Our People

We’re a non-political, mainly voluntary organisation governed by a Council of experienced conservationists, scientists, business and professional people.

We have a small, largely part-time, administrative staff who work from our office at 32 Holden Street, Hindmarsh, South Australia.

Our Councillors:

PRESIDENT
DAVID MOYLE
David has occupied senior academic and leadership roles at Flinders University and has been a leading environmental advocate in SA. He has been a member of the Native Vegetation Council. He is currently a Commissioner of the Environment, Resources and Development Court, a member of the National Parks and Wildlife Council and Chair of the Yumbarra Ministerial Advisory Committee. David is also a past President of Nature Foundation SA. He has been a Councillor since 1989.

VICE PRESIDENT
BOB LOTT 
Bob is an owner and Director of Venue*Tix, Weslo Staff, Thebarton Theatre and Quorn Quandongs. He is also a biochemist, producer and manager of major events and a theatrical entrepreneur. Bob has served on numerous boards and councils, including the Festival of Arts, the Royal Show and was Deputy Chairman of the Jubilee 150 Board. He is an enthusiastic environmentalist and supporter of Indigenous artists. He has been a Councillor since 2003.


HONORARY SECRETARY
DR ROBERT SHARRAD
Robert is a field biologist who has spent much of his life in the bush teaching trainee teachers and rangers or conducting wildlife surveys. Bob lectures in ecology and animal behaviour at the Flinders University of SA. He has been an active participant in a number of scientific and conservation groups including; Native Vegetation Authority, Reserves Planning and Management Committee, Royal Society of SA, Chair of the Fire Research Coordination Group, State Councillor of the Ecological Society of Australia, Friends of Cleland (first Chair). He has been a Councillor since 1989.

HONORARY TREASURER
DAVID MACKLIN
David is a practicing Chartered Accountant, specialising in tax for small businesses. His interest in the environment stems back to the mid 60’s when he read Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring”. He served in a number of financial roles for “Trees for Life” during its formative years. More recently, he has been on the Board of Earth Sanctuaries Ltd. David’s Wife, Cherry, purchased a section of the Meyer Scrub bushland area to complement their recently purchased adjoining farm at Ashbourne. The farm is currently undergoing extensive renovation, tree planting and weed eradication.

COUNCILLORS

BARBARA HARDY AO
Barbara helped found the Foundation in 1981. Barbara has been working in the environment field in a voluntary capacity since the early 1970s – locally, nationally and internationally. She holds an Honorary Doctorate from Flinders University and was 1996 South Australian Citizen of the Year. Barbara has received a number of prestigious awards, including Advance Australia Award, an SA Great Award, an Institution of Engineers Medal and an ABC Eureka Award for the Advancement of Science. She was a founding Trustee of SA Business Vision 2010 and is the Australian member for the Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development.

Barbara was appointed an Officer of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1987. She has been a Commissioner of the Australian Heritage Commission, President of the National Parks Foundation of South Australia (now the Nature Foundation SA), Founding President of the Investigator Science and Technology Centre, Chairman of the South Australian Landcare Committee and a member of the Bookmark Biosphere Trust amongst a number of other roles. She is now a Companion of the Institution of Engineers Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Energy. Since October 2001, she has been the Member from Australia in the Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development (APFED), a major international project initiated and funded by the Japanese Ministry for Environment.

She has been a Councillor since 1982 but her association goes back to the first meeting of the Foundations founding steering committee in October 1981.

DR ROB MORRISON OAM
Rob was, before retirement the Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Flinders University. He has also, more recently, recently retired as the President of the Royal Zoological Society of SA which is responsible for Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Zoological Park.

Rob has written dozens of articles and 28 books on science and natural history, and is co-author of 13 more. A science and environment broadcaster for forty years on television and radio, he has won many national and international awards, including a Churchill Fellowship, the Michael Daley Award for Science Journalism and the Skeptics Eureka Prize. In 2005 he won the Premier’s award for Excellence in Science Communication. Together with Dr Deane Hutton, he co-hosted the long-running national television program Curiosity Show, which screened in 14 countries.

For ten years, Rob presented environmental and science features on Channel 10 News. He currently works as copy editor for Australasian Science, presents a regular science segment on ABC Radio and produces the environmental segment on NEXUS, the television program of Australia’s Asia Pacific Service, which screens in 40 countries.

Rob is a member of the Board of the newly established Australian Science Media Centre and Chair or a member of many Boards and Councils of environment and conservation organizations. He is Patron of National Science Week SA and in 2004 was awarded The Order of Australia for his Services to Conservation and Science Communication.

JOHN BRADMAN
John taught environmental and conservation law at the University of Adelaide from the 1980s until recently. His research interests include land degradation, biodiversity and native vegetation conservation. John has been a member of a number of environmental organisations, including the Native Vegetation Authority and the Native Vegetation Council, both of which he has chaired. He also has an interest in agriculture and finance issues. He has been Councillor since 2001.

DR DAVID HANSMAN 
David is a semi-retired pathologist who was Director of Microbiology at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital for more than 25 years. He has had a lifetime interest in, and concern for, the natural environment. He has belonged to and supported numerous national and state conservation groups and has been an enthusiastic supporter of the acquisition and maintenance of nature reserves in Australia and overseas. He has been a Councillor since 2003.

NICHOLAS NEWLAND
Nicholas, over a long career in the South Australian Public Service, held several senior positions in the Environment Department including Director National Parks and Wildlife and was a member of associated statutory authorities dealing with various aspects of natural resources management.

He was Program Coordinator of the Australia New Zealand Rabbit Calicivirus Disease Program, has produced a marine and estuarine strategy through the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and has also been national coordinator of the second phase of Australia’s National Dryland Salinity Program. In 2000, he was appointed as Executive Director of the Environment Protection Agency and initiated the development of the legislative and organisational framework for the now independent Environment Protection Authority.

He has had direct involvement with Ministerial Councils for conservation, natural resources and environment protection and until his retirement in late 2006 was the Chief Co-ordinator of the Urban Stormwater Initiative, a collaborative project of state and local governments grappling with flood mitigation and re-use opportunities for stormwater in urban communities.

He is currently the chair of the Board of a company offering a carbon dioxide offset service for emitters looking to reduce their carbon footprint. He is President of the Royal Geographical Society (SA), Past President of the Foundation for a Rabbit Free Australia and a member of the Nature Conservation Society of SA. He has formerly been a Councillor of the Nature Foundation SA. His current membership on Council commenced in 2003.

SUSIE HERZBERG
Susie is the principal of Lambda Planning Solutions.. She currently serves on the Boards of KESAB and the Playford Memorial Trust and is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia (SA) Policy Committee and of the SA Wine Industry Association Environment Committee.

Susie has worked as an urban and environmental planner with the Commonwealth, State and Local Governments and spent several years as a lecturer in the Architecture and Planning Faculty at the University of Adelaide. She was a member of the Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium for fourteen years, three of those as Chairman. She also has served on the Board of the South Australian Housing Trust, the Patawalonga Catchment Management Board, the City-State Forum and the State Cycling Council.

Susie is a Past President of the Australian Institute of Urban Studies (SA). .. She has been a Councillor since 2006.

STAFF

MANAGER
JIM McHUGH
Jim commenced his professional life in 1964, as forester with the Victorian Forests Commission establishing pine plantations. He gained his BSc(Forestry) in 1969 and upon returning to the field, commenced work in forest recreation and conservation in the Dandenong Ranges. In 1974, he transferred to national park management in South West Victoria, before moving to the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, as a senior manager, in 1979. He completed his varied operational and policy career in 2001.

Following retirement, Jim worked as an HR consultant to Government until he took up the position of acting Chief Executive in the Nature Foundation SA in 2003. In late 2003, he has been the Executive Officer, BushbankSA but while he maintains a supervisory role over this program, as from February 2007, he has assumed a broader role as the Conservation Manager for the Foundation.

BUSNESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
BRIAN HADDY
Brian has been helping community organizations raise funds, form partnerships, run successful events and generally improve their viability for nearly 30 years. Brian has helped organizations in the fields of social justice, health, science education and nature conservation, serving them on a consultancy basis and in various voluntary capacities.

Brian’s role within the Foundation increased in early 2007 when he took over the role as Editor of our Nature Matters newsletter together with some broader management responsibilities. He has primary responsibility for our Members and Friends events, Corporate Sponsorship, Fundraising and the development of links between the Nature Foundation and the broader community.

OFFICE Manager
JENNY PATERSON
jennny is the Foundation’s anchor person, the one whose job it is to bring cohesion and bind the fabric of the organisation together. Jenny is the one responsible for the day-to-day operation of the office. She works with our Councillors and staff, maintaining lines of communication and ensuring that our Foundation runs as efficiently and smoothly as possible. She is the face of the organisation to our members, donors, clients and suppliers. She joined the Foundation in 2004.

Jenny has worked for a number of large government and private organisations as a business and project manager, including the SA Department of Treasury and Finance, SA Department of Education, SA Water Corporation and Haydn Reynolds & Associates. Prior to her public service career, she was a business manager for a number of film and television companies in Melbourne.

BUSHBANK MANAGEMENT OFFICER
PETER MAHONEY
Peter is responsible for the day to day management of the BushbankSA Program.

Peter has had extensive experience in nature conservation in South Australia. Following the completion of his science degree at the University of Adelaide, he pursued an academic career as a demonstrator in the Botany School at Melbourne University. Since 1998, he has held a number of project positions relating to nature conservation and the management of native vegetation. Peter joined the Foundation in 2007.

ACCOUNTANT
JOHN PIKE
John is a semi-retired CPA Fellow who is providing accounting support to the Foundation. He has considerable accounting experience with not-for-profit organisations. Prior to going into semi-retirement, John held senior positions in the areas of financial and project management. He was employed in a wide range of industries and professions, most recently by a State Government Authority. A period of financial management, auditing and training would-be accountants in Papua New Guinea rounds off a diverse range of practical experience.

John is a supporter of the performing arts in South Australia, notably the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the State Opera. He joined the Foundation in 2005.

BUSHBANK PROJECT OFFICER 
JIM KNIGHT
Jim is a retired senior, career administrative officer from the South Australian public service. Although he worked in a number of Government agencies, he spent most of his working life in the national parks division of the Department for Environment and Heritage. He has had significant experience in managing major business enterprises for the Government where lessees found the commercial environment too difficult. It has been Jim’s job to turn the businesses around and get them profitable enough for re-leasing.

As part of the BushbankSA program, Jim manages the Mt Mary Project, a major conservation estate development in the Murray Mallee. Jim joined the Foundation in 2007.