Speakers

Ry is a seasoned climate and environmental justice advocate based in Sydney, Australia, with a background in international law, policy, and strategic campaigning.

Ry has worked with international NGOs such as Amnesty International, focusing on issues arising from international conflicts and the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum.

With a strong belief in intersectional justice, Ry is passionate about building a future where climate action, ocean protection, and human rights go hand in hand. His work is grounded in the belief that positive, community-driven change is both possible and urgently needed to protect people and the planet. 

BNAA is a Noongar-led environmental charity located on Whadjuk-Noongar Boodja and established in 2022 by Noongar Elder, Walter McGuire OAM. BNAA brings together traditional Noongar knowledge and modern scientific approaches to create a shared journey of healing Country that is centred on restoring ecosystems, reinvigorating culture and strengthening communities through reconnection to Country.  

Through their BoorYul-Bah-Bilya (BBB) Program, BNAA is using the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) to develop a new community-led model of river restoration and catchment management. Their ambition is not only to restore one river, but to create a transferable model that inspires the revival of all rivers across Australia and beyond.  

Kelly has a PhD in Oceanography from UWA, focusing on the hydrodynamics and connectivity of coastal and reef systems. She has worked as both an environmental and subsea engineer with experience in analysing environmental flows, developing wastewater solutions, and designing cumulative impact assessments.

Kelly now works as the Senior Campaigner for the Nature Program at the Conservation Council of WA and is passionate about protecting WA’s precious coastline and unique marine ecosystems. 

Kevin brings nearly 20 years of expertise in SaaS (Software as a Service) product development, project management, and team leadership. He began his career as a software engineer in London’s financial sector before relocating to Australia, where he transitioned into leading product delivery.

Throughout his career, Kevin has driven innovation and successfully managed SaaS solutions across various industries, including banking, wagering, telecommunications, and retail.

Keith is a long-time advocate for the ecological values of south-western Australia and for the power of local communities. He helped establish some of Australia’s earliest landcare groups, has run building, beekeeping and native seed businesses, worked in local enterprise development and at management and policy levels in government.

Keith is a previous Chair of the WA Landcare Network and is currently CEO of Gondwana Link, which he was part of establishing in 2002.

Vivian is a Dordenup Wardandi matriarch Elder and artist from the South West of Western Australia. Born in Busselton on Wardan country, her ancestry traces to ‘Sugar Rag’ of Beenup, with family ties to Beenup, Mileanup, Lake Quijup, Black Point, Lake Jasper and Scotts River National Park.

photo: Martine Perret

Greta is a small-scale grower, environmental educator and campaigner living and harvesting from the lands and waters of Whadjuk Boodja.

Greta is a surfer, sailor and storyteller; passionate about restoring healthy ecosystems and bringing communities together to protect the landscapes that sustain them.

Caitlin (she/her) has spent a lifetime in the water, and it’s that relationship with the ocean that drives everything she does. She’s watched the coastlines and waves she loves change in real time, and she’s committed to protecting them for every surfer who comes after her.

A founding member of Surfers for Climate, Caitlin brings 15+ years in the not-for-profit sector, plus a background in finance and e-commerce operations, to build lasting infrastructure for the surf community’s climate response. For her, real change takes both passion and practicality, and she leads with both.

At the core of it all is a simple truth: the ocean gave her everything, and she’s determined to give something back.

Jason has spent 20 years working as a conservation ecologist and environmental campaigner across Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Now based on the south coast, Jason manages a tree farming enterprise, serves as a volunteer bushfire brigade member, and leads WAFA’s campaign to reform forest bushfire management, aiming for safer, better outcomes for local wildlife and residents alike.

Liam has a background in environmental science, climate science and economics. He sits on the Australian Conservation Foundation Council and is on the Nuclear-Free WA committee.

Formerly Executive Director of Society-Environment-Economy Change (Canberra), he provides research and analysis for CCWA’s climate and nature campaigns while building networks and alliances.

Nick is an electrical and computer engineer dedicated to developing advanced systems for the industrial, medical, and public safety sectors. Driven by a commitment to safeguarding regional environments and communities, his work bridges the gap between complex technology and real-world resilience. He is the founder and director of the FireShield system, an autonomous digital detection and management platform that originated in Margaret River and is now deployed internationally. 

Mitchella is a Traditional Owner and Elder on Saltwater Country of the Wardandi Nation, known by her totem ‘Walgin’ – the Rainbow Woman. An artist and businesswoman (Waljin Consultancy), she is mother of four, foster parent to more than 20 children, and created an online Indigenous cultural awareness training package.

Harper McKinney is a 16 year old activist living on Wadandi Boodja. He is a member of the Margaret River Regional Environment Centre and the Margaret river youth climate collective. He recently organised a rally against forest mining and a movie screening about fracking 

Linda is a qualified and experienced natural resource management professional of over 25 years, who has coordinated the delivery of large-scale restoration and revegetation programs including the high-profile Rehabilitating Roe 8.  Her current role is the Sustainability & Environment Lead for South West NRM. She has also held roles in community and not-for-profit organisations, and local government.   

Linda has extensive experience working with a wide range of stakeholders including Traditional Custodians, industry, government, community groups and private landholders on programs designed to support and improve conservation outcomes.  Linda has published articles on revegetation and contributed to policy development. Linda is currently the Chair of the Revegetation Industry Association Western Australia (RIAWA).

David Mitchell is a Western Australia-based architect and development manager with over 20 years of experience delivering residential and mixed-use projects across London, Sydney, and Perth.

Having worked on major commercial developments, including Sydney’s Central Barangaroo, alongside actively advocating for community-driven planning and environmental protection in WA’s South West, David brings a unique, balanced perspective on the realities of property development and local planning rules.

Rod Mitchell lives in Denmark, WA, and advocates for “Hydrate Denmark”, an initiative to protect and restore the bioregion from rising heat, drying, and fire risk.

Victoria Pavy (she/her) is a campaigner and community organiser at the Conservation Council of WA, working to end fossil fuel expansion in WA through the Go Beyond Gas and Save Scott Reef campaigns. She is a firm believer in the power of community members working together for change.

Victoria spends much of her free time enjoying the nature she works to protect.

Craig brings a well-rounded, interdisciplinary perspective to conservation and a lifelong dedication to Western Australia’s unique bushland, drawing on a background spanning health, science, and small business.

Craig is particularly interested in one of the most urgent questions facing forest advocates: how do we stop governments from allowing and actively contributing to the destruction of our forests, while also making what remains increasingly uninhabitable for much of our flora and fauna?

Sol spends his time working across international non-profit Commonland and Aboriginal-owned and -led Noongar Land Enterprise Group. He works to strengthen and support the networks and systems in the landscape restoration and caring for Country movements in WA. 

Sol’s background includes working internationally (Malawi, Netherlands, Philippines) in the social and environmental space as well as running a creative social enterprise locally, during studies that focused on social justice, international relations and Indigenous engagement in ecological restoration.

Matt is Executive Director of the Conservation Council of WA, with a background in media, communications and public policy across housing, water and environmental sectors. He is committed to keeping nature central in a just, ambitious energy transition, and believes lasting change comes from public policy, not corporate goodwill.

Crispin is founder and director of Crest Environmental, an environmental consultancy specialising in natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. His career spans private industry, not-for-profit organisations and government. 

His current work focuses on best-practice biodiversity restoration, including natural capital accounting. 

He is active in community-based organisations including Nature Conservation Margaret River and PEAT Southwest. 

Crispin lives in the Margaret River region and operates a small regenerative farm in Northcliffe, WA, near the Pingerup Plains bioregion. 

After a 17-year career of conservation research into the resilience of coral reefs, in 2021 Jim moved his work focus back onto the land to apply his understanding of connectivity and ecosystem health with the Gondwana Link team. His two-way learning experiences with Indigenous peoples in the last decade inspired a deep respect for their social wisdom and ability to apply traditional ecological knowledge for real-world benefits for People and Country.

In his role as Connecting Country Coordinator, Jim is looking to build capacity and enable access and healing of Menang and Goreng people on their Country. He is currently involved in supporting cultural fire, healthy county planning and co-managing private properties with Noongar people so they can come together, articulate their values and realise their long held, but not recently heard, cultural aspirations.

Martin is Executive Director of Environs Kimberley and has worked for 25 years safeguarding WA’s environment, protecting endangered species, rivers, ecosystems and Ramsar wetlands. He led efforts securing 30,000 km² of Kimberley marine parks, stopping mines at the Martuwarra Fitzroy and Horizontal Falls, and protecting Walmadan/James Price Point.

Ellie is a recovering high school English teacher who now works in environmental education and conservation.

Originally from the UK, she has lived in Margaret River for 20 years on a bush block with her husband and 3 children. She is the co- leader of Parents for Climate Margaret River.

Giz protested at anti-Vietnam War rallies and helped launch WA’s first campaign against jarrah clear-felling for bauxite. In the 1980s she trained nonviolent direct-action groups, including Greenham Common.

A carpenter and builder, Giz served 16 years in WA Parliament and received a Murdoch University doctorate in 2015.

Earlier this year Giz was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the environment, and to the Parliament of Western Australia.

Richard is a former board member of Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA). He remains an active member of DEA in WA and is interested in the intersection between health and the environment.

As a Buddhist teacher and writer Richard speaks and writes to the “growing awareness of the preciousness of human existence, the wonder and fragility of life on this one blue planet and the need for us to care for it and care for each other”.