Wood competes for reelection to Dairy Australia board

The only contested seat of three becoming vacant at the DA board this year will be for the research and development position.

The incumbent, Professor Paul Wood, will be challenged by Mark Neal.

Prof Wood's academic background is in immunology and, despite over 100 scientific papers and a host of impressive medals to his name, was quick to say that technical expertise is not what makes a good DA director.

"An important thing as a board member is to realise that you're not there to run the operational side of the organisation," he said.

"It's really about strategy and understanding how to manage large portfolios rather than individual projects.

"That's something I've done within Australia and overseas."

Prof Wood has held senior positions at international veterinary pharmaceutical companies, including CSL and Pfizer.

"We should always be thinking about how we going to turn R&D into real outcomes and I have a very strong commercial perspective," he said.

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Another essential tool for DA directors was strong networks.

"Having a good network that actually extends outside dairy is really important," Prof Wood said.

An Adjunct Professor at Monash University, Prof Wood is chair of the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines as well as chair of AusBiotech's Ag & Foodtech Committee and on the Board of Women in STEMM Australia.

Speaking at the Global Table event in Melbourne was a good example, Prof Wood said, of how he represented dairy outside the industry.

"It wasn't a dairy event but I think it's really important that dairy was present at Global Table," he said.

"Running sessions there, making sure dairy was part of that discussion meant I did a lot of media letting people know that you can farm livestock sustainably.

"I'm at DA because I know how to bring large groups of people together to focus on achieving goals."