Silvia E.

In Mexico, the joke is that if you are not eating, you are cooking or thinking about what are you going to have for lunch...food is not only sustenance. It is the glue of our social fabric. Friendships, business and family affairs are sorted more often than not during a meal. You should not be surprised to hear that I chose to study Food Engineering and that my career has evolved around food and agriculture. When I relocated to Australia 16 years ago, I made it one of my life goals to communicate the importance of technical and scientific R&D projects, teams and organisations in the development of a robust, healthy and dynamic agri-food sector. My roles have given me that opportunity in a variety of scales and environments: from R&D organisations such as CSIRO and Plant & Food Research, through to multinational companies that have innovation embedded in their DNA such as Bayer CropScience, to industry associations that understand the commercial value of new ideas, products and markets, such as Food South Australia. I have a knack for making connections between events and facts that I have collected in my career, new knowledge coming from my conversations with others, and through thorough research when I don’t have all the facts. This allows me to map actions to overcome hurdles and seize opportunities. I challenge the status quo when I think it is necessary to grow or improve a business, or myself. I also love learning: I am currently enrolled in a Master of Agribusiness program (University of Melbourne).