural Corporation. Linton also served the peak body in the capacity of secretary for the International Honey Exporters’ Organisation, and the Australian Honey Bureau. From 1987, Linton served as CEO, FCAAA until 1997 when the current peak body, the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council was established. Linton became the inaugural CEO of the AHBIC overseeing the transition from FCAAA to the new arrangements. Maintaining his interest in regional and state affairs, he continued to serve the Victorian Apiarists’ Association Inc. (VAA) as an executive councillor until his retirement from that position in 2009, after 42 years service. He maintains the position of VAA Inc. Resources Committee secretary, championing the case for the access of managed honey bees to conserved forests (Parks etc) in the state of Victoria.
Over the years, Linton has authored or co-authored many papers and articles on behalf of the constituents he has represented. A selection of these will be made available, in association with this web site. In 1990, Linton was invested as a member of the Order of Australia, in recognition of services to apiculture.

Beekeeping is an ancient craft of mankind, which attracts people from all walks of life the world over, whether the motive be for profit, for the advancement of science, for the pleasure of working with and understanding the intricate biology of honey bees, or simply the humble feeling of affinity for one of nature’s truly remarkable creations, the whole binding beekeepers large and small into a global fraternity that rises above distractions of political persuasion, race, religion, language or social status.
European settlement of Australia brought with it the food crops of the Old World. The Old World honey bee (Apis mellifera), which had co-evolved through the eons of time with these food crops to become their most important insect pollinator (fertilising agent), was also brought to Australia. Wherever European man has settled throughout the world, including Australia, the partnership between honey bees and human and animal food production continues today, a critical component of the endeavour to provide and maintain food production security for an ever increasing world population. The 2008 Commonwealth of Australia parliamentary inquiry into the future development of the Australian honey bee industry, MORE THAN HONEY, estimates that Australian honey bees contribute directly between $4billion and $6billion worth of agricultural production per annum.




	*Colin Powell*

		Qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1974 Colin has worked in professional offices, private practice, government and non-government organisations. In 1995 he gained an Advanced Diploma in Horticulture through Sydney University completing his final year project on Horticultural Management at Gretchen’s pecan farm, Richmond. When he first commenced working for the Department of Water Resources (now Department of Climate Change) he was based in Forbes for two years. During this time he became acutely aware of the delicate balance of water management and agricultural production.


	In his semi-retirement Colin now divides his time between working as a private tax agent and his pursuit of sustainable living. At home in the Blue Mountains he enjoys growing vegetables and when time permits, working on his small farm in Central Western NSW.




	*Jodie Goldsworthy BAppSci, Grad Dip Strat Mkting*

		Co-owner and Director of Beechworth Honey Pty Ltd Jodie Goldsworthy is a fourth generation apiarist. Steven & Jodie Goldsworthy commenced as commercial apiarists in their own right in 1992. Since 1992, Beechworth Honey has grown from a small primary production partnership producing bulk honey and selling it as a bulk commodity to a rapid growth value adding business.

Jodie holds a post graduate degree in Strategic Marketing along with a Bachelor of Applied Science and is passionate about regional business development, Australian agriculture and food and the environment.
Jodie Goldsworthy was a member of the Australian Deputy Prime Ministers “Regional Women’s Advisory Council” from 2002 - 2007, appointed to give advice to the Australian Government about issues affecting rural and regional Australia. She was an attendee of the current 2020 Summit held by the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2008.




	*Dr Shona Blair BSc(Hons), PhD (CEO)*

		Shona Blair is a microbiologist who has been involved in investigating the medicinal properties of honey for over 15 years. Her BSc (Hons) research project, at the University of Sydney, involved examining the antibacterial activity of honey. The results from this initial research inspired her to do postgraduate study in the same field. In 2004 Shona was awarded her PhD from the University of Sydney, for her thesis ‘The therapeutic potential of honey’.

Throughout her research career, Shona has been involved in different projects looking at many aspects of the medicinal properties of honey. Some of these included studies of its antimicrobial activity against antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and its effects on human cells. She was also involved in a survey of Australian honeys for antimicrobial activity, and is currently co-supervising a PhD student at the University of New South Wales as part of a very promising study investigating the effects of honey on human gut health.

Shona has visited and worked in laboratories in New Zealand and the UK. She has delivered numerous talks on her research and honey to beekeepers, medical practitioners, scientists and lay audiences in Australia as well as in the UK, the USA, Brazil, India and Malaysia.

Throughout her career Shona has engaged with the Australian honey industry and actively worked to raise awareness of the importance of honey and Australian beekeeping.

Shona was appointed to the position of inaugural CEO for the Wheen Bee Foundation, and commenced in the role in March 2013. As well as continuing to be involved in research into the medicinal activity of honey, Shona is now focused on the numerous and complex challenges that the Australian industry is facing, and on finding ways to alleviate the potential impact of these on honeybees, beekeepers and food security.