Principal Team

Professor Damien Field is the project Team Leader and researcher in Soil Security at the University of Sydney. He has a strong capacity to work in international cross-cultural projects and has successfully led Phase 1 (SMCN/2014/) of this project implemented in 2017. He is an executive member of the Sydney South East Asia Centre focusing on cross-disciplinary research in the region and was a partner in an ACIAR project in Laos (ASEM/2012/073). He has a research history in national projects focused on improving on-farm soil assessment and the development of soil education programs and training supported through the GRDC. He is also a research leader in Soil Security, which is a newly developed research concept that forms the foundation of the research approach being executed here, a combination of scientific and socio-economic dimensions. 

David Yinil will lead our in-country partner team. David is a senior cocoa agronomist and executive manager for research extension and development services (REDs) team at the Cocoa Board. David was instrumental in the introduction of cocoa into the highlands of PNG as a complementary tree crop to farmers. David was also instrumental in leading cocoa nutritional studies in several ACIAR projects including SMCN/2006/031 and SMCN/2014/048. He has extensive experience in the testing of the first release of CCIL developed hybrid clones under small holder growing conditions in PNG. He has wide experience in cocoa rehabilitation, cocoa yield decline and rejuvenation studies. 

He has played a significant leadership role in the successful implementation, in-country management, and continued progress of Phase 1 of this project and will continue to be the in-country lead for this Phase 2.

Dr. Tom Swan is the Country Manager and Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. Tom has extensive experience in project management and remote field work – having worked with people across diverse cultures and communities around the world – to provide scientific and management solutions. Tom is particularly interested in evidence-based approaches to assist and help solve some of the other world’s pressing issues. These include: soil, food and water security, land rehabilitation and development agricultural. Tom is particularly interested in bottom-up and participatory action research approaches to instigate meaningful change. 

Tom is primarily responsible for country management and deliverables. This involves working closely with our collaborators and in-country partners to progress the project. 

Chris Fidelis brings a strong background in local agronomy and has worked with David Yinil since 2004. He has been involved in AusAID and ACIAR projects in the past and played a significant role in Phase 1 of this project. He has extensive experience in cocoa agronomy and delivered on-farm training in IDPM projects headed by Dr John Konam and experience in farmer surveys in this and pervious ACIAR projects.

He has also worked with David Yinil on the introduction of cocoa into Karamui, Chimbu provinces in the highlands of PNG and has trained on cocoa rehabilitation and farmer supported compost and composting infrastructure. His extensive field experience, understanding of cocoa agronomy and demonstrated expertise in

Phase 1 is incredibly beneficial to Stage 2 of this project.

Dr. Josephine Saul Maora was formerly the Head of the Plant Pathology Section at the Cocoa and Coconut Institute Ltd Papua New Guinea, where she managed pests and disease in cocoa, coconut and other crops in PNG. Dr Saul Maora was awarded her PhD from the University of Sydney in 2009 for her investigation of “The spatial and temporal diversity of the blackpod pathogen, Phytophthora palmivora, on cocoa across PNG”. Her discoveries made an important contribution to the knowledge upon which IPDM is based, and she continues to promote the adoption of the technology by farmers. Josie is currently a Master Trainer in Family Farm Team program training leading males and females from families to appreciate each other and work as a team in setting goals and planning to achieve goals through their agricultural activities. 

Josie is primarily responsibility for Training in the Family Farm Teams (FFT) – which is being rolled out across numerous provinces throughout Papua New Guinea.

Professor Barbara Pamphilon is the Associate Director, Centre for Sustainable Communities (CSC) at the University of Canberra. Barbara has taught adult education and community development for over twenty years. She was the leader of the first bilingual offshore masters program developed in the Faculty of Education in collaboration with Hangzhou Normal University, China. As a community educator, Barbara has worked with rural communities, environmental education, women’s issues, youth and the aged, as well as in HIV/AIDS, disability and sexuality education.

Barbara is primarily responsibility for Training in the Family Farm Teams (FFT) – which is being rolled out across numerous provinces throughout Papua New Guinea.

Dr. Shauna Phillips is a Lecturer in the School of Economics at the University of Sydney. Shauna has skills skills in commodity trade and will provide expert advice on economic impacts of the interventions being promulgated from this research. She has co-authored numerous publications and reports and will provide salient advice and assist with the benefit-cost analysis methodologies adopted in this project.

Professor Bhabani Das serves in the Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. His research interests include soil characterization for production agriculture, modelling in soil hydrologic systems, spectral characterization of soils and hyperspectral remote sensing. His lab will be undertaking the wet chemistry analysis and some spectroscopic analysis of our soil samples. 

Dr. Kanika Singh served as the Research Fellow (Country Manager) for Phase 1 of this project. Kanika demonstrated extensive experience in project management and soil analysis, and cocoa in PNG. As a postdoctoral researcher she used ‘integrated project approaches’ by addressing an overall project plan and successfully executed the Phase 1 of this project including the review and monitoring of activities and maintained schedules. She demonstrated a strong track record for gathering and collating information both for reporting and publication. Kanika is now working at the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Government.