meet the Barung team

barung landcare management committee

Ian McMaster

President

Ian has had a varied business career, firstly in the steel industry, then in the sugar industry, and finally as chairman and independent director of several companies, mainly in the mining sector. Having fully retired, Ian now devotes much of his time and energy to conservation. 

Ian and his wife Chrissie live on Mount Mellum, on a 100ha property that they had gazetted as a Nature Refuge. Both of them are passionate about native plants, and have a broad interest in the ecological systems they care for. 

Ian is a past president of Native Plants Queensland, and is past President of Barung Landcare, and has been instrumental in supporting Barung to gain clarity on its vision and to design an organisational structure that will set Barung up for success.

Suzie Haddock

Vice President

Suzie is an avid conservationist and has worked in conservation in Australia and the United Kingdom since 1979. She is a manager and experience researcher with expertise in education, customer experience and design.  She is currently a Service Design Manager with The University of Queensland. Suzie has participated on several Boards and Associations and has held positions in other not-for-profit organisations including Taronga, Melbourne and London Zoos, and TAFE NSW, as well as CBA and IAG. Her main interest has been in ecosystems that support diverse fauna.

Suzie lives on a 1 acre property in Witta and is proud to have 3 species of bats (about 2,000) calling her land home for 7 months of the year. When she is not painting,  visiting the local markets, or cooking for friends, she can be found pottering in her vegetable garden, or regenerating her rainforest with her husband Joe.

Suzie is keen to work with Barung to attain its vision of greater natural diversity in the Hinterland landscape, both rural and urban.

Mandy Lupton

Secretary

Mandy’s passion for the environment was inspired by her childhood in Bega on Yuin country, far south coast of NSW. In the 90s she was custodian of a beautiful 4-hectare bush property on the banks of Wapengo Lake near Tathra, NSW. Mandy moved to her property at Reesville on Jinibara country in 2019, and in 2020 she joined Gardens for Wildlife and started revegetating her 3000m2 property. 

Mandy has a PhD in education and worked for many years as a university academic in education and librarianship. In other former lives she was a high school music teacher, teacher-librarian, and academic librarian. Mandy is now semi-retired and works casually at the Maleny Library. One of her hobbies is local history, and she is currently researching land use and revegetation in the Maleny area.

Geoff Holmes

Treasurer

Geoff has lived in the Maleny area for over 15 years and has been a member of Barung since September 2006. Geoff and his wife Yvonne (who is also actively involved in sustainability initiatives in the community), have a 1.5 acre property at Bald Knob where they are working to reduce invasive weeds and replace them with suitable local species. During the 1990s they participated as volunteer growers for the ‘Trees for Life’ seedlings program in South Australia. Through this program, Geoff enjoyed linking up with farmers who were planting their seedlings.

Geoff comes to Barung with a wealth of experience in the banking sector, and now that he is retired he has become more involved in Barung Landcare activities here on the Blackall Range.

Rachael Donovan

Committee Member

Rachael has an academic background in international development and environmental management, having worked in the public and not-for-profit sector in Australia and India for the past two decades. Her area of passion and expertise lies in the connection between environmental issues and social justice and protecting the rights of both people and the planet.

She has worked as the Assistant Director of an NGO in north-west India for 5 years, in the areas of health, sustainability, education and economic development. On returning to Australia in 2016 she worked in remote parts of Arnhem Land, delivering vocational qualifications in Conservation and Land Management with Indigenous youth. Since 2017 she has  worked in systems change in both the government and non-government sectors to ensure that people’s voices are heard and used to inform government policy and practice.  Most recently she was the Manager of Nambour Community Centre, and now works part time as a consultant for Community Praxis Co-op. 

Rachael is passionate about strengthening and supporting people, communities and environments through collaboration, partnership, dialogue and action. She lives with her husband on a 1 acre property close to Mary Cairncross reserve. She loves nature, bush walking, swimming, yoga and a good coffee. 🙂

Peter Johnson

Committee Member

Peter’s background is in physics and electronics, working in Antarctica for several years as a scientist, electronics technician, and weather observer while also working on his Phd.
 
His Phd work studied methods of determining soil moisture levels for agriculture. Prior to this he gained an honours degree in atomic physics and working in an atomic physics laboratory.
 
His interests have been in software/electronics/hardware systems for machine control.
 
In 1986 Peter and his partner Rosie purchased a 40 hectare steep block in the Peachester area comprising rainforest and open Eucalypt forest which had been selectively logged. They eventually moved onto the block in 2012. Over a period of time several small cleared areas have been revegetated and some areas of Groundsel and Lantana removed. 
 
Peter now brings his interest for the environment to the Barung Landcare committee.
Alan Harrington

Committee Member

Moving to Conondale in 1993, Alan and his wife Mary have been highly active in the community over the years. Alan spent much of his working life in the public sector working for the ATO (Australian Tax Office) and was instrumental in developing and implementing the PAYG system in Australia. Alan also worked closely with the Federal Police in their investigations of high-level criminal offences against the tax office. After winding up with the ATO Alan transferred his skills to running his own business in partnership with Mary and once in the Maleny area, he supported the Upfront Club and Maple Street Co-op (of which he was manager for a period of time).

Alan’s latest contributions have been towards the financial operations of Barung Landcare, as previous Treasurer, he remains on the committee to support ongoing operations, in particular the delivery of the Maleny Wood Expo.

Barbara Kelly

Committee Member

Barbara first became concerned about the environmental impact of land clearing in the 70s when she majored in Geography at UQ and lived on a farm at Nanango. Barbara went on to spend 30 years with Education Queensland as a secondary school Deputy Principal and teacher prior to planting a small olive grove with her husband Glynn and running a successful tourist and accommodation business in the Scenic Rim until 2020.

During extended drought periods they realised how difficult native revegetation of some areas has become as they struggled to get the native species they planted to thrive. Barbara moved back to the Sunshine Coast with her husband and settled in Maleny in 2020.

Barbara has joined the Barung committee as she wishes to become more actively involved in promoting the work of Barung Landcare in whatever way she can, drawing on her management and business experience. She is passionate about revegetation and, as well as volunteering at the Porters Lane nursery one day a week, is currently working to revegetate her family’s 64 hectare vine scrub forest property at Nanango.

barung landcare staff

Doug Evans

General Manager

doug@barunglandcare.org.au

Charlotte Pond

Accounts Officer

 charlotte@barunglandcare.org.au

Amber Rivalland

Administration Officer

amber@barunglandcare.org.au

Megan Lee

Education & Communications Officer

megan@barunglandcare.org.au

Cam Burton

Nurseries Manager

 cam@barunglandcare.org.au

Wayne Webb

Production Nursery Manager

wayne@barunglandcare.org.au

Maia Stegman

Nursery Assistant

maia@barunglandcare.org.au

Trevour Pitt

Nursery Projects Officer

trevour@barunglandcare.org.au

Kate Seehuusen

Natural Area Services Manager

kate@barunglandcare.org.au

Christy Samorowski

Projects Coordinator

christy@barunglandcare.org.au

Sarah Dixon

Project Officer

sarah@barunglandcare.org.au

Will Parker

Skilling QLD Coordinator

will@barunglandcare.org.au

 

OUR QUALIFICATIONS

Barung Landcare staff have various qualifications, licences and inductions which include the following:

Bachelors degrees –

  • Science
  • Land Management
  • Coastal Science
  • Environmental Science
  • Applied Science
  • Arts

Certifications including –

  • Chainsaw Level 1 & 2
  • Construction card (White card)
  • Commercial operator’s licence for using herbicides (ACDC)

Certificate in Conservation and Land Management –

      1, 2, 3 and 4

Certificate in Horticulture –

      2, 3 and 4

Graduate Certificate –

  • Environmental Management
  • Sustainability

Diplomas –

  • Conservation and Land Management
  • Business
  • Applied Science
  • Project Management

Fauna Spotter / Catcher certificate

HLTAID009 Provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation

HLTAID010 Provide basic emergency life support

HLTAID011 Provide first aid

HLTFA311A Apply first aid

Safety and site induction certificates from –

  • Sunshine Coast Council
  • Moreton Bay Regional Council
  • Noosa Council
  • Unity Water
  • SEQ Water

Barung Landcare holds a number of current licences, certifications and policies including:

Ground Distribution Contractor Licence (ACDC) no.GDC343

ISO certifications  –

  • ISO 9001: 2015 quality management systems
  • ISO 14001:2015 ENvironmental management systems
  • AS/NZS 4801:2001 occupational health and safety management systems

Up to date insurances including – 

  • Public Liability 
  • Association Liability
  • Work Cover
  • Personal Accident
  • Landcare Activities