Suzie Jakobovits is the General Manager of Renewable Gas at Jemena, where she leads the development and delivery of Jemena’s Renewable Gas Strategy. She is at the forefront of driving and shaping Australia’s emerging renewable gas market, to expand consumer decarbonisation options and position industry for a lowemissions future.
As Chair of Gas Infrastructure Research Australia (GIRA), Suzie plays a national leadership role in advancing industryled research that strengthens the safety, resilience, and costeffectiveness of gas infrastructure. Under her guidance, GIRA is fostering innovation and collaboration across the sector to ensure Australia’s gas networks are ready for the energy transition.
With more than 25 years of experience across the energy sector, Suzie brings deep expertise in strategy, sustainability, and renewable energy. She holds a double degree in Commerce (Finance) and Science (Mathematics) from the University of Melbourne and is widely regarded for her strategic insight, commercial acumen, and ability to deliver complex organisational change.
Known for her collaborative and purposedriven leadership style, Suzie is highly respected for championing impactful initiatives that drive both immediate value and longterm transformation across the energy landscape.
Jim Richardson is General Manager - Renewable Fuels & Technical Services at ATCO Gas Australia. He is a successful business leader and qualified Mechanical Engineer with extensive experience in the oil & gas industries, supported by deep technical expertise in regulatory, design, construction and projects. Jim is an accomplished manager delivering engineering and asset management strategies, as well as developing and guiding cross-functional teams.
Jim has led teams in a number of strategic projects during his career including Varanus Is pipeline recommissioning, Tyre recycling with Ultra High pressure jetting and SEA Gas Pipeline project with the most recent one being the Clean Energy Innovation Hub, a microgrid energy management facility with hydrogen production and utilisation.
Jim is a recognised independent expert on pressure certification and pro bono Technical Assessor for the National Association of Testing Authorities.
Edwin leads the operational responsibility of our gas distribution networks across South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. By managing in-house operations and specialised service partner delivery, he oversees the safe and reliable supply of natural gas to more than two million customers, as well as the renewable hydrogen blends delivered to customers within the Hydrogen Park project areas. With over 30 years of experience in the electricity and gas infrastructure industries, he has worked in key leadership and management roles in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New Zealand. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical).
Caroline brings over 25 years’ experience across the energy and financial services sectors, with deep expertise spanning corporate development, strategy, commercial evaluation, governance, and large‑-scale infrastructure investment. Her career includes senior roles at APA Group, AGL Energy, and Macquarie Capital, with extensive experience in board‑-level reporting, complex transactions, capital deployment, financial governance, and risk management. Currently she is Chief of Staff at APA Group and previously led APA’s Future Energy business. In these roles, she has been responsible for supporting board and executive governance, overseeing strategic investment and research programs, and ensuring disciplined financial management, risk oversight, and reporting across complex, multi‑-year infrastructure and innovation initiatives supporting Australia’s energy transition.
Dr Klaas van Alphen is Director of Future Fuels and Strategic Partnerships for the Asia Pacific region at ROSEN Group. In this role, he leads work on key integrity challenges and opportunities associated with the introduction of future fuels, supporting customer needs while strengthening ROSEN’s research capability in Australia and internationally. With over 15 years’ experience across senior roles at ROSEN, APA, and two Cooperative Research Centres, Klaas brings deep expertise in future fuels, gas infrastructure, and energy pipeline technologies to the Gas Infrastructure Australia (GIRA) Board.
Klaas currently chairs the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association’s Research and Standards Committee (APGA-RSC) and played a pivotal role in establishing two cornerstone industry research organisations: Future Fuels CRC and Gas Infrastructure Research Australia.
He holds an Honorary Senior Research Fellow position at the University of Wollongong’s Faculty of Engineering.