ANAT is delighted to welcome three new ANAT Board members:
Christopher D. Schaffer, r e a saunders and Brad Tucker.

This announcement comes a week after announcing our triennial festival ANAT SPECTRA 2025, will be hosted by University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), where Native Title rights have recently been recognised for the Kabi Kabi People.

ANAT is a national not-for-profit experimental arts organisation, who from our home base on Kaurna Country in South Australia has for over 35 years cultivated opportunities for artists to create experimental work with science and technology partners.

ANAT CEO Melissa DeLaney says “the work ANAT does reflects the wealth of its legacy and networks. As CEO, I’m honoured to be working with this iteration of the board into 2025 and beyond as together we explore what we are capable of with the experience and skills each board member brings across areas of practice and research and collectively as a brains trust and creative thinkers for the futures ahead.”

With collaboration is in our DNA, ANAT relies on the vision and strength of our Board of Directors to guide our approach and intent. The addition of r e a, Christopher, and Brad brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to ANAT. Their diverse backgrounds and expertise will support ANAT in invigorating and deepening our partnerships and leadership role in nurturing and championing the best Australian artists working with emerging and experimental practices.

“Boards, at their heart, need to represent not only the constituency of their organisation’s collaborators but also the broader community in which that organisation lives,” says ANAT Board Chair, Michael Nelson. “A diversity of voices, views and lived experiences are fundamental to a Board’s proper function. In welcoming Chris, r e a and Brad to our Board, I’m looking forward to the significant contributions I’m confident they’ll make in helping to realise ANAT’s ambitions.”

Christopher says “the overlap of art, technology, and science is an exciting place to be. I am delighted to join the ANAT Board, especially with SPECTRA 2025 in Queensland being just around the corner. I look forward to working with my fellow ANAT Board members in its unique mission and in supporting Australian artists.”

Christopher D. Schaffer was admitted as a Lawyer in 2014 and began his legal career with the graduate program of the Australian Taxation Office before being called to the Private Bar in 2021. Christopher accepts briefs broadly across civil and commercial areas of practice, including Taxation, Equity and Trusts, Judicial Review, Administration, Debt and Insolvency, Succession and Estate, and Property and Contract matters.

Christopher has special interests in strategic advice, Not-For-Profit and Charity groups, and Artificial Intelligence. He enjoys exploring art, both old and new, and finding creative outlets in written pieces and through working with people, particularly in educational environments, having been a sessional academic since 2022.

r e a saunders quote and bio will go here

“I’m super excited to be helping ANAT, and its unique and important mission to connect the arts and sciences”, says Brad. “Experiencing the world and Universe around us is inspiring, personal, and beautiful, and the work of ANAT accelerates that.”

Brad Tucker is an Astrophysicist and Cosmologist at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mt. Stromlo Observatory, and the National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at the Australian National University. Brad received Bachelor’s degrees in Physics, Philosophy, and Theology from the University of Notre Dame, and a PhD in Astrophysics and Cosmology from Mt. Stromlo Observatory at ANU. He leads programs using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and TESS to understand why and how stars explode. He’s also building a network of ultraviolet telescopes in the upper atmosphere and conducting a search for Planet 9.

Brad frequently gives talks to school groups and the public about Astronomy and has regular segments on various radio and TV stations. He has also developed a series of Astronomy coins with the Royal Australian Mint, consulted on science fiction movies, and has been featured in TV specials. Currently, he is in the process of writing his first popular book and has developed an online Astronomy course.

ANAT Board: Chair, Michael Nelson, Brad Darkson, ANAT CEO Melissa DeLaney, Melita Grant, r e a saunders, Christopher D. Schaffer, Brad Tucker, Michele Saint-Yves and Anna Tiquia.