Packhorse names ESG head

Packhorse, the agricultural property investment manager, has named Elaine Mitchell as the head of ESG.

As ESG head, Mitchell will be responsible for overseeing that nature and biodiversity are at the forefront of operations while generating consistent and sustainable returns for investors.

The role at Packhorse is a part-time one and Mitchell will remain at Queensland University of Technology's Centre for Agriculture and Bioeconomy where she specialises in managing resilient landscapes.

Her research focuses on soil carbon, with a particular interest in the mechanisms and drivers of the formation and persistence of soil organic carbon and how it responds to agricultural management and global environmental change.

Before QUT, Mitchell was the program manager at Bioclimate Research and Development in the UK. Her job is to manage a portfolio of carbon sequestration projects in developing countries as part of the United Nations emissions trading scheme.

"Packhorse is accumulating rural land on a mass-scale across Australia so the opportunity to implement regenerative practices based on science and deploy significant carbon sequestration projects is exciting," she said.

"The expansive scale at which Packhorse is operating has the potential to positively impact climate change."