POA PATRON
TRENT ZIMMERMANN
A long-time advocate for environmental issues Trent Zimmerman was a former Member for North Sydney in the Australian Parliament where he served between 2015 and 2022 as Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport and led several major inquiries into aspects of the Australian health system. In Parliament, he was a strong advocate on climate and environment issues, innovation, health and as the first openly gay Member of the House of Representatives, LGBTI+ issues.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
RICKI HERSBURGH
Ricki is a dynamic executive manager with over 25 years’ experience in environmental sustainability, waste resource management and the not-for-profit sector. An avid ocean lover, Ricki is passionate to imbue generational change to ensure our blue planet can endure the ongoing impact of human activity on aquatic life.
THE BOARD
TONY DE DOMENICO OAM
Chairman
Tony is an experienced director and a highly skilled negotiator. He is a strong business professional and was previously a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly.
ALEX FEARNSIDE
Director
Alex is a collaborative enterprise specialist with twenty years experience in environmental advocacy and executive management in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
JANALINE
OH
Director
Janaline is a former diplomat and international negotiator, with leadership, policy and legal skills and experience. She is passionate about the environment and determined to leave her children a better planet than the one she inherited.
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FIONA
FREEMAN
Director
Fiona Freeman is an executive advisor, specialising in People and Culture with 20+ years of global experience across diverse industry sectors including Fintech, Investment and Corporate Banking, Insurance and Telecommunications.
Fiona has held c-suite level executive roles working throughout the Asia Pacific region, North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom.
JAYNE
PARAMOR
Director
Jayne has a 25-year international background across the corporate, government and NFP sectors, with more than a decade focused on environmental sustainability.
She is a passionate advocate for nature, above and below the water and has spent the last five years primarily focused on marine plastic pollution, plastic packaging, waste, recycling and the global circular economy for plastics.
BUSINESS TEAM
WEI HENG CHAN
EPIC Program Facilitator
Wei Heng completed a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science at the University of Melbourne and has experience delivering sustainability projects in the local government sector. He is passionate about empowering the community through science and education to lead more sustainable lifestyles.
ALIEENA MATHEW
EPIC Program Researcher
Alieena is a PhD candidate at Griffith University conducting research under the umbrella of Social Marketing. She is passionate about environmental sustainability and hopes that her research will add positively to this space. Alieena believes strongly in the power of the bottom-up approach – engaging with end-users to find community-led solutions to complex problems.
KERRY
TOZER
EPIC Procurement Officer
Originally an industrial designer with a passion for embedding sustainable design into a product or system, Kerry has a Masters in Environmental Management from UNSW and is an APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional. With 20+ years' professional experience across contract management, manufacturing, distribution and strategic projects, her focus has always been on championing sustainable supply chain practices in multiple industry sectors.
DAVID
JULZSTERN
EPIC Data Analytics Officer
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David has a Masters in Renewable and Sustainable Energy from Murdoch University and has 25+ years of experience in operations, leadership and systems management across the Defence and Energy sectors. David is passionate about the oceans and their environment, his main focus being the technology and process for reducing the impact of greenhouse gases and plastic pollution. LinkedIn page.
EDUCATION TEAM
RHIANNON ANDERSON
Education Officer
Rhiannon has an array of teaching experience in the primary education sector and in environmental education programs. She has developed, delivered and managed innovative education programs for all ages, focusing on connection to nature and the desire to conserve nature. She believes that time spent within nature and learning through nature is paramount to caring for and considering nature in our daily lives.’
GAVIN
LI
Education Ambassador
Gavin is currently studying Science/Engineering Graduate Degree Package at the University of Melbourne. He has been personally and academically passionate about bringing change to the people around him and the broader community to live more sustainable lifestyles through the field of STEM.
NEW ZEALAND CHAPTER
MANJULA
SICKLER
New Zealand Representative
Manjula is the founder of Green Global Solutions Aotearoa. She has a background in finance with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland. Manjula is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has held senior leadership roles. For the past 20 years she has been working in the New Zealand public health sector leading environmental strategies.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
NICOLA
TSIOLIS
Marketing Officer
Nicola is a recent graduate of a Bachelor of Marine Science at Deakin University. She is passionate about our beautiful Ocean and our Blue Planet, sustainability and the importance of investing in a circular economy. She is committed through her daily practises and working with different organisations and people from all walks of life, to encourage self connection to nature, as well as educating, advocating and taking action on the very real universal issues we all, including our Blue Planet face.
SHRIYA
CHAWLA
Marketing Officer
Shriya is a third-year Commerce student at Monash University. She is majoring in Marketing Science with a minor in Sustainability. Shriya is passionate about sustainability and the environment and has been involved in university student groups tackling sustainability issues on the university campus. In the future, she wants to bring change by supporting communities transition to a sustainable world
OPERATIONS
TERESA
DOMINIK
Student Mentor Coordinator
Teresa has 30 years’ experience in local government including 10 years in South Africa, as well as seven years’ experience as a secondary school geography and humanities teacher. Teresa is passionate about building strong partnerships and the integration of social, environmental and economic systems.
IMANUEL
ROCCA
Web/IT Manager
Imanuel has matured more than 3+ years of experience working in web design and branding. He is passionate about sustainability and circular economy and sees working with POA as a great way to make a real impact.
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SIMONE
HAIGH
Grant Writer
Simone has a Bachelor of Applied Science from Southern Cross University, majoring in Natural Resource Management, and has worked extensively in the not-for-profit sector in land management and wetland and biodiversity conservation. She is enjoying working with POA using this knowledge and experience to help contribute to solving the plastic crisis and work toward a healthier ocean, earth and climate for both her, and everyone’s, children.
THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY PANEL
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DR CHARLENE
TRESTRAIL
Water Pollution Researcher, University of Technology Sydney
Charlene is an award-winning scientist at the University of Technology Sydney. She works to understand how pollution affects marine animals and plants, and has 6 years’ of experience researching the effects of microplastics. Charlene is passionate about using science to empower people to make sustainable choices that conserve marine ecosystems for future generations.
LUKE
VAN DER BEEKE
Founder, The Behaviour Change Collaborative
Luke is the Founder of The Behaviour Change Collaborative, a social enterprise that uses a multidisciplinary approach to address health, social and environmental challenges. Over the past 20 years, he has delivered behaviour change programs, training and advice to government, industry and non-profit organisations across numerous policy areas.
DR PAUL
HARVEY
Technical Advisory Panel Coordinator
Dr Paul Harvey is an award-winning environmental scientist, science communicator, speak and author of the Plasticology Project.
Paul coordinates Plastic Oceans Australasia Technical Advisory Panel which focusses on science related waste and marine protection. In addition to being a prominent scientist, Paul is a familiar face in the media. He has regularly contributed to the discussion on environmental matters as a commentator for Al Jazeera English News, Channel 7, Sunrise, ABC Radio, and many more. Paul is known for being engaging, entertaining and thought provoking. Paul has also been featured in the New Scientist, COSMOS magazines and others.
PROF MARK
HAMANN
Professor, College of Science & Engineering, James Cook University
Mark Hamann is a researcher, lecturer, and Professor in commentary at James Cook University. His research is focussed on how animals and their habitats are impacted by human use of marine environments, and the human dimensions related to marine species management. He has an extensive history of collaboration with researchers in Australia and overseas and published across a variety of scientific fields.
DR JANE
WILLIAMSON
Marine ecologist biologist, Associate Professor, Macquarie University
Jane has over 30 years of experience assessing the healthy functioning of our oceans and understanding the human-induced challenges they face. She has a particular focus on threatened species and biodiversity. Jane is Chair of the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee and sits on the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. She is committed to reducing plastic impacts on our oceans by integrating scientific knowledge into management decision making.
PROF DAVID
BOOTH
Professor of Marine Ecology, University of Technology Sydney
David Booth has published over 160 papers in reef-fish ecology, climate change and other anthropogenic impacts on fishes and fisheries, in the Caribbean, Hawaii, Great Barrier Reef, New South Wales coast, and studies how tropical fish travel down the East Australian Current past Sydney. He is also a strong advocate of sustainable fisheries and marine parks. He is a prominent researcher on the effects of climate change on marine biota, and recently lead author on a climate change report on temperate fishes.
BRIAN
PINKMAN
Senior Sustainability Advisor, CPB Construction
Brian Pinkman works as a Senior Sustainability Advisor for CPB Construction. He graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from University of Illinois and recently completed his Master’s degree of Environmental Science from University of Melbourne. Brian’s experience is in major infrastructure projects promoting and implementing sustainability initiatives and outcomes.
STEVE
MASON
Senior Environmental Engineer, Arup
With experience in project advisory, engineering design, environmental approvals and project implementation, Steve has a history of building relationships across a variety project teams, and using this to drive positive outcomes and successful project delivery. Steve has particular interest in the coastal and marine environments where much of his work is focused.