Our Team

  • Dr Deborah Nias

    Deborah has led the pioneering work of the Murray Darling Wetlands Working Group for over 20 years. She believes good science with genuine community engagement should underpin natural resource management.

    She holds a PhD in carbon dynamics of floodplain wetlands from Monash University, is a Churchill Fellow and Peter Cullen Trust Fellow.

  • Sascha Healy

    Sascha is our Senior Environmental Water Manager with over 12 years experience in managing water in the Murray-Darling Basin. Sascha is passionate about responsible and sustainable environmental water management done in partnership with First Nations, community, government and other stakeholders.

    Sascha has a BSc and a BAppSci (Hons 1) and is an adjunct researcher with the Institute of Land, Water and Society (Charles Sturt University).

  • Sarah Ning

    Sarah is an Environmental Water Manager and has been with the group since 2012. She has 17 years’ experience in wetland management and community engagement, and coordinates the delivery of environmental water programs to wetlands in northern Victoria.

    Sarah was also responsible for coordination of the on-ground delivery program for the Murray Wetland Carbon Storage project on private property in NSW to restore wetlands to act as biodiverse carbon stores.

  • Jane White

    Jane White is an Environmental Water Manager with the MDWWG and has been with the group since 2022. Jane has a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Management and Ecology and over 10 years’ experience in wetland and land management in the Murray Darling Basin.

    Jane manages environmental watering and monitoring programs, and community engagement in NSW and VIC.

  • Simon Morris

    Simon is our Communications Manager. Simon is the Co-Founder of MUSUBI and has over 27 years of full integrated design and human experience thinking from around the world. A strategic thinker with an extensive amount of experience across international corporate identity development, package design, and spatial branding. Working with international clients such as Z-Energy, Tennis Australia, MCEC, Telstra, Westfield, Melbourne Airport, Elders, Bupa, Sydney Water and DELWP.

  • Jiarra Atkinson

    Ji is our Cultural Liaison Officer and is a proud Bangerang/Wiradjuri woman and an emerging leader of the Bangerang Nation. Ji is passionate about caring for country, environmental conservation and protection of cultural heritage.

    Ji formerly worked as a Cultural Liaison Officer for Trust for Nature Victoria and is currently a Director of Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Education (ACHE) which operates across her traditional home lands and country. .

    ©Manifeasto Photography

  • Maggie McDonald

    Maggie is an Environmental Water Manager and is passionate about building genuine relationships with community members, including First Nations peoples, to be able to deliver the best outcomes for local people and the environment. Hailing from a mixed farm in South Western NSW, the landscape and wetlands of NSW hold a special place in her heart.

    Maggie has experience working in natural resource management and community engagement in the Murray-Darling Basin and the Northern Territory.

    She has a BSc in Environmental Science from RMIT and is currently undertaking her Master's Degree.

our board

  • Ian Davidson

    Chair

    Ian’s background and extensive experience in natural resource management has plenty to offer the Working Group. Since 2002, he has run an independent environmental consultancy company in north-east Victoria, identifying conservation values and assisting land managers to maintain and enhance the environment and those and undertaking various research projects. His clients include local, state and commonwealth governments. Ian’s work has included wildlife management issues, research on remnant vegetation and recovery of endangered native birds. He has also worked with Greening Australia, running one of the first fencing incentive programs in Australia.

  • Judy Frankenberg Life Member

    Judy has been involved with the group since its first meeting in 1992. A retired ecologist with expertise in floodplain and wetland management (and also a farmer at Howlong), Judy maintained her involvement with the group because she saw it as ‘worthwhile’. In 2013, she explained that being involved with the group gave her great opportunity to make a difference and do something, not just talk or write about things. Until early-2018, Judy served as deputy chair of the company.

    Judy is a Life Member of MDWWG.

  • Kathryn Ridge

    Vice Chair

    Kathy has a long association with wetlands and water quality. Raised in New Guinea, Kathy developed a life-long commitment to protecting and conserving culture and nature. She began her career as a marine biologist but gained a law degree and started working with Aboriginal Elders to protect parts of coastal NSW from mining. In 1999, as executive officer of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Kathy began to take a more active interest in inland wetlands and rivers, through member groups Inland Rivers Network and the Coasts and Wetlands Society. She is currently the principal of Ridge and Associates, a legal firm in Sydney with a strong interest in environmental issues.

  • Jamie Woods

    Jamie is a Nari Nari man living on his Country at Gayini (Nimmie-Caira) in NSW. Jamie is a Nari Nari Tribal Council Delegate, Chair of Mawambul Co Management and member of the Hay Local Aboriginal Land Council Board. Jamie has extensive experience in water management, including the use of environmental water on Gayini and Toogimbie.

    The Nari Nari Tribal Council also owns and manages irrigated farmland, under the regenerative agriculture philosophy.

  • Adrian Wells

    Adrian retired from work in 2015 after 46 years of work in the Murray-Darling Basin in horticultural research and extension; the media; community development; rural education; and Local Government. As part of his jobs, he served on various local, state and commonwealth natural resource management committees and working parties. Adrian has an interest in communication, community engagement and history. Adrian currently chairs the Petaurus Education Group and was a member of the Landcare NSW Executive Committee and State Council.

  • David Harriss PSM

    David joined the board after a long and distinguished career in the NSW public service. David was the first chair of our predecessor, the former NSW Murray Wetlands Working Group Inc. between 1992 and 1995.

    At the same time, he rose through the key land and water agency in NSW to become the head of the NSW Office of Water. David retired from the public sector in 2014 and became a consultant.

  • James Forbes

    James is currently CEO at the Jane Goodall Institute Australia. Prior to this he held senior marketing and fundraising roles with the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, Nature Conservation Trust of NSW and WWF-Australia. Along with operating his own consulting business, Forbes Philanthropy & Marketing, James is a Senior Associate with Global Philanthropic, a leader in philanthropic fundraising with offices in Europe, Asia, Oceania and North America.

  • John Pettigrew

    John has a long history within the Goulburn Valley fruit industry as a grower and director of SPC Ltd. He served on various industry advisory boards and water service committees. In 2002, John was appointed to the boards of Goulburn-Murray Water and the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority. He has a keen interest in the environment and resource management and has extensive water policy experience.

  • Nick Lilley

    Nick is a corporate finance professional with over a decade of experience in raising capital for renewable energy projects in Australia and internationally. He has experience in the impact investment sector, having worked on the development of the Murray Darling Basin Balanced Water Fund. Nick’s focus is on the renewable energy and conservation sectors.

  • ©Manifeasto Photography

Patrons and advisory

  • Howard Jones OAM

    PATRON

    Howard was Chair of the Group from 1996-2017 and now Patron of the Group. His main occupation is as a viticulturist and he has an extensive understanding and knowledge of the irrigation industry. After spending much of his leisure time either on or near the water, Howard has witnessed the degradation of many wetland and floodplain systems. The decline of these ecosystems prompted Howard to become a pro-active community member and take an interest in the future management of wetlands and floodplains.

  • Dr Mike Maher

    ADVISOR

    Dr Mike Maher is a former Board Member and now advises the Group on project development and engagement in the Northern Basin. Mike retired from the NSW Government following a 40 year career spanning research, policy and management of inland wetlands. Mike brings to the MDWWG a deep understanding of Government, of environmental water management and of the rivers and wetlands of the northern Basin. He believes strongly in the value of partnerships for the successful conservation of natural resources.

  • Rene Woods

    ADVISOR

    Rene is a Nari Nari man from southwest New South Wales with a long involvement in securing rights to Land and Water for Aboriginal people including as Chair of Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations. Rene advises the Group on how to best engage with Traditional Owners in ways that are culturally appropriate. He is working at The Nature Conservancy as the Project Manager for Gayini Nimmie-Caira in southern New South Wales. He grew up on the Murrumbidgee where the river was always central to his family, his community and their way of life.

  • Bruce Donald

    ADVISOR

    Bruce Donald AM BA LLB, ANU; LLM Harvard advises the Group on legal matters. Bruce has practised for over 45 years in commercial and public law, media and environment law and indigenous rights. He has been partner of two leading commercial firms, advised indigenous landowners and was chief lawyer at the ABC. He has served as an Australian Heritage Commissioner and as Chair of the Environmental Defenders Office. In 2005, Bruce was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the law and the public interest.

  • Dr Ben Gawne

    ADVISOR

    Dr Ben Gawne is a former Board Member and now Observer. Ben was formerly the Manager of Science and Evaluation at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, responsible for making the best available information available to support implementation of the Basin Plan. Prior to this, Ben was Professor of Environmental Flows within the Institute of Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra. From 2002 to 2017 Ben was Director of the Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre, where he undertook research on the restoration of rivers and wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin.