Meet The Team

Managing Director:  Peter Burgess - Assoc Dip. Ag
Peter Burgess is a Managing Director of Kalyx and has been involved in the agricultural industry since 1984. Peter has his Certificate 1V in Assessment and Workplace Training and is an experienced agronomist with specialist knowledge of WA farming systems. He spends half of his time in the field supervising research trials and is responsible for providing training and extension of information to growers and professionals in Agriculture. The balance of his time is spent in business development, client liaison and the day to day running of the business.

Managing Director:  Ashley Bacon - B.Sc. (Agric) Hons, MBA
Ashley has more than 10 years experience in agricultural research. Initally working for Kalyx as a Research Agronomist, Ashley has since completed an MBA through UWA. He is based in the Guildford office and now manages the administrative requirements of the company, staff and clients. Ashley is also responsible for the development of systems used by Kalyx to service the ever increasing needs of our clients.

Associate Director:  Barrett Sinclair - B.Sc. (Agric) Hons
Barrett has over 10 years experience in the areas of agronomic consulting and research. He joined Kalyx in 2001 and with his understanding of the commercial aspects of agriculture and his experience in trial work, Barrett plays a key role in both field and administrative operations at Kalyx. His principal responsibility in the company is the management of all logistical aspects of the trials. Barrett has recently become a shareholder in the company.

Regional Manager:  Matt Davey - B.Agric.
With a Bachelor of Agriculture from Muresk Institute of Agriculture, on-farm experience, and four years at Kalyx, Matt’s practical skills and understanding of farming systems makes him an integral team member. He spent eight months in the UK and Europe in 2006-2007 with much of this time involved in different agricultural enterprises. On returning to WA he re-joined Kalyx and now operates in Northam and Kojonup managing the company’s southern wheatbelt trials.

Research Agronomist:  Steven Tilbrook - B.Sc. (Agric) Hons

Steven completed his degree in Agricultural Science at UWA and decided to travel around the world for 3 years before settling down in Dongara to pursue his Agricultural career. Steven grew up on a 12,000 acre family farm between Wyalkatchem and Tammin and has a strong passion for agriculture.

Research Agronomist:  Peter Carlton - B.Sc. (Agric) Hons

Peter has spent the last 20 years in the Agricultural industry, firstly as a Research Officer for 10 years after completing his Bachelor of Science with Honours at UWA, then he moved on as Trials Coordinator for another 9 years after that, conducting and coordinating a targeting trials programme. He brings a mature and extensive agricultural research knowledge to the team.

Research Agronomist:  Jarrad Martin - B.Agribus. (Hons)

Jarrad joined Kalyx whilst completing the 4th year of his Agribusiness Technology Degree at the Muresk Institute. Jarrad has grown up on the family farm and knows all too well of the demands of seeding and harvest, but also was very keen to broaden his knowledge in Agricultural research.

Research Agronomist:  John Mouritzen

John has joined Kalyx with a strong background in Agriculture for almost all of his life. He grew up on the family farm and went on to complete a Certificate of Agriculture at University. John was based in Wongan Hills for 30years leading a program in the Barley Breeding Group, he will now remain in Wongan Hills looking after the Kalyx trials in that region.

Pedigree Seed Production Manager:  Simon Buller

Simon has spent the last 24 years managing the family farm predominantly on his own, 10,500 acres, and for the last 9years he has farmed the property in a continuous crop rotation. Since removing livestock, Simon adopted and implemented advanced farming and management techniques to sustain this type of farming practice. Over the years, the Dept of Ag carried out numerous wheat and lupin variety trials on his property which provided him with an insight into how trials are used to evaluate new genetic material. Simon brings a wealth of knowlege and experience to the Kalyx team.

Trials Administration Officer:  Angela Hampson
A member of Kalyx since 1998, Angela’s primary responsibility is the administration of the National Variety Testing project and plant breeder trials.  Other responsibilities include the maintenance of our trial database and the provision of support to our team of agronomists as well as reporting the progress of research to clients.

Trials Administration Officer:  Julie Hodge - B.Ag Sc
Julie has worked extensively in Agriculture with a number of years experience as a research officer with Dupont (Australia) Ltd.  Her understanding of trial procedures is invaluable and as such Julie has now taken on the role of assisting clients with protocol design, trial management and the writing of scientific reports.

Trials Administration Officer :  Gill Gavshon

Gill joined the team at the beginning of the year on a casual basis, helping administration with the evergrowing workload, and then showed a keen interest in coming on full-time, so upon Sally's departure, Gill has slotted into the administration team.

Financial Controller :  Laura Novak - FA
After 8 years as Financial Controller at an international manufacturing organization, Laura decided it was time to broaden her horizons and join the Kalyx team, taking on the massive job that Dixie Burgess did so well for 13 years. Laura joins our team bringing her extensive accounting experience and knowledge.

Personal Assistant:  Nina Heynemann
Nina joined Kalyx in 2008 after six years in various administration roles within the Building Industry and a short stint living in Melbourne. Nina was employed in April 2008 as Personal Assistant to the Directors and is responsible for a range of tasks including co-ordinating workshops, business development, social events, travel, website management, HR administration and general administrative duties for the Directors.

Manager - Research Support Services:  Lisa Begley
Lisa is based at Northam and manages the seed and fertiliser packaging required for our field trials to ensure the efficient running of peak season activities.  She also runs our grain testing services and spends a considerable amount of time in the field assisting our agronomists with trial assessments.

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