KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

**Dr Anne Poelina**
*Managing Director of Madjulla Inc.; Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council.*
**Topic: Restoration through traditional knowledge and guardianship**
Dr Peolina is a Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Owner and a guardian of the Mardoowarra, Lower Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Dr Poelina's life career in Indigenous, human and environmental advocacy spans four decades of achievements including:
Master Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Master Education
Master Arts (Indigenous Social Policy)
Doctor of Philosophy & Doctor of Health Science Scholar.
Peter Cullen Fellow (2011)
Laureate Women's World Summit Foundation (Geneva, 2017)
Adjunct Senior Research Fellow the University of Notre Dame (Nulungu Institute of Research)

**John Woinarski**
*Professor of conservation biology at Charles Darwin University; Deputy Director of the Threatened Species Recovery Hub of the National Environmental Science Program.*
**Topic: The challenge, opportunity and benefits of fauna restoration in Australia**
John has extensive experience in research, management and policy relating to biodiversity conservation in Australia, and has worked in and for government, academia and conservation NGOs.
Much of his work has focused on threatened species, but his research has also encompassed island biogeography; responses of biodiversity to fire, pastoralism, forestry, mining and introduced species; reserve design; and monitoring. John's fascination with, and love of, nature stems from a childhood lived in bush settings, and an abiding intrigue in figuring out how it all works, and how it can best be cared for. John has written or co-edited about 10 books (including the recent *Cats in Australia: companion and killer* and *A bat's end: the Christmas island pipistrelle and extinction in Australia*) and about 300 book chapters and journal articles.

**Dr Tein McDonald**
*Society for Ecological Restoration Australasia Board Member; President of the Australian Association of Bush Regenerators*
***Topic: National Restoration Standards'***
Dr Tein McDonald is a practitioner and consultant with nearly four decades experience in on-ground restoration operations, supervision, planning and teaching in NSW, Australia. Tein sits on a number of committees including the the board of the Society for Ecological Restoration Australasia and is President of the Australian Association of Bush Regenerators. She has been Editor in Chief of the Ecological Society of Australia’s management-oriented journal ‘Ecological Management & Restoration’ since 1999 and is one of the authors of the National Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration in Australia, 2nd Edition, 2017 and of the 2nd Edition of the international Restoration Standards published by the Society for Ecological Restoration in 2019.

Adriana Verges

Associate Professor of marine ecology at UNSW Sydney and at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science.

Topic: Engaging coastal communities in the restoration of underwater forests and meadows

Adriana leads a research group within the Centre for Marine Science and Innovation at UNSW Sydney. Her research focuses on the ecological impacts of climate change and the conservation of the world’s algal forests and seagrass meadows, which are increasingly under threat. She has worked in temperate ecosystems and tropical coral reefs from around the world. Much of her research is experimental and takes place underwater with a SCUBA tank strapped to her back. She is passionate about communicating science to the wider public, especially through films, art and new media.Adriana’s ‘Operation Crayweed’ work restoring Sydney’s underwater forests was awarded a Green Globe Award in 2017, and she received the inaugural UNSW Emerging Thought Leader Prize in 2019. She has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.Adriana holds a PhD in Ecology from the University of Barcelona and an MSc in Science Communication from Dublin City University.

Bilawara Lee

Bilawara Lee [Aunty B] is an Elder of the Larrakia Nation of Darwin Northern Territory. She is the Larrakia Academic in Residence at Charles Darwin University.

Topic: Welcome to Country & Spiritual connection with the land

Aunty B is acknowledged as a healer and teacher of the ancient wisdoms of Aboriginal spirituality and healing and travels nationally and internationally conducting workshops and healings. She is an Authorised Marriage Celebrant and an internationally published author with two books Star Dreaming and Healing from the Dilly Bag and she is a Director on the Territory Natural Resource Management Board and sits on many other committees and working groups in the fields of health and education.

Kingsley Dixon

John Curtin Distinguished Professor Kingsley Dixon

Topic: Seed Standards

John Curtin Distinguished Professor Kingsley Dixon is a botanist at Curtin University working in threatened species conservation and ecosystem restoration.Is a strong advocate of enabling communities to be effective deliverers of science in conservation and restoration in community-led programs. This includes programs with traditional owners in the mid-west of Western Australia, the Galganyem Trust in the Kimberley and southwest Australian noongar groups.Specialist areas include seed science and technology, plant ecophysiology, my corrhizal biology, pollination ecology with a major focus linking science to more effective on-ground ecological restoration with the mining industry, landcare and coastcare organisations. He was awarded the Linnean Medal for Botany (2013) and was the 2016 Western Australian Scientist of the Year for his work in the role of smoke and fire chemicals in germination ecology of Australian plants. Executive of the international Society for Ecological Restoration and Foundation Chairs of the Society for Ecological Restoration Australasia and the International Network for Seed Based Restoration, vice-Chair of the IUCN Orchid Specialist Group and Plant Reintroduction Group and member of the Western Australian Threatened Species Scientific Committee. has extensive experience in research, management and policy relating to biodiversity conservation in Australia, and has worked in and for government, academia and conservation NGOs.

Much of his work has focused on threatened species, but his research has also encompassed island biogeography; responses of biodiversity to fire, pastoralism, forestry, mining and introduced species; reserve design; and monitoring. John's fascination with, and love of, nature stems from a childhood lived in bush settings, and an abiding intrigue in figuring out how it all works, and how it can best be cared for. John has written or co-edited about 10 books (including the recent Cats in Australia: companion and killer and A bat's end: the Christmas island pipistrelle and extinction in Australia) and about 300 book chapters and journal articles.

Melanie Mark-Shadbolt

Co-founder and the CEO of Te Tira Whakamātaki, Kaihautū
Chief Māori Advisor to the Ministry for the Environment and the Kaihautū Ngātahi Director Māori of New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge

Topic: How Ngā Rākau Taketake, a research response to kauri dieback and myrtle rust, is anchored in Te Tiriti and mātauranga Māori

Melanie Mark-Shadbolt is of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Te Atiawa, Irish, Mackintosh and Gunn descent. She is an indigenous environmental advocate who is a co-founder and the CEO of Te Tira Whakamātaki, a Māori environmental not-for-profit and home of the Māori biosecurity network.

Melanie is a social scientist who specialises in understanding and applying mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) to biosecurity and biodiversity issues. She has a specific interest in decolonising ideologies of conservation and restoration in order to address injustices and harm caused to indigenous peoples and our planet. Her work has covered research in stakeholder values, attitudes and behaviours; social acceptability of management practices and risk communication; and the wider human dimensions of environmental health.

Shortlisted as a finalist of the Westpac Women of Influence awards in 2019, Melanie currently serves on a number of governance and advisory bodies including the boardsof Project Crimson, and B3 Better Border Biosecurity Collaboration Council, the Kauri Dieback & Myrtle Rust Strategic Science Advisory Group (SSAG), and Wallabyeradication governance group. She is committed to working with organisations who are committed to meeting their Treaty responsibilities and addressing indigenous rights.