GreenSkies Sustainability Summit 2026

Towards GreenSkies: opportunities, challenges, and the way forward for the Australian aviation, aerospace, and space sectors

The GreenSkies Summit will bring together the aviation, aerospace, and space industry.

Join us for a day of future planning of sustainable actions, and solution focused discussions on how industry can collaborate towards the future and to provide a holistic insight into the sustainability of Australia’s aviation, aerospace, and space ecosystem.

Proposed Program

 

Keynote Speakers

/ Claire Clutterham MP, Member for Sturt, Co-Chair Parliamentary Friends of Aviation

/ Fiona Messent, Chief Sustainability Officer, Qantas Group - fireside chat

Speakers

/ Kristen Raby, Chair A/AA and General Manager AIR and Major Service Provider Governance for Nova Systems

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

/ Brendon Buckley, Assistant Secretary, Transport Accessibility and Future Fuels, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts

/ Heidi Hauf, Global Sustainability Advisor

/ Shahana McKenzie, CEO Bioenergy Australia

/ Matt Doyle, CEO, Wagner Sustainable Fuels

/ Stephen Beckett, CEO, Airlines for Australia and New Zealand

Emerging Technologies

/ Philippe Bernard-Flattot, VP Airspace Mobility Solutions, Thales

/ Dr Adriano Di Pietro - CEO, AMSL Aero

/ David Doral, CEO and Co-founder, Dovetail Electric Aviation

/ Lida Rahmani, Head of Sales & Business Development, Thales Australia

/ Callum Atkinson, Senior Lecturer, Monash University

Next Generation - Role of Sustainability

/ Darcy Goddard, Graduate, Qantas Group

/ Juliette Thornberry, University of Sydney

Awareness, Skills and Training

/ Sabina Todd, Regional General Manager & VP APAC, Envirosuite and Chair, Awareness, Skills and Training Working Group

/ Lea Vesic, Director and CEO Aviation Academy at RMIT University

/ Gordon Chakaodza, Director of Victorian Hydrogren Hub (VH2) at Swinburne University of Technology 

/ Tim Ryley, Professor of Aviation, School of Engineering & Built Environment, Griffith University

Infrastructure Sustainability

/ Alex Le Fevre, Airbus and Chair, Infrastructure Working Group

/ Jake Atkins, General Manager, Environment & Sustainability, Sydney Airport

/ Brodie Akacich, Environment and Climate Lead, Airservices Australia

 

* More speakers to be added

Sponsorship packages are available, please contact [email protected] if you are interested.

 

Speaker biographies

/ Kristen Raby, Chair A/AA and General Manager AIR and Major Service Provider Governance for Nova Systems

Kristen Raby is the General Manager AIR and Major Service Provider Governance for Nova Systems and is also Chair of the Board of Aviation/Aerospace Australia. 

Within Nova, Kristen is responsible for program delivery of Major Service Provider Integrated Work Partner Services to the Airborne Surveillance and Response (ASR) Branch, the Project Management Function (PMF) and MSP Governance activities as the Enterprise Support Services Delegate for Team Nova and the Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Defence). Her program supports Sustainment and Acquisition activities for the E7A Wedgetail, MQ-4C Triton, P8 Poseidon and MC-55 Peregrine Programs, as well asproviding engineering and project management support to the Defence Aircraft Life Support Equipment capability.

A Chartered Professional Engineer and Engineering Executive, Kristen has consulted as a Flight Test Engineer on the Australian Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter Program and been involved in numerous Aviation and Aerospace Programs throughout her career. Before joining Nova, Kristen spent 13 years in the Canadian Air force as an Aerospace Engineering Officer and Flight Test Engineer. Kristen was the first female flight test engineering officer in Canada, attending test pilot school at EPNER in France and supporting test campaigns on fixed and rotary wing platforms, fighters and trainers, and leading the CF18 Hornet upgrade program.

/ Lida Rahmani, Head of Sales & Business Development, Thales Australia

Lida Rahmani is a senior aviation and aerospace executive with over 20 years of international experience shaping strategy, commercial growth, operational excellence, and sustainability transformation across the global aerospace sector. She has held senior leadership roles at Airbus, Thales, Rheinmetall, and Lufthansa across Europe, China, and the Asia–Pacific region.

At Airbus, Lida held executive roles across market and product strategy, sales, program delivery, and regional supply chain leadership. She led a $2B Asia–Pacific sourcing footprint, delivering large-scale operational transformation, supplier resilience, and efficiency improvements—critical enablers of lower-emissions aviation through reduced waste, optimised logistics, and more sustainable industrial ecosystems. She also advised the Airbus Executive Committee on long-term fleet demand, investment strategy, and future aircraft development, including next-generation sustainable aircraft.

Currently Head of Strategy & Business Development for Avionics at Thales Australia, Lida leads major pursuits and long-term growth strategy across Australasia, aligning advanced avionics and simulation solutions with evolving aviation and defence needs.

She is deeply passionate about aviation and committed to accelerating the transition toward more sustainable and resilient aviation systems. Lida chairs the GreenSkies Emerging Technology initiative and serves on the RMIT Aviation Academy Industry Advisory Board.

/ David Doral, CEO and Co-founder, Dovetail Electric Aviation

Innovative aerospace leader with more than 25 years of international experience, running multimillion engineering companies, R&D programs, manufacturing plants and business units.  

David started his career as an airframe engineer working on the development of aircrafts for Boeing and Airbus, and in the last decade has held C-executive positions at different aerospace companies, in Europe and more recently with Quickstep in Australia.  

David is a true believer in the disruptive power of electrification as the best option to bring zero emissions to aviation. 

/ Lea Vesic, Director and CEO Aviation Academy at RMIT University

Lea is a Commercial Pilot with a passion for aviation workforce capacity and has worked across the public and private sectors in Australia and internationally. Her experience spans flight operations, aviation training, policy development, and strategic leadership.

Lea previously served as Senior Aviation and Maritime Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Michael McCormack MP, providing advice on aviation and maritime policy and regulatory design, including during the Federal Government’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

Lea is currently Director and CEO of the Aviation Academy at RMIT University, leading Australia’s largest aviation training provider. Lea has an Executive MBA at Melbourne Business School as the inaugural recipient of the Chief Executive Women (CEW) Scholarship, supported by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust.

/ Stephen Beckett, CEO, Airlines for Australia and New Zealand

Stephen Beckett is the CEO of Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ) with a career that spans senior leadership positions across the aviation, tourism, and public policy sectors. His previous roles include General Manager for Government and Industry Affairs at Virgin Australia, Head of Public Affairs at Brisbane Airport and Senior Adviser for Tourism, Transport and Trade in the Queensland Government. Beckett's experience offers a unique vantage point on the regulatory and operational challenges facing aviation in Australia and New Zealand. His immediate focus will be ensuring air travel remains accessible and affordable while supporting the industry's sustainability goals and contribution to regional connectivity.

/ Shahana McKenzie, CEO Bioenergy Australia

Shahana McKenzie has led Bioenergy Australia since 2017, driving the growth of the sector through strategic alliances and policy advocacy. She spearheaded the creation of the Low Carbon Fuels Alliance Australia and New Zealand and the Renewable Gas Alliance, which collectively represent over 450 stakeholders across the low carbon fuel value chain. 

A driving force in Australia’s renewable gas and low-carbon fuels sectors, Shahana successfully advocated for the country’s first Bioenergy Roadmap in 2021 and championed the establishment of the Australian Jet Zero Council, on which she serves. She also sits on the National Fuel Council and other key advisory panels, and has led reforms to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme to enable market-based reporting for low-carbon fuels and renewable gas.

Shahana played a leading role in securing the Federal Government’s $1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Program and has been a consistent and influential voice for sustainable aviation fuels across national policy processes, including through the Aviation White Paper.

/ Dr Adriano Di Pietro - CEO, AMSL Aero

Dr Adriano Di Pietro is a globally recognised aerospace executive and deep-tech innovator with nearly 20 years of international experience spanning aerospace, defence, and automotive systems. He has helped scale multiple high-tech ventures across Australia, the US, and Europe. He holds a PhD in advanced aerospace manufacturing technology and a degree in engineering. 

Dr Di Pietro is CEO of AMSL Aero, a pioneering deep-tech Australian aircraft designer and manufacturer, which builds hybrid electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) platforms. With world best performance in range, payload and speed, AMSL's fleet of aircraft span 2kg drones through to a multi-tonne eVTOL passenger aircraft. AMSL Aero's flagship hybrid-electric eVTOL aircraft is named “Vertiia”. The aircraft has already completed over 150 test flights with more flight test programs scheduled for 2026. 

Dr Di Pietro was previously CEO (Interim) of the Australian Air Mobility Cooperative Research Centre (AAM CRC), where he brought together Australia’s advanced air mobility industry as a key driver of Australia’s future aviation system. 

Concurrently, as Director of the Aerospace Innovation Research (AIR) Hub at Swinburne University of Technology, he led an expert team supporting the growth of Australia’s uncrewed air systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility development and manufacturing industry with significant development in zero-emission hydrogen-powered flight.

Previously, Dr Di Pietro held key roles at XTEK (now HighCom Group) as Chief Technology Officer, where he led the commercialisation of aerospace and defence technologies. He was also one of the first employees at Zoox, the  Silicon Valley-based autonomous vehicle company acquired by Amazon, and held leadership roles at Quickstep Technologies, a leading aerospace composites manufacturer in Australia and Germany.

/ Brodie Akacich, Environment and Climate Lead, Airservices Australia

Brodie Akacich is the Environment and Climate Lead at Airservices Australia, where he oversees a national team responsible for ecological stewardship, climate strategy, and decarbonisation across 29 airports and approximately 1,300 sites nationwide. Although he describes himself as “still new to the industry,” Brodie brings 15 years of diverse aviation experience from roles across Queensland and New Zealand airports. His work has spanned a wide range of projects, from installing North Queensland’s first solar-powered car charger, to constructing a runway, to clearing entire airfields. He has supported both civilian and defence aviation operations across environmental management, sustainability, project delivery, wildlife risk management, and climate programs.  More recently he led Airservices’ revision of their Environmental Sustainability Strategy and inaugural Climate Disclosure.

Brodie’s passion for aviation is driven by the industry’s constant evolution and the diverse opportunities that come with it.

/ Sabina Todd, Regional General Manager & VP APAC, Envirosuite and Chair, Awareness, Skills and Training Working Group.

Sabina Todd is the Regional General Manager for Asia Pacific at Envirosuite, an Australian enviro-tech company with the world’s most advanced environmental intelligence platform for the aviation, waste, wastewater, water treatment, mining and industrial sectors. 

She has a broad technical background and has worked across government, consulting and for large and small multinational organisations covering environmental impact and contamination, water and wastewater treatment and industrial technologies.  

Sabina’s mission is to improve sustainable outcomes for the planet and our people. She believes technology has a key role to play in this. Sabina is an advocate for working collaboratively to solve problems by bringing the world’s leading technologies into an ecosystem that can solve multiple problems at a time. 

/ Jake Atkins, General Manager, Environment & Sustainability, Sydney Airport

Jake Atkins serves as the General Manager of Environment and Sustainability at Sydney Airport, overseeing the organisation’s environmental management, climate resilience, and decarbonisation strategy for one of Australia’s most vital infrastructure assets. experience across utilities, infrastructure, property, government, consulting, and aviation, Jake applies a strategic systems-level perspective to sustainability. He is dedicated to advancing sustainability and environmental strategy throughout the aviation sector.

/ Matt Doyle, CEO, Wagner Sustainable Fuels

Matt Doyle is CEO of Wagner Sustainable Fuels and has over 27 years experience in consulting, construction and development companies, with career experience that includes director and senior leadership roles in small and multi-billion dollar entities. His knowledge and experience extends across the development, design and delivery initiatives and projects in the sectors of Sustainability, Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), Renewable Energy, Civil Infrastructure, Mining Infrastructure and General building. 

/ Brendon Buckley, Assistant Secretary, Transport Accessibility and Future Fuels, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts

Brendon Buckley is the Assistant Secretary for Transport Accessibility and Future Fuels. Brendon’s responsibilities include:

• progressing the government’s commitments to support a domestic low carbon liquid fuel industry, and
• supporting the work of the Australian Jet Zero Council.
• progressing the government’s commitments to support a domestic low carbon liquid fuel industry, and
• supporting the work of the Australian Jet Zero Council.

/ Alex Le Fevre, Airbus and Chair, Infrastructure Working Group

Alex works with Airbus at the intersection of aviation and sustainability. An aerospace engineer with over a decade of experience in aviation, she brings insight into the complexity of decarbonising aviation across the product lifecycle. Drawing on engineering, project, program, and operational leadership experience, Alex offers a systems-level perspective on reducing environmental footprint while improving long-term value for the industry and local communities.

/ Heidi Hauf, Global Sustainability Advisor

Heidi is a globally recognised sustainability leader with over 20 years of experience spanning business, government, and NGOs. Her work has delivered transformative sustainability outcomes across the transport, defence, energy, health, and public policy sectors.

As Boeing’s former lead for sustainable aviation in the Asia Pacific, Heidi advanced aerospace sustainability and built regional capability. She was appointed to the Australian Jet Zero Council and Sustainable Aviation Aotearoa in 2023, and has chaired multiple industry bodies, including Bioenergy Australia's SAF Alliance and A/AA GreenSkies. She is also a non-executive director and was named in The Australian Top 100 Green Power List (2023) for her leadership in renewable fuels and sustainability innovation.

Most recently, as the Chief Operations and Sustainability Office at Friendship Tree, Heidi was responsible for building and mobilising a new charity and tech social enterprise.

A former Australian Army intelligence officer and graduate of the Royal Military College-Duntroon, Heidi now advises governments, energy and aviation groups, and purpose-driven start-ups on strategic sustainability. She lives in Brisbane on Jagera and Turrbal Country.

/ Tim Ryley, Professor of Aviation, School of Engineering & Built Environment, Griffith University

Tim Ryley joined Griffith University in 2015 as the inaugural Professor of Aviation and have over twenty-five years of air transport research experience in the UK and Australia. Collaborations have been with a wide range of industry and Government partners, including major airports and airlines. His research has increasingly focused on the environmental aspects of aviation and am an internationally leading expert in decarbonising the air transport industry. Tim Ryley also developed and taught a new undergraduate Aviation and the Environment course in 2025. 

/ Callum Atkinson, Senior Lecturer, Monash University

Callum Atkinson is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Aerospace Engineering Course with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Monash University, and Deputy Chair of the GreenSkies Emerging Technology initiative. Callum's research focuses on understanding, predicting and manipulating fluid flows to increase heat transfer, reduce aerodynamic drag, and improve the performance and energy efficiency of aircraft, spacecraft and their propulsion systems.

/ Darcy Goddard, Graduate, Qantas Group

Darcy is a Graduate at Qantas, currently undertaking her third rotation within Group Strategy. She has previously completed rotations in Sustainable Operations and Inflight Operations, where she contributed to initiatives in waste reduction, load optimisation, and circularity, as well as supported cross-functional sustainability projects across the business. With a strong interest in both aviation and sustainability, Darcy brings a unique graduate perspective.

/ Juliette Thornberry, University of Sydney

Juliette is an undergraduate student at the University of Sydney studying a double major in physics and international relations. As a young person with a passion for the aviation and space industries, Juliette has a particular interest in exploring how international collaboration sits at the heart of technological development and its intersection with broader social issues. Among them, sustainability is of particular importance to her generation, and Juliette is eager to explore the role of global collaboration in addressing the climate-related challenges facing the aviation industry.