Tom Forrest is a global leader in the cannabis industry and the first ever Churchill Fellow for Cannabis Agronomy. He is the author of a White Paper on cannabis botany, global industry trends and best-practice cultivation.

With formal qualifications in business, horticulture and protected cropping, and specialist training in hydroponics and plant botany, Tom brings deep expertise across both science and industry. His intimate knowledge of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis cultivation, combined with business and marketing skills, has made him a sought-after speaker, lecturer and advisor in the field.

Vince Polito is a Senior Lecturer, and leads the Altered States Lab in the School of Psychological Sciences at Macquarie University. Vince has a keen interest in understanding how altered states of consciousness can impact on cognition and mental health, and he and his students have studied hypnosis, states of flow, meditation, yoga, chanting, virtual reality, religious rituals and psychosis.
Vince is best known for his work on microdosing psychedelics. He is developing a psychedelic research program at Macquarie that includes the world’s first magnetoencephalography (MEG) study of microdosing, and is leading one of Australia’s largest psychedelic clinical trials, which will investigate low doses of psilocybin as a potential treatment for depression.

Jef Baker is a committee member of The Australian Psychedelic Society (APS) and the Sydney Chapter Lead. With a long-standing interest in psychoactive plants and compounds, Jef completed an Honours thesis examining the philosophy of Deep Ecology within Ayahuasca discourse at SCU in 2015. 

Jake is a Master of Clinical Psychology and PhD Candidate at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia. He teaches undergraduate psychology students in counselling, social psychology, and the fundamentals of psychology. He also supervises psychology honours research projects. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles on the topic of mindfulness, psychedelics and neurophysiology. His PhD explores the ways psychedelic use may aid emerging adult development.

Co-Director, Anam Cara Centre for Psychedelics and Contemplative Therapies | Chair, AMAPP | Founder & Director, Signs of Life Psychology

Dr. Alana (Lani) Roy is Co-Director of the Anam Cara Centre for Psychedelics and Contemplative Therapies and Chair of the Australian Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Practitioners (AMAPP). She is also the Founder and Director of The Signs of Life Psychology and has dedicated more than 15 years to mental health, trauma, suicide prevention, sexual abuse, family violence, disability, and harm reduction.

Melissa Warner is a multidisciplinary researcher, educator, technologist, and artist inspired by the intersection of neuroscience, contemplative science, extended reality, and psychedelic-therapy. As a Research Fellow at The Intangible Realities Laboratory and Swinburne University, she explores how altered states such as psychedelics, meditation and virtual reality can foster wisdom and well-being. In her role as Secretary of the research charity Psychedelic Research in Science and Medicine (PRISM), Melissa has supported Australia’s first clinical trials of psilocybin and MDMA.