Expert Panel on Atmospheric Measurement of Fugitive Methane Emissions in Australia

Dr Cathy Foley is a former Chief Scientist of Australia. Prior to that, she had a long career at the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, including as its Chief Scientist. She has served as President of the Australian Institute of Physics, and President of Science and Technology Australia.

Dr Foley currently holds several other positions including:

• Government appointee to the CSIRO Board
• Trustee to the Australian Museum
• Chair of the Standards Australia Committee for Quantum Technologies
• President of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

In 2020, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to:

• research science
• the advancement of women in physics, and
• professional scientific organisations.

In 2003, Dr Foley was awarded a Public Service Medal for outstanding public service:

• for research in physics
• as a communicator and promoter of science within the community, and
• as a role model for women in science.

Dr Foley was appointed as Chair of the Expert Panel by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy in August 2024.

Professor Bryce Kelly is a researcher and lecturer in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of New South Wales.

He has over 30 years of relevant international and Australian experience. He researches, consults and lectures on greenhouse gas measurements, hydrogeology, geology and geo-statistics. He has led many methane emissions field studies across Australia. These studies focused on measuring methane from a range of sources.

He is currently researching methods to measure methane emissions from coal seam gas, coal mining and agriculture.

Since 2018, he has worked with the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) International Methane Emissions Observatory, Methane Science Studies program. This group made the first airborne measurements of greenhouse gases over coal seam gas fields.

Professor Kelly has managed major science projects for:

• UNEP
• the NSW Environmental Protection Agency
• the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineering Office
• the Australian Government
• SmartSAT CRC, and
• the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training.

Dr Cindy Ong is a Principal Research Scientist at the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.

She has over 30 years of research and development experience. Her focus is on remote sensing and measuring greenhouse gas.

Dr Ong’s work covers the minerals, oil and gas, and natural environment sectors. She develops solutions for assessing and monitoring emissions and environmental impacts.

Her current research focuses on measuring methane emissions from the onshore gas industry. She also works on calibrating and validating spaceborne optical sensors. Then, she uses their data for environmental monitoring.

She is also a member of scientific advisory groups for spaceborne missions. These include:

• Germany’s Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP)
• the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment (CHIME) mission.

Dr Mark Lunt is a methane scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. For over 10 years, he has specialised in developing ways to quantify emissions of different gases using atmospheric data.

Dr Lunt advises on methane science projects across the Asia-Pacific region. He leads scientific studies on methane from oil and gas for the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) International Methane Emissions Observatory.

His work helps gather actionable data on methane emissions from the coal, oil and gas sectors. This data helps identify ways to reduce emissions.

Dr Lunt’s research uses data from satellites, aircraft and ground-based instruments to measure greenhouse gases. His published studies have helped explain global methane trends, review national emission reports, and develop new ways to quantify emissions.

Mr Ian Joynes is the Global Methane Decarbonisation Lead at Woodside Energy.

Mr Joynes has over 20 years of experience in the energy sector. He specialises in gas industry methane measurement and decarbonisation.

He leads methane measurement pilot projects. These include the use of ground-based instruments, drones, vehicles, aircraft and satellites. He also works with international partners to improve detection and measurement of methane emissions.

Mr Joynes is responsible for Woodside’s methane management strategy. This includes shaping the company’s approach to the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP), and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) Aiming for Zero Methane initiative.

Mr Joynes is a subject matter expert in the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme and its reporting rules for oil and gas.

Professor Simit Raval leads the Laboratory for Imaging of the Mining Environment (LIME) at the University of New South Wales.

He has more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry and academia. He specialises in smart sensing technologies. His work spans sensor hardware, data modelling, and analytics.

His research team uses satellites, aircraft, drones, and ground-based sensors. They apply these tools to monitor safety risks and track environmental impacts in mining.

His current research focuses on methane emissions from diffuse sources, including surface coal mines. He is evaluating a range of sensing technologies and modelling approaches to reduce uncertainties in site-level emission estimates.

His team collaborates with industry in areas such as:

• Remote sensing of air quality and mine-site rehabilitation
• Image-based automated characterisation for waste and subsurface data
• Sensor-driven automation for mapping and monitoring of underground mines and tunnels

Mr David Ruddell is an independent consultant. He has over 30 years of experience in the resources sector.

For the last 25 years, Mr Ruddell has worked in the coal industry. He has been involved in all stages of the coal mine life cycle -- from the geoscience to closure and reclamation.

He has served on the boards of the International Energy Agency Coal Industry Advisory Board and Low Emissions Technology Australia.

From 2000 to 2024, he held Vice President roles at BHP. This included:

• Strategy and Development for Coal
• Planning & Technical Minerals Australia
• Development & Coal Transaction.

Through this work, Mr Ruddell has acquired technical, commercial and operational knowledge and expertise in the coal industry, both in Australia and internationally.

Professor Eric May has held various roles within the University of Western Australia’s School of Engineering over the past two decades. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

He is also Managing Director of the Future Energy Exports Cooperative Research Centre (FEnEx CRC), a role he has held since establishing it in 2020. The FEnEX CRC is a national collaboration between industry, government and academia. It focuses on industrial-scale research to support the decarbonisation of liquified natural gas (LNG) exports and the growth, use and export of hydrogen from Australia.

His research team works with industry on:

• methane sensing
• LNG production
• decarbonisation
• hydrogen liquefaction
• carbon capture, transport and storage.

His expertise also extends to methane capture technologies for coal mining, landfill and other applications.

Professor May was the Western Australian Scientist of the Year in 2021.

He has supervised 53 PhD students to completion. Many of them now work throughout the global energy industry, and several have established themselves as the next generation of leading energy researchers.