The people behind the work
Meet the crew turning degraded land into a model others can benefit from
In a world racing toward AI, regeneration still comes down to people: hands in the soil, eyes on the data, relationships that carry the work. These are some of ours. A small team from around the world, growers, scientists, builders, and connectors, who came here to prove that degraded land can be brought back to life and made to pay its way honestly. From the nursery to the research record, the land systems to the partnerships that fund the work, each carries a piece of the same effort: transforming R&D into something replicable.
Keeping it real
Digital Vs Analogue
Planting, growing, delivering & researching
The Ground Team
Managing DirectorPeter Tonkes
Peter holds ClimateForce together day to day, turning capital and partnerships into delivery on the ground. He runs the back of house: cash flow and investment readiness, financial modelling, budgets, and risk, alongside the work on Country. He leads the operational team across the station and the systems behind it, and carries the relationships with government, research bodies, council, and certification. Steady and rigorous, Peter is the backbone that moves the mission from plan to practice.
Nursery and Engagement LeadEmily Trewin
Emily is dedicated to land restoration, applying permaculture philosophy and agroforestry principles to her vocation. She is passionate about the seed to canopy journey, nursery production, and cultivating thriving ecosystems. At ClimateForce she carries organic certification and produce sales alongside the volunteer coordination, community engagement, and broadcast that bring people onto Country. Guided by values of kindness, service, and reciprocity, Emily works with the community, Traditional Owners, volunteers, and visitors to nurture local conservation.
Research DirectorJack Lever
An MSci (Hons) Environmental Science graduate from Lancaster University, Jack is driven by the steps society can take to create positive, hope-fuelled impact through innovative solutions. At ClimateForce he steers our Seed to Canopy journey and biodiversity monitoring programme, running on-ground research across the station: sensor networks, spatial mapping, and cost-per-hectare data that turn what grows in the ground into evidence. He builds the transparent methodologies and storytelling that promote native rainforest regeneration both locally and globally.
Research AssistantLizzy Tsz Wai Li
Lizzy combines an MSc in Tropical Biology and Conservation with a strong focus on ecological data analytics. Supporting ClimateForce’s Tropical ReGen programme, she leverages GIS spatial mapping, automated camera traps, and AI tools to monitor biodiversity uptake and model ecosystem recovery. Lizzy excels at bridging the gap between academic frameworks and raw field data, bringing a sharp technical mindset and a reliable, collaborative presence to the crew.
Agroforestry ManagerTom O'Rourke
Integrated land management consultant and practitioner with 10 years of experience in organic nature-based solutions, Tom is driven by a passion for tropical fruit and regenerative agriculture. At ClimateForce he leads planting and field operations across the station, designing and managing the land systems that carry our agroforestry and silvopasture work. He focuses on biological approaches to restoring ecosystems and producing high-quality food while improving environmental conditions, turning the design on paper into canopy in the ground.
OUR EXPERTISE
Horticulture, finance, project management, data science, AI and consulting
Scaling the blueprint
From Ground to Market
CEOBarney Swan
Barney grew up in the Daintree, and ClimateForce is his commitment to the place that raised him. He founded it in 2019 and leads the front of house: fundraising conversations, the family office and corporate relationships, and the First Nations and Country partnerships that anchor the work. Driven by a belief in inspiring through action, Barney has helped turn a single research station into a regenerative blueprint to support other land managers in need.
Network CoordinatorVal Faynbloch
Val looks after the relationships that sustain ClimateForce: the partners, donors, and supporters who believe in the work. She manages donor care and the communications that keep everyone in the loop, holds the CRM that maps the network, and tracks the delivery arcs that turn early interest into lasting support. Driven by collaboration and care, Val keeps the wide community around ClimateForce connected to what we are building on the ground.
Head Of PlatformCurtis Browne
Curtis builds the Land-IP platform, the digital engine that turns what happens on the ground into something measurable and replicable. He leads the digital architecture, the build, and the public demo, carrying the technical roadmap from MVP onward. Working alongside the whole team across land, research, and operations, Curtis is making Land-IP the pathway to deliver regeneration at scale, drawing every domain into one platform that reaches well beyond a single station.
Botanical R&D Gabriele Pegoraro
A chemical engineer with a background in product innovation and distilled spirits, Gabriele has spent years testing novel raw materials and turning them into finished products across industries. At ClimateForce he leads the apothecary trial across our six crops, running the extraction, phytochemistry, and formulation that build our Rainforest Apothecary line. Precise and inventive, Gabriele is proving that regeneration can carry a real commercial return.
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