Our Team

Dr Karel (Karl) Nolles  is an experienced energy and finance executive and academic, having held company directorships and CEO/COO/CIO positions.   

He founded Aton Consulting in 1999, and has alternated between consulting and employed roles including in the Macquarie Bank Climate Change and Utilities team and  Macquarie Global Investments (2007-13), as a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Business at UNSW from 2003-2007 (and as a founding director of the UNSW Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets), and with the Northern Territory Government (2019-20). 

He has a PhD in Energy Economics and Electrical Engineering from the University of New South Wales. 

He has been an investor/founder/executive in 4x startups across peer-to-peer finance, energy trading, blockchain, and agri-tech, and a compliance advisor to various financial services companies.

In 2019 he was appointed as a Visiting Professor at the Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment at King Mongut University in Bangkok.

Since 2020 he has been a retained adviser to the NSW Department of Environment regarding ESG / Sustainable Finance and Biodiversity markets.

Dr.  Elizabeth (Liz) Heagney is an experienced economic analyst and program  manager, having held positions across the government and private sectors  over the past 20 years.  Before moving into consulting Liz led the Advanced  Analytics team within the New South Wales Department of Planning and the  Environment, advancing the state’s natural capital agenda and helping to  secure more than $1B in funding for environmental projects.

Liz  holds degrees in Advanced Science and International Economic  Development, and a PhD in Statistical Ecology from the University of  New South Wales. 

Liz has designed and implemented large-scale projects focusing on  productivity and efficiency in primary industries in Australia and the  Pacific, including the farming, fisheries and forestry sectors. 

She has  extensive experience in delivering econometric modelling, non-market  valuation and cost-benefit analysis for major programs and investments.

Liz has an appointment as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Southern Cross University. 

Liz  has received research, communication, and performance awards from the  NSW Government, the University of NSW, the Royal Zoological Society and  the Australian Society for Fisheries Biology

Dr Brian Scott is the Adrian Reed Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Economics at Washington College, Maryland, and has held a joint appointment in the Department of Economics and the Department of Environmental Science since 2007.  He has a PhD in Economics from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

His teaching and research interests include institutions, rules, and assessing the viability of environmental and pollution markets, as well as volunteerism and charitable giving. He has received grants from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Agriculture, and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to study the Chicago Cap-and-Trade smog program, the viability of farmers entering in carbon sequestration markets, and farmers participating in nitrogen sequestration markets.  

He has worked with Dr K on various projects and businesses since they met during their PhD studies around 2000.

Dr Stuart Martin has over 20 years experience in investment management (particularly in the real estate sector), with groups such as Lend Lease, ABN Amro and First State Investments (London 2006-2011).

Stuart's has a Phd from the University of Technology Sydney conducted at the Institute for Sustainable Futures and as part of the Food Agility CRC. Stuarts PhD thesis examines the integration of natural capital accounting into agricultural decision making.  

Stuart is an accredited expert under Accounting for Nature, also holding a Bachelor of Commerce (Land Economics) a Master of Sustainability and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Stuart was Co-Founder of Open Resolve Funds Management (and was the Responsible Manager under the AFSL), a group established to develop agricultural investments with environmental dividends.