Michael H. Smith, Fatima Pinto, Karlson 'Charlie' Hargroves, Cheryl Desha,

Peter Stasinopoulos, and Stacey Hargroves.

Download the TNEP Team CV

The Secretariat of The Natural Edge Project is a team of early career engineers, designers and scientists dedicated to working through a generational exchange whole of society approach to sustainability by partnering with a broad range of individuals, organisations, companies, institutions and departments.

Charlie Hargroves – Project Director: Charlie Hargroves is the co-founder and Executive Director of The Natural Edge Project, an Australian based Sustainability Think-Tank. Charlie and the TNEP team have developed a number of internationally renowned books on sustainable development with many of the leaders in the field. Charlie is a graduate in Civil and Structural Engineering from the University of Adelaide and is currently completing a PhD in Sustainable Industry Policy with Professor Peter Newman at Curtin University. Charlie spent 12 months on secondment as the CEO of Natural Capitalism Inc, Colorado, and represents the team as an Associate Member of the Club of Rome. (more...)

Michael H. Smith – Research Director: Michael is a co-author and co-editor of The Natural Advantage of Nations (Earthscan 2005). Michael completed a double major Science degree in Chemistry and Mathematics from the University of Melbourne with honours at the University of Sydney. He then moved to Canberra to research atmospheric chemistry with Professor Michael Collins at the Australian National University. After co-founding TNEP, Michael changed Ph.D topic and recently submitted to ANU on “Advancing and Resolving the Great Sustainability Debates” co supervised by ANU's Professor Steve Dovers. (more...)

Cheryl Desha (formerly Paten) – Education Director: Cheryl is a co-author of The Natural Advantage of Nations (Earthscan, 2005). Cheryl graduated in Environmental Engineering (First Class Honours) with the University Medal from Griffith University. Cheryl worked in an international consulting engineering firm for four years. In 2005 Cheryl was selected as the Engineers Australia Young Professional Engineer of the Year. In 2006 Cheryl began her PhD at Griffith University, Australia, supervised by Professor David Thiel (Griffith School of Engineering), Professor Neil Dempster (Griffith School of Education), and Professor John Fien (Professor of Sustainability, RMIT). Cheryl also co-founded the Queensland node of the Sustainable Living Challenge at Griffith University. (more...)

Peter Stasinopoulos – Associate Director/Project Officer: Peter is a graduate of the University of Adelaide, holding a Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Science, and Bachelor of Mechatronic Engineering with First Class Honours. At the University of South Australia Peter is undertaking a Masters degree by research in the field of Sustainable Manufacturing with a focus on Whole Systems Design Engineering. Since starting with The Natural Edge Project in September 2005, Peter has worked on a variety of projects across TNEP's Education and Industry Consultation portfolios. (more...)

Stacey Hargroves – Associate Director/Copy Editor: Stacey is a graduate of the University of Canberra, holding a Bachelor of Applied Science specialising in the Conservation of Cultural Materials. Stacey also holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Editing and Publishing from the University of Southern Queensland, and has completed a certificate in Editing Techniques from TafeSA. Stacey started with The Natural Edge Project in 2002 working as a copy editor on their first book The Natural Advantage of Nations, and has since worked on nearly all major publications and deliverables produced by the project. (more...)

Fatima Pinto – Office Manager: Fatima joined The Natural Edge Project in April 2007 as the Office Manager. Fatima brought to the team sixteen years of experience working within Griffith University, as the Administrative Officer for the Student Representative Council. Fatima’s roles include managing administrative duties and providing support to the team.