Dr Hazel MacTavish-West

Hazel has a strong background in science and technology particularly relating to food and beverages, plants and chemistry. She also has a strong track record in innovation and entrepreneurship. 

Hazel has a PhD from the University of Tasmania and a Bachelor of Science, Agriculture, from the University of Sydney. 

Hazel learned the hard way in the 00’s and as a single mother with a young family, how difficult, expensive and risky it can be to try and build a business following your dream, and trying to learn all the thing “you didn’t know, that you didn’t know”. 

That is why in 2019, after her Churchill Fellowship, Hazel founded the Seedlab Tasmania Incubator program which supported hundreds of Tasmanian agri-food and other consumer-centric start-ups to start, scale and grow. 

Hazel has built a connected community of hundreds of agri-food and FMCG founders who are striving for growth, sustainability and achievement, supported by a global network of trusted and skilled experts. 

The success of Seedlab Tasmania led to Seedlab Australia, which builds on this work, taking it international, and focused specifically on FMCG products.  

Hazel is extremely proud of the community she is part of via Seedlab: the amazing team, the fantastic and real support from Woolworths, and the participants, who are all making their dreams real, one step at a time.