Who We Are
SIMS Foundation Directors
Our Directors bring their knowledge of the ocean, marine science, higher education, research, governance, and global ocean action to the task of guiding the SIMS Foundation’s mission as a sustainable organisation that provides fundraising support for the objects and purposes of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science.
(click headshot for bio)
Ms Jas Chambers
Chair, SIMS Foundation
Jas Chambers works at the intersection of STEM – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – governance, policy, and action with a passion for work that calls for collaborative approaches, often in complex stakeholder contexts. Jas has worked in Australian higher education and government in senior leadership roles across STEM operations, communications, and international science diplomacy including with United Nations Specialized Agencies and the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, representing Australia.
As Director of Provenance Consulting, she works with research, academia, government agencies, community and philanthropic organisations and funding bodies. Jas is a graduate of Marine Science, (University of Sydney 1997), Communications, (UTS 1998) and the Harvard Business School General Management Program (2018). Jas serves as Secretary to Science & Technology Australia and Board Member of the Grok Academy.
Jas is Chair and Co-Founder of Ocean Decade Australia, an initiative designed to ensure Australia’s Ocean Stakeholders have their say about what success for the ocean looks like for the United Nations declared Ocean Decade 2021 – 2030.
Jas Chambers
Chair, SIMS Foundation
Peter Cochrane
Director, SIMS Foundation and Chair, SIMS
Retiring from full-time employment after thirty years of senior government and private sector experience in the environment and resources sectors, Peter chairs the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, and Australia’s Tropical Herbarium. He is a Councillor and Vice President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a member of the Marine National Facility National Benefit Assessment Committee.
Peter is a Commissioner with the NSW Independent Planning Commission and an Assistant Commissioner with the NSW Natural Resources Commission. His career spans plant ecology research, policy advice, the oil and gas industry, and nature conservation policy and programs, retiring in 2013 after fourteen years as Director of National Parks with the Australian Government.
He has a BSc and Master of Public Policy from ANU, is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Resolution Institute, and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science UNSW.
Peter Cochrane
Director, SIMS Foundation and Chair, SIMS
Ian McGill
Director, SIMS Foundation and Director, SIMS
His areas of legal specialisation are corporate governance, telecommunications and media regulation and technology contracts. Ian is an experienced mentor, including mentoring chief executives in the not-for-profit sector through Kilfinan Australia. Ian was also the first graduate in marine science and law at UNSW in 1980.
Ian McGill
Director, SIMS Foundation and Director, SIMS
Heather Power
Director, SIMS Foundation
Heather Power is currently Managing Director of Common Sense Investments. She has been a Trustee of the SIMS Foundation since 2008 and a Trustee of The Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation since 2005.
Heather was formerly a Director of Trust Company International and a Trustee of Trust Company Foundation. She was also a Trustee of Giving Back Foundation, Singapore, and a Director of the Australian Association of Hong Kong.
Heather holds an MBA from Macquarie Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University. She is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Her career highlights include working as a Senior Management Consultant for Price Waterhouse in Strategy and Marketing and as a Business Analyst for Morgan Stanley in their London office.
Heather Power
Director, SIMS Foundation
Prof. Peter Steinberg
Director, SIMS Foundation
Peter Steinberg is Emeritus Professor of Biology at The University of New South Wales, Sydney. From 2009 – 2020 he was the inaugural Director and CEO of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. He has 40+ years of experience in a diversity of biological and ecological fields, including kelp biology and ecology, coastal ecology and restoration, and environmental microbiology.
He has been a Fulbright Scholar, a Queen Elizabeth II Fellow and CEO of an ASX listed biotechnology company. He has over 240 publications and 10 patents, including publications in Science, Nature, PNAS and other leading journals, which have been cited over 30, 000 times for an H-index of 90. He has won a number of awards for his work, most recently the 2021 NSW Premiers Prize for Science and Technology (Environmental Biology).
Peter currently sits on a number of company and advisory boards in addition to the SIMS Foundation Board. These include: chairing the Research Advisory Committee for the Marine National Facility, which operates the R/V Investigator, Australia’s main oceanographic research vessel; membership of the NSW Marine Estate Expert Knowledge Panel which advises the NSW Government on management of the NSW Marine Estate, and; as a Director of the start-up incubator and accelerator, Ocean Impact Organisation.
Prof. Peter Steinberg
Director, SIMS Foundation
