Wendy Craik (born 1949) is an Australian scientist, public policy adviser and company director.

Early life and education

Gwenneth Jean Steele Craik was born in 1949 in Canberra, the second of four daughters of commerce graduate, Audrey Mavis (née Ion) and Duncan Robert Steele Craik, who later was Commonwealth Auditor-General. She was educated at Telopea Park High School, winning a Commonwealth scholarship in November 1965 for her final two years. She graduated from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

in 1973 with a BA (Hons) and the University Medal for Zoology. She then won a CSIRO scholarship and went to Vancouver, Canada where she completed a PhD in Zoology at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

with her thesis, "A further investigation of the homing behaviour of the intertidal cottid, ''Oligocottus maculosus'' Girard".

Career

After her PhD, Craik returned to Canberra and joined the Department of the Environment and was sent to the

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities. It is a vast multiple-use Marine Park which supports a wide range of uses, including commercial marine tourism, fishing, ports an ...

(GBRMPA) as part of her public service traineeship. She transferred to work in Townsville for the GBRMPA in 1978, where she initially did a lot of field work. During her time with the Authority she saw its staff grow from ten to 150 and in 1992 she became its executive officer. In 1995 she changed career direction, left Queensland and was appointed executive director of the

National Farmers' Federation The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) is an Australian non-profit membershipbased organization that represents farmers and the agricultural sector in Australia. Historically, NFF was a key player in a number of industrial relations disputes, inc ...

(NFF), replacing Rick Farley in the role. Although her focus was on running the NFF and managing the conflicting demands of its member organisations, she retained her link to marine and water science when she served on the Council of the

Australian Institute of Marine Science The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is a tropical marine research centre located primarily at Cape Ferguson in the locality of Cape Cleveland, City of Townsville Queensland, Australia. It is around from Townsville Townsville ...

and as chair of the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

Land and Water Sector Advisory Committee from 1997 to 2000. She was also a member of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

's Institute of Land and Food Resources and, from 1997 to 1999, a member of the Australian Landcare Council. In 2000 she left the NFF to lead Earth Sanctuaries Limited in Adelaide and also became chair of the

Australian Fisheries Management Authority The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is the Australian Government agency responsible for the management and sustainable use of fisheries resources including combating illegal fishing activities in the Australian Fishing Zone that c ...

the same year and given a second three-year term in 2003. She returned to Canberra in 2002 to join ACIL Tasman (now ACIL Allen Consulting) as chief operating officer. She was a member of the National Competition Council and its president in 2003. She was appointed CEO of the Murray Darling Basin Commission (now

Murray–Darling Basin Authority The Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) is the principal government agency in charge of managing the Murray–Darling basin in an integrated and sustainable manner. The MDBA is an independent statutory agency that manages, in conjunction w ...

) in 2004 for four years. Craik joined the board of the

Climate Change Authority The Climate Change Authority (CCA) is an Australian Government statutory agency responsible for providing independent advice to government on climate change policy. It was established by and operates under the ''Climate Change Authority Act 201 ...

in 2015 and served as chair from 2016 to 2020. She was appointed to the board of the

Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. Th ...

in 2018 for a five-year term.

Awards and honours

Craik was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is a learned academy that helps Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems. It was founded in 1975 as one of Australia's then four learned academies (now five) ...

in 1996. Craik was awarded the Centenary Medal in January 2001 for her "contribution to industry development and social issues impacting on rural industries". She was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 2007 Australia Day Honours for "service to the natural resource sector of the economy, particularly in the areas of fisheries, marine ecology and management of water reform, and for contributions to policies affecting rural and regional Australia".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craik, Wendy 1949 births Living people Members of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Australian National University alumni University of British Columbia alumni Australian marine biologists 20th-century Australian public servants Australian business executives