Chris Adriaansen has headed up the Australian Plague Locust Commission for some 15 years, having steered the Commission for almost one-third of the time since it was first formed 46 years ago. Prior to joining the APLC, Chris was Chief Plant Health Manager for Queensland during which time he implemented emergency pest responses including what he describes as the very successful but exhausting eradication of citrus canker.

His preceding career, primarily with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, covered areas as diverse as commercialisation of horticultural intellectual property, implementation of pesticide reduction programs for the national apple industry, and soil & water engineering to manage agricultural catchments in Far North Queensland. A self-described “intellectual sponge”, Chris has absorbed everything he possibly can about locusts and grasshoppers in Australia to now become what many of his regular contacts in the media refer to as “Australia’s Chief Hopper Stopper”.