BIRDING AND NATURE FAIR
24TH- 26TH NOVEMBER 2006
Presenters

 

 

Michelle Ballestrin

Michelle is a Ranger with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (now part of NSW Department of Environment and Conservation), based at Griffith, south-western NSW.
Michelle has completed a B.Sc. (Hons) from Flinders University (SA) and employed with NPWS since 2000. Michelle is currently the Ranger for Oolambeyan National Park, a former prominent Riverina merino stud property, containing significant plains-wanderer habitat. Ongoing projects on the reserve include the preparation of plan of management, cultural heritage planning, pest management, plains-wanderer habitat monitoring and grazing management to optimise plains-wanderer habitat.

 

 

 

Laurence Barea

Laurence holds a BSc in Biology and a Master of Science from Waikato University, New Zealand and is currently completing research for a PhD on the Ecology of painted honeyeaters at Charles Sturt University, NSW. During his MSc research he conducted the first ecological study of the threatened forest-dwelling form of the New Zealand Falcon. Prior to starting his PhD he held a position as a threatened species biologist for the New Zealand Department of Conservation before relocating to the USA in 1999 where he worked as an ecological consultant. His interest in raptors continues and plans further research into raptor ecology as part of his future ecology research career.

Sean Dooley

Sean has a law degree, but deviated to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian. As an author today he writes comedy for television and has worked on successful shows as Full Frontal, Back Backberner and Comedy Inc. Following his life’s passion, birdwatching, Sean set out in 2002 to break the Australian record for observing the most species of bird in one year, and this culminated in his birdwatching travelogue across the Australian landscape ‘The Big Twitch’. In his away moments from birding, Sean writes articles for such publications as The Age, and Australian Geographic.

Dr. Gillian Gilbert

Gillian has a national remit for wetland research within the RSPBs Conservation Science Department. Her research is primarily on vulnerable bird species, but has covered all aspects of wetland quality and monitoring from water quality, coastal processes, fish health and habitat management. Gillian spent five years researching the ecology of the European Bittern, the results of which led to an extensive programme of wetland restoration in the UK. After 12 years within the RSPBs Conservation Science Department, Gillian has worked on many species, currently researching the UK decline of the Grasshopper warbler Locustella naevia. Her Phd research developed a method of monitoring rare species using vocal individuality. She gained her Phd in 1994 from the University of Nottingham, and an Honours degree in Zoology from Glasgow University in 1990.

Matt Herring

Matt Herring is consultant wildlife ecologist that also works part-time at Charles Sturt University. He is based in Albury where he has lived for the past 10 years. He has established and surveyed more than 800 study sites across 500 different farms for a range of research projects, mostly in the NSW Murray Catchment. His interest in waterbirds began with Brolgas in the late nineties.

 

Rob Kelly

Robert was born and bred in Griffith and after graduating with a class 1 honours degree in science from Sydney University worked in Sydney and then Trangie before moving back to Griffith. He is currently employed as the Environment Manager at Murrumbidgee Irrigation. He has over 12 years experience in environmental management, assessment and natural resource management. Roberts's principle role is to manage the Company's environmental activities including the development and implementation of integrated environmental programs to meet legislative, license and Company requirements. Robert was the project manager for the environmental assessment stage of the Barren Box Storage and Wetland rehabilitation project and is currently managing the development of the wetland rehabilitation and management plan.

Ross McDonnel

Ross McDonnell has worked for the Department of Environment and Conservation / National Parks and Wildlife Service for 20 years. The last 16 years has been in the Riverina and based in Griffith.
Ross is the current Regional Manager for the Western Rivers Region, which extends from Balranald to Bathurst in southern and central western NSW. Within the Region there are 60 reserves.
The acquisition of new reserves in recent years (involving the former properties of Oolambeyan, Norwood, Darcoola and Yanga) has resulted in the Department acquiring various water licences. Managing wetlands and involving those licences has increasingly become a departmental priority.
Ross has been directly involved in reserve acquisitions and in arranging the departmental response to water licences and wetland management.

Robyn Molsher

Robyn is the Coordinator of the NSW Ramsar Managers Network and is a Conservation Ecologist in the Wetlands and Rivers Group of the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) in Dubbo. She has worked with DEC in Dubbo for the last 8 years in the areas of threatened species management, Forest Agreements and Regional assessments. Prior to this she completed a PhD in feral cat and fox ecology at CSIRO in Canberra. Prior to that she was a Research Officer at the University of Adelaide primarily involved with investigating ecological impacts of rising salinities in the Coorong. She enjoys Art and good coffee.

 

Dr Patricia Murray

Patricia Murray has been working in the freshwater ecology area for 15 years. She has experience in water policy, freshwater research and community engagement in natural resource management. She is presently working for the Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority (CMA) managing a Land and Water Australia project to develop management options for Murrumbidgee floodplain wetlands. Prior to joining the Murrumbidgee CMA she spent five years with Greening Australia NSW managing and delivering community based projects. Her research experience includes examining aquatic insect ecology in major tributaries of the Murrumbidgee River and wetland conservation. She spent three years as a NSW Natural Conservation Council representative on the Murrumbidgee River Management Committee (Regulated) until the committee folded in 2003. This committee developed the Murrumbidgee Water Sharing Plan and identified key management issues for the Murrumbidgee River. She has also taught environmental subjects at universities and NSW TAFE. She is an active member of her local urban Landcare group and is a keen birdwatcher and nature photographer.

David Parker

David is a Biodiversity Conservation Officer with the Department of Conservation and Environment based in Griffith in the Riverina Region of NSW. After receiving a science degree with honours from Charles Sturt University in 2000 David spent four years working for Greening Australia – Riverina as a wildlife extension officer. Since then he has also worked for Forests NSW and the Murray Regional Organisation of Councils. Major projects which David has been involved with include Plains-wanderer population monitoring, waterbird monitoring within private wetlands (NSW) and Gunbower Forest(Vic), and woodland bird survey and monitoring in remnant woodlands within the Savernake & Native Dog Landcare area and the central Murray Catchment area.

 

Dr. Iain Taylor

Iain was brought up near Stirling in Scotland . Estuary, mudflats and freshwater lochs were a short cycle ride from home and wild geese, ducks and shorebirds often flew over the house, so it was little wonder that an interest in waterbirds developed at an early age. He attended Aberdeen University in the north of Scotland , which at that time was the only Scottish University with bird ecologists on the staff. He obtained a first class Honours and then a PhD on the ecology of fish-eating birds. After graduating he took up a UK government funded job in West Africa , working in a university, doing research in rainforests and being bitten by every conceivable kind of living creature. He returned to Scotland to take up a position at Edinburgh University where he managed an Honours School in Wildlife and Fisheries Management. His main research was a long term study of Barn Owl populations which lead to the publication of a monograph on the species by Cambridge University Press, but he also had interesting “side-line” projects on tigers, snow leopard and waterbirds in Nepal . He moved to live in Australia in 1993. Initially, he worked in Sydney , developing the management plans for the wetlands around the Olympics site at Homebush Bay . After a short spell in Tasmania studying Oystercatchers and clams he took a position at Charles Sturt University in Albury. With four colleagues he was responsible for the introduction of the postgraduate Ornithology course at CSU. In his research he has specialised in the ecology of waterbirds, some of it on shorebirds in Tasmania but mostly in the temporary wetlands of southern New South Wales . Much of this has been done in collaboration with Mike Schultz of the Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust. Recently, he has established a collaborative venture with colleagues in India to promote research at Chilika Lake , south Asia 's most important Ramsar site, and to develop training courses in wetland management for Asian students.

Rick Webster

Rick is an environmental consultant based in Deniliquin in the Riverina Region of NSW. He owns his company Ecosurveys Pty Ltd which specialises in flora and fauna surveys, threatened species research, habitat assessment, and wetland mapping and assessment. After receiving a science degree from the University of Sydney in 1982 Rick spent two years working for the Forests NSW as part of a research team investigating the impacts of logging on birds. Since 1985 he has been self employed and has worked on numerous projects within the Murray-Darling basin. These projects include Superb Parrot and Regent Parrot research, waterbird monitoring within Barmah/Mullewa Forest, establishment of baseline data for bush bird populations within the River Red Gum forests of the central Murrumbidgee Valley and central Murray Valley, mapping and assessing wetlands within the Murray catchment and establishing a baseline for bird populations within the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.

Dr Skye Wassens

The vast majority of Skye's research is focused on the conservation of fauna, particularly frogs within modified landscapes. Her most recent research projects include the movement patterns and habitat requirements of the endangered Southern Bell Frog (Litoria raniformis) and factors affecting the composition of wetland frog communities. Skye has also been working on identifying factors that determine the composition of arthropod and reptile communities within vegetation remnants, as well as the identification of suitable indicator taxa to measure biodiversity. She is also involved in studies of the post release survival and movement patterns of captive bred Malleefowls. Skye is a lecturer at Charles Sturt University, teaching landscape ecology, animal systematics and environmental impact assessment.

Marcus Wright

Marcus grew up on a rice farm at Deniliquin, NSW. >From a young age, he recognised the challenges of reconciling agriculture with the environment, and so far he has charted his career along this theme. He has worked with various scales of irrigated farming systems in the Riverina since 1993, particularly Irrigation Salinity and the NSW Water Reform. Most recently Marcus has taken up a senior role with the Murrumbidgee CMA where his roles include leading the Water Asset team in developing the Catchment Action Plan, building corporate Business Systems to meet the NSW Standard for Quality Natural Resource Management, and providing Executive Support to the Murrumbidgee Environmental Water Allowance Reference Group