About Us

Carolyn has an engineering background and she spent 19 years working for Esso’s Gippsland operations in a broad range of technical and leadership roles, including managing environmental and regulatory approvals for the Bass Strait operations and leading commercial operations for gas sales and distribution out of Longford.

Having lived in Foster, South Gippsland for part of her childhood and worked in Gippsland energy projects for her whole career, Carolyn is passionate about the opportunities for renewable energy projects in Gippsland.

She wants to ensure that the energy transition means not only transition from fossil fuels to renewables but also transition of jobs for the skilled local workforce — working together towards a green and prosperous future for Gippsland.

Kim Derriman is Flotation Energy’s Environment and Stakeholder Manager for the Seadragon project. Kim grew up in inner Melbourne and is still based there. He has over 20 years’ experience in statutory planning, environmental impact assessments and environmental management. Over the last 15 years, Kim has been working with communities and traditional owners on renewable energy projects across Australia, including 9 onshore wind and solar projects in Victoria. From 2019 – 2021, Kim was the voluntary Chair of the Clean Energy Council’s (CEC) Wind Directorate for over 2 years. Kim is driven by contributing to Australia’s response to climate change and a just energy transition. He is passionate about renewable projects that respect local environmental qualities, protect cultural assets and provide lasting benefits for local communities and traditional owners.

Edwina is passionate about renewable energy, the environment and community, and has 10 years’ experience in Victorian and Western Australian onshore wind farms from development, through to construction and operations. Edwina was a member of the successful team who installed two of the first microgrid hybrid projects in Australia, designed to replace the use of diesel for electricity production.

She has established service teams in two wind farms, and applied her financial project control expertise to several wind farm projects in development. Edwina lives in Western Victoria, around the corner from the Moorabool Wind Farm, a project she helped to develop to construction. She has seen firsthand the local benefits a wind farm brought to her community and is excited to do the same for Gippsland.

Marcus Dowling is the Engineering Manager for Seadragon, as well as a Project Management and Engineering Technical Authority for the International arm of Flotation Energy, which is currently involved in numerous offshore wind projects and developments across the APAC region, including Australia, Japan and Taiwan.

He has held similar positions in both International Operator and Turnkey Contractor environments and has a proven track record over 30+ years in delivering large offshore energy Infrastructure projects, with experience in every aspect of the project development lifecycle.

Marcus is passionate about the energy transition required to decarbonize the energy industry and put Australia on track to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. He is also excited to be involved in the development of a pipeline of offshore wind projects which will create jobs and a whole new local supply chain while building a strong offshore wind industry in Australia.

Celine is the Regional Finance Lead for Flotation Energy in Australia and Asia. As a Certified Public Accountant, Celine has worked in a wide range of organisations from multinational to smaller not-for-profit. Focusing on business analysis and management accounting throughout her career, Celine strongly believes in finance as a business partnership to empower the team whilst ensuring commercial success.

Originally from Holland and having lived and worked in the UK, Asia and Australia, Celine brings additional international perspective and experience to the Seadragon and Flotation Energy teams. Celine is excited to be a part of the transition to renewables and is looking forward to seeing what the future holds for offshore wind.

Erin grew up in Sale and enjoyed family holidays at Seaspray every summer.  The 25-minute drive worked in well with her parents who had a 7 day per week small business.

Erin has extensive experience in service delivery, client management and stakeholder engagement with her previous roles at Monash University, Regional Development Victoria, Royal Flying Doctor Service and Services Australia.

Erin will be working with the community where the Seadragon project will be situated and talking to community members, landowners and other interested parties who visit, work and enjoy the beaches, waterways and lands in central Gippsland.

Brian Thornton is a Project Engineer with Flotation Energy. Brian grew up in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. Brian has a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University, Belfast.

Brian previously worked for the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in Ireland, including rotations in onshore wind O&M and in development of grid support assets. Brian has a particular focus on the grid and transmission side of projects. Brian has a goal of being part of a team that successfully develops and builds an offshore wind farm, and helping Australia work towards its net zero goals.

Brian lives in Fremantle, WA. Outside of work, his hobbies include sports and fitness, including soccer, golf, cycling and running.

Jody Burt is the Accounts Assistant and one of the Business Support Officers for Flotation Energy. Growing up in Brisbane QLD and having completed a Diploma of Accounting and a Diploma of Management, Jody spent the last decade working in bookkeeping roles throughout Central and North Queensland in small to medium businesses across a range of industries. Now living in Perth with her partner and 2 young children, Jody is excited to have joined Flotation Energy earlier this year to learn about offshore wind and contribute into the future of renewable energy in Australia and the Net Zero global movement.

Melanie is the Offshore Environmental Lead for the Seadragon project and lives and works from a dairy farm in West Gippsland. Melanie is familiar with offshore Bass Strait environments, having flown out to the offshore oil and gas platforms at least 50 times to date. She has also worked as an Environmental Supervisor in remote environments in Papua New Guinea. When she can’t be outdoors kayaking, diving, bushwalking or planting trees, she enjoys DIYing and painting.