MEET THE TEAM

Managing Director

Tim is a recognised leader in the Australian zoological industry and in conservation organisations worldwide. His working life has been dedicated to hands-on wildlife education and conservation. While Tim’s background includes over 20 years in the zoological community, resulting in him becoming a Co-Director of the Central Coast’s largest tourism attraction the Australian Reptile Park.

It is through his passion and knowledge of wildlife and ecology that saw Tim was recognized in 2015 when he was awarded the Australian Geographic Conservationist of the Year for his work and contribution in the conservation of the Tasmanian devil at Aussie Ark.  Tim is focused on outcomes and forming long lasting partnerships with reputable organizations with aligning objectives.

Director

Liz is curator of two facilities – the Australian Reptile Park, and Aussie Ark.  Liz is highly motivated and focused on the continuous improvement of the facilities she manages, the wider animal industry, and innovative conservation projects within Australia. Liz is integral to the Aussie Ark team bringing 15 years of experience in areas of native and exotic animal care and husbandry, exhibit design, various state and federal legislative processes, and WHS considerations.

She has exposure in a range of animal welfare positions and is the liaising representative for two AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service) facilities. She oversees the world-renowned venom production unit of the Australian Reptile Park, as well as the ongoing captive breeding program for the endangered Tasmanian devil and other species at Aussie Ark.

Conservation Manager

Hayley has over 20 years of experience with Australian native mammal, bird and reptile species with animal husbandry and welfare being her focus. Hayley graduated with a Bachelor of Science at Macquarie University. She began working in the zoological field when she was 17 years old, and quickly progressed into Management, specialising in Mammal and Bird husbandry, with strength in juvenile development and Koala Management.

Hayley has worked for various captive animal organisations beginning at the Australian Reptile Park, and while she widened her skills by also working at Wildlife Sydney, and Sydney Wonderland, she returned to the Reptile Park to oversee the entire life sciences department including animal welfare. Hayley was responsible for the implementation of a documented and through welfare assessment process at both the Reptile Park and Aussie Ark, and currently oversees all animal husbandry activities both insitu and exsitu that the Ark is involved in.

Operations Manager

Dean has 11 years of experience with Australian native mammals and birds species with customer service, animal husbandry and welfare and collection management focus. Dean started as a volunteer at The Australian Reptile Park, soon after moving to casual work in customer service, on the mammals section and at Devil Ark. In 2013 he became a full-time keeper at Devil Ark, then a supervisor and then the Manager of Devil Ark for 4 years. Dean then moved back to the Australian Reptile Park as Head of Mammals and Birds looking after The Australian Reptile Park mammals and birds collection, breeding, enclosure designs and managing 35 volunteers and 4 fulltime staff.

Dean has recently come back to Aussie Ark as Operations Manager and in his words “Love what you do and you’ll never work another day in your life.”

Curator

Kelly has worked in the animal industry for over 10 years.  She began her career volunteering at the Australian Reptile Park in the mammals section, which she continued doing for 8 years, offering herself for as many days a week as she could.  Kelly has always been a hard worker and showed a passion for the Tasmanian devil.  She undertook a Bachelor of Science at Macquarie University, double majoring in brain behaviour and evolution and biology, with first class honours. Kelly then went on to complete a Master of Research on Tasmanian devil behaviour.

Working at Devil Ark has always been Kelly’s dream, so when she was offered the position of Supervisor in 2017 she couldn’t be happier.  In her words “I have the best job in the world!”

Partnerships & Sponsorships Director

Jo is a media and publishing expert with 24 years of experience. She was previously the Managing Director of Australian Geographic and the director/chair of the Australian Geographic Society. She has a passion for nature, conservation, and Australian animals. Jo believes in the power of media and technology to educate people about the environment. She has been involved in various conservation and animal welfare organisations. Jo’s leadership helped Australian Geographic adapt to the digital age while staying true to its mission. She is respected in her field and has made significant contributions to the media, publishing, and conservation sectors.

Jo is excited to join the passionate and dedicated team at Aussie Ark and to be a part of Aussie Arks ambitious mission; changing the trajectory for and delivering tangible outcomes for our endangered species.

Fundraising & Marketing Manager

Chelsea has worked across both Aussie Ark and the Australian Reptile Park for over 5 years, with much experience in marketing, fundraising, and accounting. Ever since she was little, she has always had a love for wildlife. She has a deep passion for saving Australian threatened species and is dedicated to making a difference. Chelsea is particularly successful in communicating and building strong relationships with donors, ensuring that everyone feels part of the Aussie Ark family.

She is grateful to be in a team of passionate individuals who are changing the trajectory of Australian wildlife and can’t wait to see what her future holds with Aussie Ark. “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”

Media & Content Coordinator

Toni has worked in the media industry for over 30 years. She specialises in wildlife and social documentary, and has numerous broadcast and independent credits including script-writer, editor, director and camera. This includes production with the ABC, BBC, Smithsonian Institute, National Geographic and Northern Pictures on award-winning projects. Toni is also an experienced journalist and published fiction writer, whose passion for wildlife informs all her work.

Toni is thrilled to join the Aussie Ark team and help further the organisation’s outreach and profile in her media role. As Australia’s unique animals continue to face the nation’s ‘extinction crisis’, Toni feels Aussie Ark is a rare conservation organisation that shows measurable, daily results for our wildlife. She feels privileged to be part of that journey.

Committee of Management Member

Caroline works for the IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group (CPSG) as a conservation planning facilitator and wildlife population modeller and is Co-Convener of CPSG for Australasia. For over thirty years, CPSG has supported diverse groups of stakeholders to plan the conservation of threatened species. In 2016, at the request of the SSC Chair, CPSG took up the challenge of facilitating an increase in the SSC’s involvement in planning, with a focus on responding to the needs of governments as they work to conserve and protect their biodiversity. Through the taskforce Caroline will help to maintain a connection between CPSG’s species planning advice, tool development and capacity building work, and the higher-level strategic advice being developed by the IUCN SSC to inform the CBD’s post-2020 agenda for global species conservation.

Committee of Management Member

Scott is a chartered accountant with more than 17 years accounting experience specialising in the provision of compliance, tax and advisory services to private business owners. Scott worked for 10 years in Sydney CBD chartered accounting firms and in commercial roles in multinational companies based in London.

Scott is a founding partner of Kelly + Partners Central Coast.

Committee of Management Member

Matt is the Director of Symbio Wildlife Park and has led the business through the transition of the last 10 years. He has designed a number of award-winning exhibits and facilities within Symbio and consistently aims for very high standards across all facets of the business.

Matt has been successful in applying for state and federal government funding a number of times, and was recognised as Young Business Executive of the Year for the Illawarra Business Awards in 2015.

Matt was instrumental in the partnership between Aussie Ark and Symbio Wildlife Park, and brings a wealth of knowledge in captive animal management and business operation to the Committee of Management.

Committee of Management Member

For over 30 years Brad Walker has dedicated his life to fauna & flora and has extensive herpetology, reptile, amphibian and captive animals background. Brad is the Director of Global Wildlife Training  & Senior trainer and assessor NTM National Training Masters as well as being a  member of the Australian Society of Zookeeping Society (ASZK) and has worked closely with dasyurids, with a focus on tiger quolls. Brad has had an extensive background in Animal Ethics for the past 20 years and has fulfilled the Category C member (Welfare representative) on three separate Animal Ethics committees.

Brad worked at Featherdale Wildlife Park for 18 years as the Senior Curator managing 2,500 animals and 30 staff. An important part of his role was collection management and working with threatened species. After leaving Featherdale he worked as a part-time teacher for the Animal Science section before accepting the Head Teachers position of Animal Science at Richmond College of TAFE NSW. His portfolio included co-ordinating all compliance as a registered training organization, animal welfare, ethics regulations and compliance matters. Brad is qualified in Captive Animals Certificate III and IV, has a Dip Ed VET, is a qualified landscape and exhibit designer with a Diploma in Landscape Design amongst many other industry skills.

Aussie Ark Patron

Paul was the Science and Policy Manager at Aussie Ark. This followed a 20 year career as curator at Taronga Zoo and, most recently, two years in Ha Noi volunteering for local NGOs.

Paul served on the Australasian Species Management Program (ASMP) Committee, including the role of Chair, been Convener of the Reptile TAG, and has overseen several native species as Co-ordinator in the Zoo and Aquarium Association of Australia (ZAA) where he remains Taxonomy Advisor and International Co-ordinator for Koala.

Paul’s interests were meta-population management and the rhetoric of welfare. With regard to meta-populations Paul was a member of Conservation Planning Specialist Group and currently Chair of the Bilby Meta-population Working Group. The interest in the rhetoric of welfare stemmed from a year doing a research Masters at Melbourne University and centres on how to value the life of an animal.

Aussie Ark Patron

Bruce Kubbere studied Australian fauna from his early childhood and with his vision and commitment to promoting Australian fauna to the public, opened Featherdale Wildlife Park in 1972. In the early years, Bruce and his wife Margaret, operated a plant nursery in conjunction with the Wildlife Park. This still remains today with beautiful Australian native trees and plants lining the walkways and throughout the enclosures as a legacy of the park’s history.

Bruce’s knowledge and experience in wildlife management is extensive and he has been a long term and passionate supporter of the Ark since its inception in 2011.