Elizabeth Jean Woods (born 18 October 1955) is an agriculture expert and the former Director-General of the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. She was also the Chair of the

WorldFish The International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM), also known as WorldFish, is an international organization working to transform aquatic food systems to reduce hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Based in Penang, Malaysi ...

Board of Trustees, an international non-profit organization whose mission is to harness the potential of

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

to reduce hunger and poverty in developing countries, until June 2017. Alongside that, Woods is also a professor of

Agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

Early life and education

Woods received her Bachelor of Science in Aquaculture with First Class Honors from the

. She then went on to become one of the first female

Rhodes Scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

and completed her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

Agricultural economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Career and notable achievements

She began her career as a Manager of Farming Systems at the

Queensland Department of Primary Industries The Department of Primary Industries is the Queensland Government department responsible for developing Queensland's primary industries. The section known as Biosecurity Queensland is responsible for biosecurity matters within the state. The ...

, and for her successful work she received the medal of

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

. From 1991 to 1997, Woods was a Member of the

Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is an Australian Government statutory agency that forms part of the overseas aid program in the Foreign Affairs and Trade Portfolio, reporting to the Minister of Foreign Aff ...

, which she later chaired. She has served as a board member of many organizations and committees, such as the ACIAR, the

Grains Research and Development Corporation Grains Research and Development Corporation is an Australian research statutory corporation founded in October 1990 under the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act, 1989 (PIERD Act). It invests in projects and partnerships to ...

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

(Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Rural Adjustment Scheme Advisory Council, and the Gatton College Council. In addition to that, she has chaired for the

Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Agrifutures Australia, formerly the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), is an Australian statutory corporation set up by the Australian Government in 1990 to help fund research and development in Australian rural indu ...

International Rice Research Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI is known for its w ...

, and the 2004 National Drought Policy Review. Woods retired from her role as Director-General of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in Queensland, in January 2021.

References

External links

Beth Woods - WorldFish Staff Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Beth 1955 births Living people University of Queensland alumni Australian Rhodes Scholars