Our Team

The People Behind Verdant Earth

Our team brings together deep expertise across renewable energy development, project finance, engineering, and policy — united by a shared commitment to building Australia's clean energy future.

Leadership

Richard Poole

CEO & Managing Director

Richard brings an extensive portfolio across mining, energy, and media sectors. He co-founded two energy retailers reaching $500m+ in revenues and a $1B market cap mining technology company. As former Co-founder and Executive Director at Entrust Energy, he built operations across 14 US states in partnership with Shell Energy North America and Nippon Gas. Richard is a qualified lawyer, NSW Law Society member, and holds an Australian Financial Services Licence.

Warren Kember

CFO & Executive Director

Warren brings 35 years of experience in CEO and CFO roles at publicly listed companies, including 17 years in the energy sector across blue-chip and smaller cap organisations. He has a background in KPMG and investment banking, with senior leadership experience spanning Australian energy retail and the renewable energy sector.

Mike Haywood

GM Fuels & Sustainable Energy

Mike has 35 years of experience in the timber and waste industry. He is a former President of the Australian Council of Recycling and the Waste Management Association of Australia, and is a recognised industry expert in engineered fuels and waste timber biomass. Mike leads Verdant Earth's biomass feedstock strategy and "grow your own" project initiative.

Costa Tsiolkas

GM & Chief Engineer

Costa was the original construction project manager and lead engineer for the Redbank Power Station. With 35 years of engineering experience across major renewable energy and power firms, he has played an integral role in constructing six power stations delivering a combined capacity of 10,000MW.

Get in Touch

Whether you're an investor, partner, or industry stakeholder, we'd love to hear from you.