Meet the Team – Management Committee

It’s taken 50 years, a chequered career path and 2 degrees (social geography and psychology) to finally find my calling as a social systems researcher. With that aim, I am now at the tail end of a doctorate focussed on how collaborative community-based research can create social change. It may sound boring, but it’s not!

We all know our natural environment with the incredible life it holds, is in serious jeopardy. It is now that we need as many people as possible working together to turn this around. I believe that there are certain principles that can help this along. These include being strengths and solutions focussed; valuing diversity and collective creativity; and sharing decision-making and resources. While it can take a while to get it moving, the ability of collective action, based on inclusive, empowering and positive relationships, can do amazing things.

At a personal level, my sister and I own 30 acres at Calico Creek. Our aim is to rehabilitate our land back into wildlife habitat while still maintaining space for our 4 spoilt horses and 3 gorgeous little cows.

EXPERIENCE

Land-carers are generally focussed on restoring the ecosystems around them, whether these are agricultural, natural or urban. However, in this age of the Anthropocene, it is actually humans who need to change their behaviours and their systems. This is my both my interest and contribution to Gympie Landcare.
Through both a wide-ranging career path and my passion for learning, I bring a wealth of both hands-on people knowledge and experience, as well as deep theoretical knowledge of social and systemic change.

SKILLS

I bring the following skills to GDLG:

• Systems thinking
• Applied social and wellbeing research
• Strategy development
• Excellent people skills
• Communication and writing skills
• Innovation, creativity and lateral thinking

KNOWLEDGE

I bring my own focus on human behaviours and social systems, as well as personal strengths of systems thinking and relational skills to the Gympie Landcare table. Restoring and preserving this beautiful region for many generations to come, will take a collective effort, with many people and organisations working towards this common purpose. I truly believe this is achievable, and that together, we can achieve the extraordinary.

EMPLOYMENT SUMMARY

• Researcher in systemic wellbeing and complex social change 
• Equine soft tissue therapist
• Frontline manager and process technician in metallurgical processing
• Eternal student

QUALIFICATIONS

• • PhD – School of Human, Medical and Applied Sciences; CQUniversity
  • Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours First Class)
  • Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science (Distinction)
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major: Social Geography; James Cook University of Queensland

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER ROLES

• Gympie & District Landcare (previously general committee member)
• Land for Wildlife – member
• ANARRA – member

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• International Society for the Systems Sciences
• The Systems School Australia
• Collective Impact Forum