Chairperson

​

Since moving to the Northern Rivers in 2019, Hedy has been volunteering on the dunes with Ballina Coastcare. She is currently the Chair of Richmond Landcare Inc. Being connected to grassroots action and the natural environment is central to her sense of purpose and place.

Hedy is semi-retired and keeps her hand in lecturing in contemporary leadership and contributing to research into curriculum development and disaster resilience. She has a diverse background with formative experiences working in natural resource management, vertebrate pest management, exotic disease preparedness, catchment management and Landcare in the 1980s and 1990s; coordinating the establishment of the Australian Wildlife Health Network in 2002.

Her favourite plant is the grevillea because of its attraction to birds, while on the dunes it’s the coastal banksia – Banksia integrifolia. Hedy's other passion is bushwalking.

Vice-Chairperson

Treasurer

​

Alan Larsen is retired and lives at Wollongbar with his wife Helen. He grew up on an orchard/market garden in Bay of Plenty, NZ. He has four children and three grandchildren.

Alan has had a varied career working initially as a forester in Rotorua NZ, after completing a Bachelor of Forestry Science at Canterbury University. Alan worked in the NZ forestry sector as a forest manager and consultant. He travelled widely throughout NZ and Australia and on international consulting assignments for Asian Development Bank, UNDP, Commonwealth Secretariat, and NZ Foreign Affairs. Later in his career he worked in international marketing for NZ forestry corporations, again travelling widely internationally. 

Later Alan worked in business banking in Auckland, before shifting to Rockhampton Queensland and setting up accounting and financial planning businesses in Rockhampton and Gladstone.

Alan developed a strong social, spiritual, and environmental focus throughout his career, and into retirement phase. He has led several environmental campaigns in NZ and Rockhampton. He has been a board member for Anglicare Central Queensland, Mission to Seafarers (Gladstone), and the Tanyalla Community Center.  Throughout his time in Rockhampton Alan sat on the Anglican Diocese Bishop in Council. After retiring in 2000, Alan and his wife shifted to Northern Rivers. He attends the  Anglican Church in Alstonville, and led the project to set up community gardens at the  Church. He has been recruited to the Committees of Ballina for Refugees, and Richmond Landcare. He is a keen gardener and enjoys contributing to community projects.

Secretary

​

Alana moved to the Northern Rivers in 2021 and has been a member of Whian Whian Landcare for the last few years. She is most interested in learning about and planting local rainforest trees and plants, and landslip remeditation, especially after the 2022 floods in Lismore.

​

Alana's background is in education, as an ex-primary school teacher and English language teacher, and she currently works at Southern Cross University supporting students in their academic literacy across a variety of disciplines. However, she is most happy when outside getting her hands dirty, and loves being able to balance knowledge work with the more hands-on approach of Landcare.

​

As RLI Secretary, she contributes behind-the-scenes to make sure communications, committee meetings, and other organisational needs keep ticking along smoothly.

Public Officer

​

Big Rob represents Lismore Lake Incorporated Landcare, which was established in 2021 to help progress the regeneration of the Lismore Lake Precinct as a bird sanctuary and as an accessible and inclusive community recreation space alongside the Wilsons River in South Lismore.

Big Rob is a lawyer, a councillor at Lismore City Council, and an active member of Lismore City Council's Flood Risk Management Committee amongst many other things. Passionate about flood mitigation, Big Rob wants to see various options implemented to help reduce the impact of flooding in the region. Nature-based solutions will compliment various other options to mitigate flooding, while also assisting with geomorphic and riparian condition, aquatic macroinvertebrates, water quality, and overall river health.

Committee Member

​

When I joined Wilsons River Landcare in 1999, I met my Lismore family and started learning about lowland subtropical rainforest species and the significance of our floodplains. With decades of experience working to restore riverbanks and big scrub remnants from Tweed to Coffs Harbour, I feel like I belong to this place. I am very happy to be part of the RLI team.