Dr Dianne McGrath and Abbas Nazari join the list of AIEC keynote speakers as announced by the AIEC organising committee today.
Dr Dianne McGrath will speak on the Friday of the conference. She is an environmental engineer, modern-day explorer and creative problem solver.
Dianne is circumnavigating our world in the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race to share stories that will inspire us to protect our planet.
One of Australia’s leading sustainability experts, Dianne holds three degrees in sustainability including a PhD, and is a member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals. Dianne lives a sustainable life to demonstrate that individually, as organisations and in our communities, we can have a collective positive impact on the pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social.
Abbas Nazari, also speaking on Friday, is a New Zealand-based author. He is a former Afghan refugee who fled the Taliban in 2001. Abbas was one of more than 400 asylum seekers who were rescued by the Norwegian container ship, the MV Tampa, in the Indian Ocean as they sought asylum in Australia in 2001. After being denied asylum in Australia and held offshore for weeks by Australian special forces, Abbas and his family were eventually resettled in New Zealand.
Having arrived as an eight year old with no English, Abbas thrived in school and university, completing a Masters at Georgetown University in Washington DC as a Fulbright Scholar. His memoir, After The Tampa: From Afghanistan to New Zealand, was published in 2021, received critical acclaim and became a No. 1 bestseller.
Abbas will share the story of his journey, the impact of education on his life, and his experiences of thriving in a foreign country as an international student on Friday 25 October during the Closing Plenary.
A reminder AIEC runs from 22 – 25 October in Melbourne. More information, including registrations, can be found here.
