Dr Jeff Coutts

Director

Jeff Coutts

Dr Jeff Coutts has a passion for demonstrating the impact of Research, Development and Extension projects and programs and learning from them for continuous improvement. Holding a PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Science and a Masters in Agricultural Knowledge Systems (with Distinction) from the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands, Jeff possesses extensive experience in agricultural extension, social research, and program evaluation.

A Life Member of the Australasian Pacific Extension Network (APEN) and member of the Australasian Evaluation Society (AES), he also serves on the Editorial Committee of the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension. His background includes working as an extension officer in the Australian public and private sectors, alongside international experience in Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Asia, and South America.

Formerly the Director of the Rural Extension Centre at the University of Queensland (1996-2001), Jeff now works as a consultant through his company, Coutts J&R, which has focused on extension and evaluation since 2001. In this capacity, he undertakes extensive reviews across agricultural and natural resource programs and, with his team, establishes M&E Frameworks to monitor and evaluate large programs over their lifecycles. Jeff has also delivered extension and evaluation training across Australia and internationally and supervised postgraduate research students in the extension discipline.

Dr Amy Samson

Partner

Amy Samson has a Master of Professional Communication and a PhD investigating social media use by Australian women on the farm in the context of climate change. In addition to managing Coutts J&R projects, her expertise is in the evaluation of communication and social media strategies. Her interest in this area started growing when she worked in London for a media intelligence company evaluating the effectiveness of public relations campaigns within government and not for profit organisations. Her clients won industry awards (the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC)) for their evaluation of communication/social media programs and campaigns. Amy is a strong advocate for improving evaluation planning and reporting to help communicators prove the effectiveness of their work. 

Ben Coutts

Partner

Ben Coutts has a bachelor of Multimedia and manages Coutts J&R’s databases and IT infrastructure. He developed the YourDATA M&E Database platform which allows the rapid deployment of customised databases, allowing organisations’ to efficiently capture and report on project activities. Ben is also Coutts J&R’s primary data analyst, specialising in turning complex quantitative and qualitative survey data into highly readable and impactful reports.

Isobel MacFarlane

Evaluation Team

Isobel MacFarlane is an important part of Coutts J&R’s evaluation team with a focus on interviews, data analysis and research. She is an experienced client relations specialist who has worked across a range of corporate and government projects, and led teams to deliver high-value, client focused services. This means that she is an expert at gathering and managing sensitive information and making sure every voice is heard.