Tammy is a brilliant role model who delivers a refreshing and exciting message, which emphasises opportunity, hard work and success.

"Tammy van Wisse was SIMPLY FANTASTIC! A wonderful inspiration and great example of what can be achieved with a determined approach!."

Deb Bye from Life FM Interviews Tammy Van Wisse - Click Here to Listen

Click Here for More Information on Tammy

• Currently Director, River Health Branch and Principal Scientist, Environmental Flows and River Health in the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
  
• Worked for 17 years on environmental issues in the water sector.
  
• Deals with state policy on the management of river health including issues of environmental flows, water quality, riparian and catchment management.
  
• Responsible for the development the Victorian River Health Strategy and worked on the White Water Paper
• PhD in zoology from the University of Melbourne.

Pam has a passionate interest and commitment to environmental improvement. She has over twenty year's broad experience in the Waste Management Industry, particularly in the development and implementation of practical waste minimisation strategies for a broad range of industry sectors.

Pam has a commitment to social, economic and environmental decision making to ensure the ongoing success of an organisation, its people and the environment.

Currently Pam is on the Gippsland Water Board, the Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Board, is an Executive Member of the Waste Management Association of Australia (Victorian Branch), the Australian Representative for the International Solid Waste Association Healthcare Waste Working Group and is joint Managing Director of both a well-respected Waste/Environment Management Consultancy business and an innovative Education and Training Company.

Dr Godden teaches at the Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne with post graduate qualifications in law and geography. She has developed a post graduate course in water resources law.

Her research specialization is in the field of environmental / property law and the manner in which regulation of the natural world within Australia has changed over time.

Current water law and policy reform represent one of the major changes to regulation of the natural world, so water law has become an increasing focus of research for Dr Godden.

In addition to local water law research, Dr Godden has conducted comparative research on water law in Australia and South Africa.

Dr Paul Sinclair is the Director of the Healthy Rivers Campaign at Environment Victoria. He is also a Director of Waterkeepers Australia and an honorary Research Fellow at the Australian Centre, University of Melbourne.

Paul's interest in water and rivers has been inspired by his years growing up in a country town in northern Victorian that relied on the supply of irrigation water and was surrounded by some of the most degraded rivers and landscapes in Australia.

Paul has worked in rural communities in Western New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria as a writer, environmental educator, researcher and campaigner. His book The Murray: A River and its People was published by Melbourne University Press.

Terry has more than 17 years' experience in water resource management in the Macalister Irrigation District. His work at Southern Rural Water and the rural water industry has been predominantly in Operations - the management and delivery of water to customers.

He started as a Field Officer where he developed an intimate knowledge of our business, distribution channels, infrastructure and customers in all ten sections of the District. As a Planner he was responsible for reviewing all customers' orders for the week, scheduling deliveries to maximise the flow of water in our channels and meeting our service delivery standards.

In 2000, Terry became Project Officer for the Nutrient Reduction Program. He was responsible for implementing a number of initiatives to reduce flows and nutrient discharge from our drains. By working together with the Environment Protection Authority Victoria, other Government agencies and irrigators, the Government's target to reduce phosphorous load by 40% by June 2005 was achieved by 30 June 2004.

In addition to this work on the Nutrient Reduction Program, Terry was appointed Operations Co-ordinator in 2002. He supervises a team of 24 Field Officers and is responsible for the management and delivery of water to customers. As part of the Total Channel Control project implementation team, he ensures that our staff understand the changes and challenges that this project will create. He is currently implementing a training program for them.

Terry is the man to ask if you want to know what's happening, when and where.

Jurgen Schaeffer has a degree in Geology from RMIT, a MSc from the University of Wollongong, is currently undertaking a part time PhD at the University of Melbourne where he is creating a detailed groundwater model for the Gippsland Basin and researching artificial recharge of the aquifer systems within the Latrobe Valley.

Jurgen has been involved with mining and infrastructure projects throughout Australasia and has experience in coal, bauxite, basemetal and groundwater projects.

In 1992 he became a founding Director of Geo-Eng Australia and was involved with the development of the company from a small specialist geotechnical group of 15 staff, serving the Victorian Coal Mines, to a multidisciplinary Geo-Engineering Company serving the Mining, Water, and Infrastructure Industries. In 2002 Geo-Eng merged with GHD, where Jurgen provides technical direction in the areas of geology and groundwater.

He is past president of the Victorian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists and member of the Walhalla Board of Management.

He is a member of the Geological Society of Australia, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a Fellow of the Gippsland Community Leadership Program.

Cheryl has 30 years operational and management experience in the waste management industry in both family companies and publicly listed multi-national companies

Currently Chairman, Melbourne Water Corporation and EcoRecycle Victoria an advisory panel member of the Victorian Government's Sustainability Fund and for the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability and a trustee for the Sustainable Melbourne Fund.

Formerly Director, City West Water and Chair of the Board Environmental Committee and Director, Southern Rural Water (State Government Rural Water Board) and Member of Board Technical & Environment Committee and Council Member, Environment Protection Authority (Victoria)

Formerly Panel Chair for the Ministerial Review of the Regional Waste Management Groups, Co Deputy Chair of the Ministerial Hazardous Waste Siting Committee, Panel Member of the Ministerial Commonwealth Games Advisory Panel (Environment) and Director (Non Executive), Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for Waste Management and Pollution Control

Member of EPA's Neighbourhood Environment Improvement Plan Advisory Committee

Facilitator - VicTrack Spotswood Community Liaison Forum, Plastic and Chemical Industry Association (PACIA) - Community Advisory Panel, Cleanaway Tullamarine Community Consultative Committee and Marstel Community Liaison Group

Involved in community-industry liaison as a practitioner since 1987, running training programs about business and environmental issues for industry and regulators about "Business and the Environment Agenda" (run at EPA, EcoRecycle Victoria and ANU in Canberra)

A member of the Victorian Farmers Federation (and former General Councillor) and Rotarian.

Senior Manager - Special Projects reporting directly to Head of ANZ Rural Bank

Tom has worked for the ANZ Banking Group for 39 years and has a sound understanding of the banking/financial industry. He was a senior relationship manager for many years and has an appreciation of the customers perspective.

Tom has been involved with ANZ's work on water separation since mid 2003 and working with its lawyers, consultants and State Government departments. His role has seen concentration to date on Queensland and NSW where separation has occurred already in some areas.

Frankie MacLennan is a mother, farming partner, public servant and student. She and her husband Graeme manage a family farm on the Gippsland coast raising bull beef and fine wool Merinos.

Landcare became a major focus for the MacLennans in the 80's and 90's, with major remnant protection and revegetation works both on the farm and in the Woodside district and beyond.

Frankie has worked part-time in Trust for Nature and in the Land for Wildlife program. Since 1998, she has worked full time in the Farmsmart Property Management Planning program and more recently in sustainable regional development, community development and community engagement where she is now statewide project leader for the Department of Sustainability and Environment and the Department of Primary Industry's Community Engagement Network.

She is Assistant Secretary, Liberty Victoria and represents Liberty in discussions with DFAT and Treasury on trade issues; Committee Member of the Law Institute Administrative Law and Human Rights Committee, and the International law Committee; Committee member of the International Centre on Trade Union Rights and a Member of the United Nations Association of Victoria.

Anne is about to commence a PhD on the investor-state provisions under bilateral trade agreements and how they impact on the state and public/human rights. She has a longstanding interest in trade issues, in particular, how they impact on ordinary members of the community, whether workers, farmers, or families, and on the public provision of essential services such as health, education and water.

Vicki Ratliff is the director of the Victorian Team within the Australian Government Natural Resource Management Team. She has responsibility for implementing the Natural Heritage Trust and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality in Victoria, in partnership with the Victorian government NAP/NHT office.

Vicki was previously co-director of the NSW Team, with responsibility for implementing the two programs in NSW. Prior to that she worked on implementing the framework for the Natural Heritage Trust through bilateral agreements and initial procedures.

Before becoming involved in natural resource, Vicki worked on air quality issues including development of national fuel quality and vehicle emission standards and pollution control measure for diesel vehicles, and was the environment department representative on the government's Fuel Taxation Inquiry.

Fiona is the acting Manager of Water Policy and Reform in the Natural Resource Management Business Unit of the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry. Fiona's current focus is on furthering water policy reform to ensure sustainable use and management of Australia's water resources.

Over the past 10 years Fiona has been working on a range of issues within the Department including the development of the National Water Initiative, deregulation of the Australian dairy industry, the privatisation of the Australian Wheat Board and exceptional circumstances assistance.

Debbie joined the ABC in 1986 after working in Christian Community Radio for 4 years. Debbie made a strong impression in Gippsland in her role as broadcaster/Manager at the ABC’s Gippsland regional office in Sale, where she encouraged a clear focus on regional issues.

Debbie played a key role in establishing a radio studio on campus at the University of Central Queensland, where she tutored electronic journalism, and was also studying journalism, communication and psychology.

Her work has been publicly recognised by the conferring of several prizes for journalism. Two University Prizes from UCQ, High Commendation in the Order of Australia Media Awards in 1995 for a radio series on the Sale RSL’s 75th Anniversary, a 1999 Victorian Community and Local History Award for a radio series on the Omeo Oriental Goldfields and in 2003 Debbie shared Overall Winner of the Victorian Community and History Awards with author AnneSynan for their work on the West Sale Migrants History which resulted in a book "We Came With Nothing" and Debbie's radio series "Footprints In The Tar".

Since leaving the ABC, Debbie has started her own business - Manna Media - through which she conducts media workshops, facilitates meetings, records audio histories and performs general voiceover work.

Following a period as the CEO of the City of Port Phillip Ms Dunn has returned to her consulting practice, working in the areas of chairing, facilitation, mediation, community consultation and organisational development.

She works extensively in the fields of rural and regional issues, local government, public sector planning and currently is the Chair of the Commonwealth Government Regional Women's Advisory Council.

She remains a practicing community artist.

Sylvia Admans is the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR).

Ms. Admans has over 21 years of management experience in the community, public and private sector.

As head of FRRR, Ms. Admans has established alliances with communities large and small throughout Australia. She has also been responsible for developing specialised programs for smaller rural communities living in drought or living in isolation. These programs have been enormously popular and struck a real chord with communities that can often be forgotten.

The organisation has made a big impact on rural and regional Australia allocating more than $4.3m in approved grants to rural communities, as well as providing professional support for information services, brokerage, advocacy and funding.

Before joining FRRR, Ms. Admans was Manager of Charitable Services at the ANZ Bank and an Adviser to Philanthropy Australia. As well as working in the philanthropic sector, Sylvia has also worked with the Federal Government and Local Government. She is a qualified librarian.

Ms. Admans was recently appointed to the high-ranking Regional Women's Advisory Council, which provides advice to the Deputy Prime Minister. She also works on various Boards within her local community.

Sylvia has built the concept of FRRR into an innovative and vibrant organisation that has earned the respect of the entire sector. She believes she is most fortunate to be able to combine her professional expertise in the role with her great love of rural Australia.

Sylvia Admans is a country girl, having grown up in northern NSW on a farming and grazing property near Yetman. Her career has taken her to Canberra and Melbourne. She now lives with her family in Bendigo where FRRR has its national headquarters.

Dr Peter Cock is senior lecturer at the Graduate School of Environmental Science at Monash University.

He has an interest in expanding the natural ecology model of environmental science to include Social and Sacred ecology principles and to expand community capacity to ensure effective community engagement.

Not content with mere academic contemplation however, Peter demonstrated his commitment to these principles by becoming a co-founding member of the Mora Mora community at Healsville