Presenters as they appeared each day

 

Andrew Bartlett

 

Andrew has been active in politics for over 20 years – he was a Queensland Senator from 1997 to 2008, is an outspoken advocate for animal rights.  In 2004 he was the first federal politician in Australia to establish a genuine blog.

 

Andrew Gaines

 

A decade ago Andrew studied The Natural Step, a method of assessing whether a company, a nation or our global civilisation is ecologically sustainable or not. At the same time he explored the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). He concluded that, given the reality of accelerating ecological deterioration, ideally CSR should mean corporations take responsibility for the evolution of a viable society.  This was not what he found.

 

Andrew Lytton-Hitchens

 

Andrew Lytton-Hitchins is an Agricultural, Sales and Business Development Professional with leadership experience propelling revenues, growing business and building market share in competitive agricultural and natural resource industries. Andrew is passionate about sustainability, sustainable agriculture, local food systems and their surrounding communities, regional food sovereignty and strengthening the resilience of local food systems.

 

Anja Light

 

An activist for over 20 years, Anja has presented at many conferences around the world on the issues of rainforest ecology and the plight of indigenous communities.  She believes in the small.slow.simple way of life. 

 

Benjamin Law

 

Benjamin Law is a Brisbane based freelance writer.  He is a senior contributor to frankie magazine and has also written for The Monthly, Crikey, Sunday Life, The Griffith Review, Kill Your Darlings and many others.  A born humorist, Benjamin’s first book The Family Law was published in 2010 to rave reviews.  He is currently working on his second book  - a collection of non-fiction looking at queer communities throughout Asia.

 

Catherine McCabe

In progress

 

Clementine Ford

 Clementine Ford is a freelance writer, broadcaster and feminist working in Melbourne. She is also active in online media and her father wishes she would get what he calls a “real job”

 

Clive Hamilton

Clive Hamilton is an Australian author and public intellectual. In June 2008 he was appointed Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, a joint centre of the Australian National University, Charles Sturt University and the University of Melbourne.

 

Community Garden Networking 11-12 (Hosted by Northey Street Farm)

 

Members of established SEQ Community Gardens share their experiences and resources. If you are already involved in a Community Garden, or just inquisitive, this sharing circle should help with your networking and motivation!

 

Derec Davies

 

A seasoned environmental campaigner having worked on issues in back yard Brisbane to the Asia Pacific, a decade with Friends of the Earth, Derec has worked on various campaigns from GM foods, agriculture and food, to climate and energy.

 

Disasters in Dialogue presenters

Mara Bun, Daryl Taylor, Lucy Filor, Maryella Hatfield, Bob Dick ,Jim Varghese ,Leanne McKnoulty,Margi O'Connell-Hood,Sarah De Vries,Toby Hutcheon, Monica Richter

 

Don Henry

 

CEO of Australian Conservation Foundation Don Henry campaigned for the protection of Moreton Island, Great Barrier Reef Islands, the rainforests of north Queensland and Cape York.  Amongst his many achievements, Don co-chaired a global forest initiative with the World Bank designed to conserve 250 million hectares of forests. Most recently in 2008, Don Henry was named Equity Trustees’ Not For Profit 2008 CEO of the Year. The prestigious award recognises outstanding leadership and is the pre-eminent award for the not-for-profit sector.

 

Dr Barb Ford

 

Barb is a public health physician who grows her own vegetables and cooks them in solar stoves.  She has a passion for simple technologies that keep both people and then planet in good health.

 

Dr Brendan Taylor

 

Brendan has been interested in the plight of wild things on our urbanised planet for many years and is involved in research on ways to make big roads a bit more critter friendly – particularly for gliders.

 

 

Dr Darryl Jones

 

Darryl is a behavioural ecologist at Griffith University.  He has been interested in wildlife-human interactions for decades, with years of research (as well as scars and stories) on magpies, brush turkeys and crows under his belt.  These days he is also trying to get animals safely across roads.

 

Dr David Wyatt

 

Dr David Wyatt is a multi-disciplinary scientist and successful entrepreneur who advised on the design of (and lives in) the Currumbin Eco Village.  He will share with Woodford audience his experiences at home and abroad in creating sustainable eco communities.

 

Dr George Quezada

 

Since joining the CSIRO, Dr George Quezada has worked primarily under the Energy Transformed Flagship, undertaking social research in the fields of sustainable living policy, energy efficiency and the uptake of new and emerging energy technologies.

 

Dr Graeme Taylor

 

Graeme has been studying social structures, dynamics and issues most of his life. His research explores how whole‐systems design can be proactively used to solve complex global issues. A lecturer, writer and speaker, he is currently helping organize an international movement to prevent global environmental catastrophe and create an economically and culturally sustainable global system.

 

Dr Ian Plowman

 

Ian Plowman is an organisational psychologist, facilitator and social researcher who works with groups, associations, industries, communities and government agencies. Ian helps clients to develop skills and awareness to remove blockages and raise their levels of creativity and innovation.

 

Dr Lewis Williams

 

Originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, Lewis is of Scottish and Maori (Ngai Te Rangi) descent. She is currently based in Toronto where she chairing the development of KIN. From 2003 - 2008 she was director of the Prairie Region Health Promotion Research Centre and Associate Professor Department of Native Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

 

Dr Linda Selvey

 

Until recently, Linda was the CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific assuming this role after a long career as a medical doctor, cancer researcher and public health advocate. Linda has worked internationally and sees strong links between health advocacy and environmentalism.   After deciding to follow her heart, Linda is in the process of relocating to Perth, Western Australia, where she is looking for opportunities for activism in the fields of the environment and health.

 

Dr Paul Taylor

 

A physicist who researches and presents on climate change, biochar and renewable energy, Paul Taylor is the author and editor of The Biochar Revolution: Transforming Agriculture and the Environment.

 

Dr Paul Wildman

 

Formerly the Australian facilitator for the Millennium project of the United Nations University, Paul has extensive experience and publications in community and regional economic development.  He has Australian Labour Market Program experience in Tonga, India and Malaysia and his personal interests include Local Economic Development, Men's Issues and Futures Studies.

 

Dr Sean FitzGibbon

Growing up in Brisbane, Sean Fitzgibbon (University of Queensland) has seen first hand how cities, their people and resilient wildlife are closely linked but constantly changing.  He has researched various survivors , most recently playing around with dung beetles, goannas and koalas.

 

Dr Tim Seelig

 

Tim is the Queensland Campaign’s Manager for The Wilderness Society.

 

Emma Brindle

In Progress

 

Fiona O’Sullivan

 

Fiona is a passionate advocate of the global Pachamama Alliance working to bring forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just human presence on the planet.  Her life is committed to releasing the power of community to transform society.

 

Giselle Wilkinson

 

Giselle is President of the Sustainable Living Foundation (which she co-founded in 1999) also a foundation member of Safe Climate Australia and Transition Decade (T10).  Author of The Conscious Cook and an innovator of social change Giselle is currently undertaking her doctorate.

 

Guy Pearse

 

A former political adviser, lobbyist and speechwriter, Guy grew up in Townsville and was educated at James Cook University (BA Hons), Harvard (MPP), and the ANU (PhD).   Guy is the author of High & Dry: John Howard, Climate Change and the Selling of Australia's Future (Penguin--2007) and Quarterly Essay 33, Quarry Vision: Coal, Climate Change and the End of the Resources Boom.

 

Jay Mulder

 

Jay D. Mulder is a qualified Ayurvedic Herbalist. He is the Founder of The Eumundi Medicine Man on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, and 
has an association with Rajah Healthy Acres in South India, where he 
undergoes regular training in Ayurvedic medicine, including knowledge of purva and pancakarma.

 

Jo Bragg

An experienced environmental lawyer at the Environmental Defenders Office.

Jo runs numerous “David and Goliath” test cases and has led many key reforms to environmental laws in Queensland.

 

Kate Jones

 

Kate was the youngest woman ever appointed to the Queensland Cabinet and held the portfolios of environment and natural resources. She completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and is completing a Masters in Environmental Law at the Australian National University.  She has been happily representing her community of Ashgrove since 2006.

 

Kees Hulsman

 

Dr Kees Hulsman is a senior lecturer in Ecology at the Australian School of Environmental Studies. His diverse range of research interests on ecological issues associated with different taxa ranging from worms, mosquitoes, birds and people are all brought together under the unifying umbrella of Systems Theory

 

Marci Webster Mannion

 

A leader in state-of-the-art environmental design in architecture for over 2 decades, Marci is also a speaker and writer.  Amongst her numerous awards, she received a Special Jury Award (RAIA), for her contribution to the advancement of architecture and commitment to environmentally sensitive design.

 

Mark Ogg

 

Mark Ogge, from Beyond Zero emissions will give an overview of coal and gas expansion and the part Santos plays in it. He will also examine  the state of play with renewable energy, and the approach Beyond Zero Emissions takes to fighting for a renewable energy future.

 

Michael Williams

Recently retiring as the Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the UQ, Michael is a Gooreng Gooreng man.   He has been involved in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs for over thirty years. He has served on the Board of the Special Broadcasting Service, and numerous other government, academic and community boards concerned with Indigenous and non-Indigenous issues.

Monica Richter

 

Monica Richter is the Sustainability Programs Manager for the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF). She and her team run numerous campaigns such as stopping climate change including advocating against the nuclear option, and pushing for the development of greener, cleaner buildings and more sustainable cities.

 

Neil Davidson

 

A systems-thinker, trans-disciplinary change agent, social entrepreneur & specialist generalist interested in complex systems-based collaborative responses to compounding global issues of climate change, carrying capacity, resource scarcity, indigenous enterprise creation & biodiversity loss.

 

Nick Heath

 

A former accountant then political advisor, Nick is now working hard to defend the planet at the World Wildlife Fund.  WWF’s recent achievements including convincing the Federal and State Government’s to invest $375m to cut farm pollution of the Great Barrier Reef by 50%, and protect 800,000 hectares of wetlands.

 

Professor Ian Lowe

 

An eminent scientist and environmentalist, Professor Ian Lowe AO is President of the Australian Conservation Foundation.  He is the recipient of many prestigious awards and has authored many publications.

 

Rebecca Williams

 

As the Director of the Threatened Species Unit within the Queensland Government Rebecca has dedicated her professional life working to protect our wildlife from the pressures of population growth, development and climate change.  She designed and implemented the Northern Hairy Nose Wombat program.

 

Richard Sanders

 

An ecological economist, Richard is a visionary systems thinker who has grappled with the questions of what the sustainable society would necessarily look like in principle transitionary technical and social pathways necessary to get there, and the democratic political processes necessary to bring about such a transition.  He is Director for the Centre for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

 

Russell Austerberry

 

Russell is passionately committed to creating sustainable eco communities close to our major centres.  Undertaking post-graduate studies in community development adds depth to the group work he's engaged in. In spare time he drives a bus, plays table tennis, takes out the garbage, tends the compost heap, or has 'solve the problems of the world' type chats with anyone who shows an interest.

 

Sonya Wallace

 

Sonya is a permaculture teacher/designer and co-founder of Transition Sunshine Coast – preparing communities for future climate and energy uncertainty.  Creating resilient food, energy and transport systems and much more, she travels Australia supporting councils and communities in doing the same.

 

Susan Johnson

Susan Johnson is an acclaimed author and journalist who has lived and worked internationally. Recently returning to Australia, Susan is a senior features writer for QWEEKEND  and the Courier Mail.

 

Toby Hutcheon

Toby Hutcheon has worked on environmental issues for over 20 years. He started at Greenpeace Australia in the mid 80’s as a campaigner on the Nuclear Free Seas campaign opposing nuclear powered and armed ship visits to Australia- dividing his time between the Greenpeace office and the bows of nuclear warships.   Toby is now the Executive Director of the Queensland Conservation Council.