Jo is a Senior Consultant for Pinion Advisory and provides training and support for farmers in the agricultural sector. With 20 years of experience in the University system as a Lecturer and Researcher the recent transition to Pinion Advisory has been a step change. Jo’s primary focus is to enable farmers to make the most informed decisions possible. “Farmers have such a wonderful pragmatic problem solving approach to their daily job. Being able to provide the extended support and knowledge is the best part of my job”. Jo is thoroughly enjoying the diversity of the projects she gets to participate in, working with a range of clients in the agricultural sector. “Although I loved teaching and training future agriculture scientists, I am really enjoying working directly with industry now”.

Jo grew up in the beautiful seaside city of Hobart. Through exposure to agriculture industries, including leisure hobbies such as horse riding, Jo quickly developed a strong passion for agriculture. This lead her to study Agricultural Science and complete post-graduate study in viticulture. During this time she met her husband David who is a farmer in the Derwent Valley. Both Jo and David and their 2 children now live on David’s family farm. Jo shares her passion for gardening with her children and in particular, as they live in a region where water is precious and valuable, she is passionate about how water can be conserved and provide benefit to others. Jo and her family have a very productive veggie garden and fruit trees. Jo’s passion for teaching never stops. At home she teaches her children how to become a little bit more self-sufficient and understand where their food comes from. “It’s a wonderful bonding time with the family to see something planted then grow and be eaten and enjoyed”. On their farm they are on an irrigation scheme. Agriculture can be a water intensive system and so looking towards more sustainable practices as we head into uncertain climates and working on farmer education and adoption as the technology advances is a focus. We enjoy working with researchers and providing a living laboratory on our farm to test agricultural technology advances.

The opportunity came about recently to join the Smart Approved WaterMark Expert Panel and Jo thought this would be a wonderful way to share her strength in agriculture and commercial horticulture. She has a background in research and development and is hoping her experience will add value to the panel as well as improve her own knowledge of the innovative products and techniques emerging to conserve water.