Mellissa Wood: Associate Scientist

Mellissa Wood is an Associate Scientist with CSIRO Agriculture and Food and an Independent Consultant in agricultural research and international development based in Melbourne, Australia. She has 30+ years’ experience in providing scientific and strategic advice and has held senior leadership positions with the Australian Government and internationally with International Agricultural Research Centers, including United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and CGIAR.

Mellissa’s research interests include building resilient agri-food systems with adaptive capacity for achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) outcomes. She is skilled in food and nutrition security, sustainable development and conservation/environmental management across the African, Asian and Pacific regions.

As General Manager, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Mellissa led ACIAR’s research engagement with global and multilateral fora and built ACIAR’s international research alliances in Africa. She headed Australia’s International Food Security Research Centre and represented Australia on the CGIAR System Council, CGIAR System Management Board and chaired Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutes (APAARI). Prior, she spent five years in FAO Rome as a Director at the Global Crop Diversity Trust in Rome implementing a global strategy for the conservation and access of plant genetic resources and 15 years at the Bureau of Rural Sciences providing scientific advice for Federal government decision-making on agriculture and forests.

Mellissa currently is Chair, Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC), and advises the Minister of Environment on the future of Victoria’s state forests, as a member of the Eminent Panel for Community Engagement.

Mellissa is a member of the Research Advisory Group for Food System Horizons.