Candidate info

I have been an active member of the Australian Committee for IUCN since 2000, a member of the IUCN Council since my election in 2016, a member of the Council Policy and Programme Committee, its Private Sector Taskforce and Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework Taskforce, through my specific role as the Council Oceans Focal Person, and my self-appointed role as an advocate for greater engagement by IUCN on the nature-human health relationship. I served a two-year rotation on the IUCN Bureau from 2016 to 2018. In Australia, I chair the governing boards of two major marine science collaborations: the National Environmental Science Program's Marine Biodiversity Hub, and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. I chair the boards of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute (an IUCN member) and the Australian Tropical Herbarium, and I am a director of Earthwatch Institute Australia (also an IUCN member), Tangaroa Blue Foundation and Ecotourism Australia. My background is initially plant ecology and eco-physiology of native species, then environment policy, and finally as Director of National Parks for the Australian Government (retiring in 2013). In that last role, I headed the Australian government delegations to the Durban World Parks Congress, the Bangkok, Barcelona and Jeju IUCN World Conservation Congresses, and CDB COP10. In 2014, I was an ambassador for the Sydney World Parks Congress. I am a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. I have a BSc and a Masters in Public Policy.