An award-winning boutique publishing company, Luna Media was established in 2004 and is based in Sydney, Australia. It was founded by four people: Melbourne neuroscientist and entrepreneur Dr Alan Finkel, magazine publishing executive Kylie Ahern and science journalists Wilson da Silva and Elizabeth Finkel.
It is Australia's first carbon neutral media company and the publisher of the country's only carbon neutral magazines published on 100% recycled paper.
Dr Alan Finkel is a neuroscientist and philanthropist, is the chairman and co-founder of Luna Media. The Chancellor of Melbourne's Monash University, he is the winner of the 2005 Clunies Ross Medal and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006 - in both cases for his contribution to science and education. With a PhD in electrical engineering from Monash, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University in Canberra, where he invented a new voltage clamp that made it possible to measure the electrical activity of previously inaccessible, individual neurons in mammals. He went on to establish Axon Instruments Inc, a scientific equipment manufacturer with a global reputation, and lead it for 22 years until its acquisition in 2004. He also chairs the editorial advisory boards of both COSMOS and G Magazine.
Kylie Ahern is the CEO of the Sydney publishing company Luna Media and a co-founder of G: The Green Lifestyle Magazine, a practical and positive guide to sustainable living that is Australia's first carbon neutral magazine. Having started her career at IPC Magazines in Britain, she went on to several senior publishing roles in Australia, including Marketing Director at FPC Magazines, Group Circulation Manager at ACP Magazines and Publisher at Yaffa Publishing. She has lead Luna Media to a win of 26 awards across editorial, publishing and marketing. Her own awards include Consumer Magazine of the Year and Best Consumer Magazine Launch in 2007 (both for G Magazine), as well as Best Small Publisher for Luna Media.
Wilson da Silva is the Editorial Director and one of the founders of Luna Media. The creative force behind the company, he is Editor-in-Chief of both COSMOS and G Magazine. A former on-air reporter for ABC TV's Quantum program, he has served as editor of the magazines Newton, 21C and Science Spectra, was science editor of ABC Online, has been a foreign correspondent for Reuters, is a former staff journalist on The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers and was a Sydney correspondent for New Scientist. The winner of 23 awards - including Editor of the Year in both 2005 and 2006 for his work on COSMOS, and the 2000 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Documentary for the East Timor film, The Diplomat- he is the past president of the World Federation of Science Journalists. more
Rayma Creswell has a thorough knowledge of the publishing sector. Formerly the Group Circulation and Marketing Director of the Federal Publishing Company, she oversaw the branding and development of such titles as Australian Vogue and Delicious. As General Manager of the magazine distribution house NDD, she managed the distribution and marketing of 2,500 titles for 250 different publishing clients, and is the former CEO of the Australian Newsagents' Federation, where she represented the commercial interests of 4,500 newsagents Australia-wide. She has also launched her own publishing company, specialising in computer magazines which was acquired by a larger publishing group after eight years of successful operation.