Land & Water Australia is pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Wagg to the role of Manager of the Land, Water & Wool R&D Program.

Mike has spent the last nine years managing the Soils and Salinity program for the Department of Primary Industries in the Glenelg Region of Victoria. Prior to joining DPI, Mike was the managing partner in a family farming business, running a wool, prime lamb and beef farm near Hamilton, VIC.

Mike has a sound practical, scientific and policy knowledge of natural resource management, particularly in the context of the wool industry. He has an excellent understanding of the challenges for Land Water and Wool over the next two years to translate research outputs into synthesis packages and activities for wool producers that will be adoptable and adopted.

Mike will be working from the LWA office in Canberra for the first few months of his contract, and subsequently based from Australian Wool Innovation's Melbourne offices, working in Canberra as necessary. The position is wholly funded by AWI, and a critical priority over the remaining two and a half years of the program is to integrate the program into AWI's portfolio and to assist AWI in the development of its on-going NRM research investments.

Mike commences with Land & Water Australia 5 October 2004.