Jack Hetherington
School of Economics and Public Policy
Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Jack Hetherington researches sustainable and inclusive agri-food systems, addressing the wicked problems facing society. His goal is to provide and apply rigorous, practical evidence to inform decision-makers, drive change, and ultimately deliver positive impacts.
Currently a Grant-funded Researcher at the University of Adelaide’s Centre for Global Food and Resources (GFAR), Jack is working on the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded project 'IndoDairy 2'. This project is an interdisciplinary research project looking to improve the smallholder dairy systems in Indonesia. The team at GFAR are focussed on trialling inclusive business models and value chain interventions to drive positive change for smallholders.
Jack recently submitted his PhD thesis (December 2024). Affiliated with End Food Waste Australia, CSIRO, and GFAR, Jack’s PhD research delved into the transition towards a more circular economy. His work focuses on how different business models can facilitate this transition and the challenges that arise in the process. His research specifically examines Australian cheese manufacturers to gain a deeper understanding of this complex issue.
Jack brings international experience working across agricultural value chains in countries including Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Myanmar. Since 2017, he has been a Project Coordinator at GFAR, where he worked in Indonesia supporting smallholder-inclusive value chains for dairy farmers (IndoDairy). His role involved leading a diverse team, engaging policymakers and industry stakeholders to tackle persistent challenges like milk hygiene and low productivity. Prior to this, Jack worked at the ACIAR (2015-17), finishing as an Agribusiness Program Coordinator.
He has been actively involved in the Researchers in Agriculture for International Development (RAID) Network and the Crawford Fund, serving as RAID President from 2017 to 2019. Jack also contributes to various industry and community organisations, including the SA Crawford Fund Committee, the Ag Institute of Australia (AIA) SA Division, and the Landcare Association of South Australia (LASA).
Jack holds a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience from the University of Sydney (2014), a Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from the University of Adelaide (2024) and a PhD from the University of Adelaide (2025).
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2025 - ongoing Grant-funded Researcher Centre for Global Food and Resources 2021 - ongoing PhD Student University of Adelaide 2017 - 2021 Research Associate University of Adelaide 2017 - 2017 Agribusiness Program Coordinator Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research 2015 - 2017 Research Program Officer Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2024 - 2024 The University of Adelaide Australia Graduate Certificate 2011 - 2014 University of Sydney, Sydney Australia B.Animal and Veterinary Bioscience -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2025 Hetherington, J., Loch, A. J., & Pablo, J. (2025). Cheese whey: a hidden opportunity to tackle Australia's food loss and waste problem. Food Australia, 77(1), 46-47. 2025 Hetherington, J. B., Loch, A. J., Juliano, P., & Umberger, W. J. (2025). Exploring incentives to move up the food waste Hierarchy: A case study of the Australian cheese manufacturing sector. Waste Management, 201, 114810.
2025 Nguyen, T. T. T., Hetherington, J. B., O'Connor, P. J., & Malek, L. (2025). Sustainable food consumption: Sustainability-conscious consumers do not reduce food waste but nutrition-conscious consumers do. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 219, 108296.
Scopus12024 Hetherington, J. B., Loch, A. J., Juliano, P., & Umberger, W. J. (2024). Barriers to circular economy adoption are diverse and some are business-model specific: Evidence from the Australian cheese manufacturing sector. Journal of Cleaner Production, 477, 143879-1-143879-15.
Scopus12023 Fadillah, A., van den Borne, B. H. P., Poetri, O. N., Hogeveen, H., Umberger, W., Hetherington, J., & Schukken, Y. H. (2023). Smallholder milk quality awareness in Indonesian dairy farms. Journal of Dairy Science, 106(11), 7965-7973.
Scopus3 Europe PMC22022 Coggins, S., McCampbell, M., Sharma, A., Sharma, R., Haefele, S. M., Karki, E., . . . Brown, B. (2022). How have smallholder farmers used digital extension tools? Developer and user voices from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Global Food Security, 32, 10 pages.
Scopus42 WoS8 Europe PMC22022 Hetherington, J., Juliano, P., MacMillan, C., & Loch, A. (2022). Circular economy opportunities and implementation barriers for Australia's food, feed and fibre production. Farm Policy Journal, (Spring), 30-43. 2017 Hetherington, J., Wiethoelter, A., Negin, J., & Mor, S. (2017). Livestock ownership, animal source foods and child nutritional outcomes in seven rural village clusters in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agriculture & Food Security, 6(1), 11 pages.
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Book Chapters
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Conference Papers
Year Citation 2023 Hetherington, J., Juliano, P., Loch, A., & Umberger, W. (2023). Most Australian cheese manufacturers do not reuse whey in value added products, despite the opportunities to utilise it more sustainably and strategically. In 67th AARES Conference. Christchurch, New Zealand. -
Conference Items
Year Citation 2018 Akzar, R., Peralta, A., Umberger, W., & Hetherington, J. (2018). Simultaneous Decisions of Indonesian Smallholder Dairy Farmers Adoption of Multiple on Farm-level Innovations. Poster session presented at the meeting of The 62th AARES Annual Conference. Adelaide Australia. -
Report for External Bodies
Year Citation 2023 Hetherington, J., Umberger, W., & Akzar, R. (2023). Final Report: Improving milk supply, competitiveness and livelihoods of smallholder dairy chains in Indonesia (IndoDairy) (FR2023-005). Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). 2022 Umberger, W., Granzin, B., Hetherington, J., Ritchie, Z., & Maligalig, R. (2022). Philippine Smallholder Dairy: Landscape Analysis and Research Priorities (FR2021-054). Canberra: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. -
Original Creative Works
Year Citation 2023 Authors: Hetherington J. Title: Little Miss Muffet Finds a Better Whey. Description: N/A. Extent: 1min 10sec.
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Preprint
Year Citation 2024 Hetherington, J., Loch, A., Juliano, P., & Umberger, W. (2024). Exploring incentives to move up the Food Waste Hierarchy: a case study of the Australian cheese manufacturing sector.
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Other Supervision Activities
Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name 2023 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Exploring the viability and expected adoption of smallholder mushroom cultivation to prevent crop residual burning in India The University of Adelaide Masters of Global Food and Agricultural Business Master Full Time Akhil Palla 2020 - 2020 Principal Supervisor Evaluating the Outcomes and Impacts of the RAID Network Using the Success Case Method The University of Adelaide Master of Global Food and Agricultural Business Master Full Time Wei-Te Lu 2019 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Characterization of Women Empowerment in Agriculture in Smallholder Dairy Households in West Java, Indonesia The University of Adelaide Master of Global Food and Agricultural Business Master Full Time Dimas Yudo Bramantyo 2018 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Study of Dairy Cooperative Business Models in West Java, Indonesia The University of Adelaide Master of Global Food and Agricultural Business Master Full Time Dewi Karlina Batubara
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Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2022 - ongoing Treasurer Management Committee Landcare Association of South Australia (LASA) Australia 2022 - ongoing Vice-Chair South Australian Division Ag Institute of Australia Australia 2021 - ongoing Member South Australian Committee Crawford Fund Australia 2018 - ongoing President Researchers in Agriculture for International Development (RAID) The Crawford Fund Australia 2017 - ongoing Vice-President Researchers in Agriculture for International Development (RAID) - Australia
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