Our People
Our Board
ACIUCN Board oversees the organisation’s strategic plan, performance, and governance.
Board members support and work with the staff to execute the strategic plan and deliver on the mission and the vision.
Election of Board members
ACIUCN Board members are elected from its membership and made of:
• 2 x government member organisations
• 2 x non-government member organisations
• IUCN Councillor resident in Australia
In addition, the ACIUCN Board appoints two ex-officio board members including:
• Public Officer
• Treasurer
ACIUCN works closely with other members of the IUCN constituency including local Commission experts, the IUCN Oceania Regional Secretariat based in Fiji and other Regional and National Committees.
Our Staff
Kate Davey
Director, ACIUCN
Kate started with ACIUCN in July 2021. Kate recently returned from from Fiji where she spent five years as Senior Marine Advisor in the Oceania Regional Office of IUCN working with senior government leaders and local and international NGOs across several countries (Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga) to deliver on a range of conservation priorities within the IUCN program of work.
Kate may also be known to some of you when she was the Director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) from 2000-2009. There she built positive working relationships across the environment movement and with state and national governments, donors and the marine science community.
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Lisa Malcolm
Project Coordinator, ACIUCN
Lisa Malcolm began working with ACIUCN in May 2022. Lisa is an environmental scientist who specialises in environmental education, engagement and science communication and has with a wealth of experience in conservation.
For 13 years, Lisa was Griffith University EcoCentre’s Environment and Community Network Coordinator. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Natural Resource Management and a Masters in Teaching Sciences.
Our Board Members
Government House Representatives
Fleur Downard
Director, International Environment and UN Section
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Fleur currently leads the International Environment Section in the International Environment, Reef and Oceans Division of the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Fleur has previously worked as a qualified lawyer in private practice from 2001-2008. After completing a Master of Environmental Law in 2010 she joined the former Department of Environment and has worked primarily across the environment and water portfolio areas for the past twelve years.
She is currently the Commonwealth Government Board member for the Australian Committee for the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In 2021, she led the government’s engagement in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress, was the National Convenor for the UN Food Systems Summit and was a delegate to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Conference. She also leads the government’s engagement with the United Nations Environment Programme and will be part of the delegation to the United Nations Environment Assembly in February 2024. Her section also leads on other cross-cutting international environmental organisations and processes, including the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the G20 Environment track, and the OECD Environment working groups.
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Alison Schumacher
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Nominee
Alison is the Director of the Conservation Policy and Strategy Branch in the NSW Department of Planning and Environment with extensive experience working in Government and across multiple sectors on biodiversity conservation issues. Alison has a passion for public policy and regulatory reform and enjoys swimming and scuba diving.
Non-government Organisation Representatives
Basha Stasak
Nature Program Manager
Australian Conservation Foundation
Basha is Nature Campaign Manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation(ACF). She is passionate about influencing system change to create positive social and environmental outcomes. Before joining ACF, she worked in state and federal politics, social enterprises, and grassroots organisations. Basha holds Bachelor of Laws and of Business and was recognised as the 2011 Western Australian Young Environmentalists of the Year
She is a keen climber and skier and enjoys exploring the world’s many mountain ranges.
Erica McCreedy
Chief Operating Officer
North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA)
Erica McCreedy is NAILSMA's Chief Operating Officer, tasked with overseeing the day to day administration and operational functions of the organisation, including working closely with our management team to deliver NAILSMA's 2030 10 year Strategic Plan.
Erica is a Māori woman from Ngāti Raukawa and Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti tribes from Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Erica is a communications and strategy specialist, with 15 years experience working with Indigenous land and sea managers across Australia, and internationally.
Erica takes a community-led project management approach. She recently led the development of NAILSMA's monitoring and evaluation framework to track how NAILSMA creates positive and sustainable impacts with Indigenous communities and partners, now and into the future. She has extensive experience facilitating and delivering on-ground training workshops and technical support to Indigenous rangers and communities with a particular focus on culturally led education, training, and communications.
Erica joined NAILSMA in 2011 as an I-Tracker Project Officer, leading the development of the land patrol application to support Indigenous land managers to collect information about their country and their land management efforts. She has developed monitoring and evaluation systems, business on country plans and education and training programs during her time at NAILSMA.
She has founded a successful consulting business and business mentoring company supporting women of culture to create and grow culturally aligned businesses.
She completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Indigenous Knowledge Systems at Charles Darwin University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Studies and Media Communications from Southern Cross University.
Peter Cochrane (Interim Chair)
IUCN Regional Councillor
Peter has over twenty years experience in senior executive leadership and governance roles in the public and private sectors. He was elected in September 2016 to the IUCN Council to serve a four year term, nominated from Oceania. Peter is a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and was a member of its Executive and Steering Committees (2014-2016).
He consults on environment and sustainability issues, and is currently an adviser to the national State of Environment Report 2016 focused on building its audience and utility, and its potential form post 2016.
He chairs the Steering Committee of the National Environmental Science Program’s Marine Biodiversity Hub and its Research Users Committee. He is a Director of Ecotourism Australia, TangaroaBlue Foundation, and chairs the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute. He sits on the Steering Group of the Protected Area Learning and Research Collaboration. Peter is an Adjunct Fellow at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University. He is an associate with two consulting companies: Futureye and Empowering Engagements.
Peter was Director of National Parks and head of Parks Australia from 1999-2013. He was Deputy Executive Director of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (1994-1999) and an adviser to two federal Ministers for Primary Industries and Energy (1990-94). He worked in the Australian National University Research School of Biological Sciences as a technical officer and departmental manager in plant ecology and physiology (1974-1990). He has a BSc (ANU) and a Masters Public Policy (ANU).
Blathnaid Byrne
Treasurer
Bláthnaid is currently Director of Sustainable Finance at the Commonwealth Bank and was previously the Group Treasurer at AGL Energy.
She is based in Sydney. Having started her career in Dublin, she has spent almost 20 years working in treasury roles across various industries including healthcare, travel, recruitment and energy.
Bláthnaid holds the AMCT Diploma in Treasury from the Association of Corporate Treasurers, the Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants as well as a BA Degree in International Business & Languages (French & German) from Dublin City University.
Currently, Bláthnaid is a member of the Finance and Treasury Association’s State Committee, with specific responsibility for Women in Treasury and sits on the Mobilising Capital technical working group of the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative. Bláthnaid is a governor at WWF Australia.
Joanne Wilson
Public Officer
Joanne works in the Aboriginal Initiatives team of the NSW Environmental Protection Authority and comes from a strong background in conservation science, management and policy specialising in marine and coastal ecosystems, protected area management and international partnerships. Joanne has a Bachelor of Science from James Cook University and a PhD from Southern Cross University where she studied reproduction in subtropical corals. Over her 25-year career she has worked in diverse roles across governments, industry and non-government organisations often at the nexus of science, management, policy and community engagement.
She has worked in diverse cultural settings, including five years living and working in Indonesia as Lead Scientist for The Nature Conservancy Indonesia Marine Program. In NSW, she works with Aboriginal people and communities to bring cultural values and perspectives to environmental protection.
Joanne is a member of the WCPA and is involved in the IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas where she is currently a member of the global Standards Committee. To strengthen her capacity as a board member, Joanne recently completed modules in governance, finance, and strategy and risk through the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Jo Hopkins
ACIUCN Liaison for IUCN Commissions
Jo Hopkins is the Manager National and International Engagement at Parks Victoria and has extensive experience in park management. She is responsible for the consolidation of high level partnerships that deliver on Government policy and facilitates initiatives with mutually beneficial outcomes between partners. As a result of this work, Jo has a strong network of industry contacts at local, national and international levels.
Jo has a combination of substantial professional experience with a deep commitment to the vital role that parks and protected areas play in ensuring a healthy natural world.
Jo is the Chair of the IUCN/WCPA Health and Well-being Specialist Group, Chair of Health Sciences Advisory Board for Deakin University, Co-Chair of the World Urban Parks Advocacy Committee and holds a B.A. in Recreation with Distinction from RMIT University. With experience in establishing two start-up not-for-profit organisations, Jo has a proven track record with ensuring good governance, developing policy and proactive communications with a membership base.
Jo is a keen swimmer and enjoys spending time in nature, particularly in many of NSW and Victoria’s spectacular coastal parks.