July 21, 2003

Award-winning scientist Guy Roth has been appointed chief executive officer of the Australian Cotton Co-operative Research Centre, replacing Dr Gary Fitt, who has accepted a position with CSIRO Entomology in Brisbane.

Announcing the appointment, the chairman of the Cotton CRC, Evan Cleland, said Mr Roth had wide experience in cotton research initiatives involving soils, water, agronomy, environmental, BMP, extension and social issues.

“He is an accomplished manager of research programs and projects, and known for his strategic planning, priority setting, collaborative and consultative skills, and for his budgeting and resource allocation capabilities, which are all vital and valuable ingredients of the Cotton CRC’s activities,” Mr Cleland said.

Mr Cleland said that as co-ordinator and overseer of CRDC investments in cotton research, Guy Roth has a sound knowledge of the CRC, its core partners, participants and aspirations, and was the ideal candidate to develop, guide and implement the bid for renewal of the Cotton CRC’s activities beyond its current term.

Mr Roth has a background in education, research management, policy development, farming systems and natural resource management.

He is currently Research Program Manager for the Cotton Research and Development Corporation. From 1998 to 2001 he was Course Coordinator and Lecturer with the Cotton CRC’s cotton production course at The University of New England.

Mr Roth graduated from The University of New England in 1987 as a Bachelor of Rural Science (Honours), and from the University of Canberra in 1993 with a Master of Applied Science (Resource Management), and is currently completing a Professional Doctorate in Science at The University of New England.

He earned the Cotton CRC’s Corporate Citizen Award in 2001 for his involvement in the Cotton CRC’s cotton production course at UNE, which received the National Business and Higher Education Roundtable Award for Collaborative Training.

“I look forward to the important task of consolidating the outcomes of current projects and developing the proposal for a third new Cotton CRC, which will have a broader focus on production, environmental and social issues facing the Australian cotton industry and its communities,” Mr Roth said.

He takes up his new position in mid-September.