Managing Director and Founder
Access Genetics Pty Ltd., Australia

Valley Seeds is a breeder and marketer of proprietary forage and turf seed. The company was formed in 1972 and was the first private company in Australia to breed forage and turf grasses.

Access Genetics specializes in screening and breeding cereal grain varieties for Australia and New Zealand. The company specializes in wheat, barley, oats, peas and oilseed rape.

Both Access Genetics and Valley Seeds have a 10 year history of funding biotechnology. In conjunction with the University of Melbourne, they produced the first grass that eliminates the allergy-causing effects of pollen.

Donald Coles has been a past Vice President of the Seed Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) and is the current Chairman of SIAA's Biotechnology Committee. He has recently been appointed by the Federal Government to the Community Consultative Committee for the Gene Technology Regulator of Australia.