Deanne Heier, Scientist, Technical Support & Development, Norske Skog - Boyer Mill

Deanne is a Scientist with seven years of industry experience at Norske Skog where she provides technical support for customer products and business development. She graduated from UTAS with a Bachelor of Science with first-class Honours in Chemistry in 2013.

Her passion for learning led her to continue her studies, completing a Master of Bioproduct Manufacturing Engineering in 2020. She was the inaugural recipient of the Brice Landman Memorial Award for the Young Professional of the Year in 2019. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, playing board games and reading fantasy novels.

Kelly Thompsell, APAC & ANZ Asset Care Leader, Kimberly Clark Australia

Kelly is a Continuous Improvement (CI) Leader supporting all engineering disciplines in the UCTAD stream at Kimberly Clark Australia in Millicent, South Australia. In Kelly’s 23 years with KCA, where she started as a Graduate Chemical Engineer in 1997, she has worked in all areas of pulp and Paper Production, in both Engineering and Production roles.

In her position as CI Leader Kelly has the opportunity to guide the careers of young Engineers & more seasoned Professionals while also supporting the production team with improvements and higher-level problem solving. Kelly encourages STEM by supervising the local science and engineering challenge and young women in STEM through STEM girls, a program ran by UNISA.

Kelly has been the Kimberly Clark Corporations Regional Technical Leader for Australia since 2015 and has supported other KCC mills through both on-site and on-line training and problem-solving sessions. She is a long-standing member of Appita and has been involved in the local SA group for many years.

Kelly lives with her husband, three kids and two dogs. She enjoys the easy access to beaches, great walking trails and reading in front of the fire through the rather long winters in Mount Gambier.

Environment & Sustainability Manager, Opal

Lauren began her career as a Paper Machine Process Engineer at Australian Paper after earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Monash University. After 5 years, her passion for the environment led her to roles with the Victorian Environment Protection Authority, where she served as an Environment Protection Officer and Client Relationship Manager.

In 2011, Lauren returned to Australian Paper, joining the Environment Team at the Maryvale Manufacturing Facility. In early 2019, she was appointed as the site's Environment Manager.

In 2022, Lauren had moved into a corporate role as Opal’s Environment Compliance Manager. In 2024, she advanced to the position of Environment & Sustainability Manager, where she leads a team dedicated to driving improvements across Opal’s five sustainability pillars: Responsible Sourcing of Fibre, Decarbonisation, Circularity, Water Efficiency, and Environmental Compliance.

Lauren is deeply passionate about sustainability and environmental improvement and leveraging her role within a large manufacturing organisation to drive positive change.