Adjunct Research Fellow

Mike is the Chief Operating Officer for Orange Sky, a not-for-profit organisation with operations across Australia and New Zealand. Orange Sky’s mission is to ‘Positively Connect Communities’ by providing clean laundry, a warm shower and genuine conversation. It’s Mike’s role to lead operational strategy, staff and volunteers to deliver maximum social impact whilst ensuring a safe, positive and supportive environment for all the people and partners we connect with.

Mike is a former executive of a renewable fuels company and Director in Deloitte’s risk advisory and sustainability services practice. He has over 15 years environment, social and governance experience focusing on human rights, community and stakeholder engagement, risk and environmental management, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and energy, water, waste and greenhouse gas strategy, analysis and reporting. Mike has worked in a number of roles in Australia and Internationally within the resource, heavy industry, tourism, government and manufactured products sectors. He has particular expertise in corporate social responsibility and the material sustainability risks to economic performance, environmental management and community development that impact upon organisations.

Mike’s commercial experience includes the resource and ports sectors where he worked in the social performance and investment teams for BG Group (QGC Pty Ltd) and managed the Gladstone Ports Corporation sustainability, energy, water, waste and climate risk programs across Port assets. In both of these roles Mike researched, analysed and assessed human rights, community impact and social license to operate risks and planned mitigation efforts. Mike has been involved in delivering sustainability strategy and risk management and analysis-related projects for the United Nations, Origin Energy, Rio Tinto, and the South Australian and NSW Government.

Mike adopts the approach of both practitioner and researcher, which blends his commercial experience  with a rigorous, evidence-based research approach. Qualified at the Doctoral level Mike lectures at Universities in business, risk management and sustainability and is an Adjunct Research Fellow with the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Sustainability Research Centre.

Qualifications

PhD., Sustainability and Human Geography, Masters of Research (Education), Diploma of Sustainability, Internal Auditor, Management Systems Auditing (SAI Global/Exemplar Global)

Teaching areas

• business,
• risk management and
• sustainability

Thesis

Michael's Thesis focused on decentralised, global organisations and how they facilitate sustainability throughout their value chains using education, equity and monitoring and evaluation approaches and tools.