ERA - Key Persons
Anahita has almost two decades of experience in environmental management work in Tasmania. Before joining ERA in 2018, she worked in both the government and private sectors.
Anahita's passion lies in environmental approval projects and she has helped clients navigate all aspects of approval processes, from concept to operation, for wastewater treatment plants, waste facilities, subdivisions, windfarms, aquaculture facilities, mines, power cables, pipelines and roads.
Throughout her career, Anahita has focused on environmental impact assessment services in the consultancy market and participated in an extensive range of projects, providing services in environmental approvals, project management, environmental management planning, ecological investigations, options analysis and environmental strategies.
Anahita's projects include:
Job Titles:
- Engagement Manager & Technical Planning Lead
Caroline is ERA's lead for community and stakeholder relations and has strong working relationships across government agencies, community groups, local government, industry groups and applicants.
Caroline also provides in-house planning services to a range of councils including acting as Senior Planner working on both statutory and strategic planning. Caroline also represents councils and private clients in both the Resource Management and Planning Appeals Tribunal and at the Tasmanian Planning Commission.
Caroline's projects include:
Sorell to Hobart Transport Corridor Land Use Planning Review
South Eastern Traffic Solutions engagement
Cascade Female Factory visitor centre
Great Eastern Drive road upgrades engagement and planning
Sorell Open Space Strategy
Job Titles:
- Stakeholder Engagement Consultant
Christa joined ERA in 2023 following broad experience in legal, property conveyancing, project management, stakeholder engagement and small business management. Christa prioritises the use of project management tools to track projects effectively and takes a solutions-focused approach to each project, ensuring our communications and stakeholder strategies are effective and engaging. She is an expert in leading engagement software platforms including Consultation Manager, Social PinPoint and Typeform.
During her time in Western Australia, Christa completed a Bachelor of Law and managed strategic Crown land administration projects for the state government, working alongside mining and gas companies, farmers and traditional owners. The stakeholder engagement skills and approaches learned during this time have provided Christa with high-level understanding and expertise to provide best practice engagement solutions.
Now living back home in Tasmania, Christa has built her skills and knowledge in real estate and property by working in property conveyancing as well as state road network administration to complement her overall property law and policy skillset. This knowledge and understanding is invaluable for stakeholder engagement due to the large quantity of land development and planning projects that can have significant consequences for landowners and community.
Since 2015, Christa has managed a small business called ‘Rideo Mountain Biking' which delivers mountain bike lessons around Tasmania for children and adults of all ages and abilities. Christa has worked with state government, councils, community groups and the general public to teach people how to ride smarter and be safe. Christa's experience in small business enables her to have a genuine mutual understanding with business-related stakeholders, which is a highly valuable advantage considering over 90% of Tasmanian businesses are small business.
Clare's projects include:
the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Tourism Master Plan
the Boat Harbour Beach Plan
the Dove Lake Shelter
the Kelcey Tier Master Plan
the Strahan Waterfront Precinct Plan
Clare is an accredited Bushfire Hazard Practitioner (Fire Service Act 1979 for scopes 1, 2, 3A and 3B), for bushfire assessments. Clare specialises in developing performance-based solutions and emergency management plans. These plans are required by certain developments, including those located in sensitive areas, or for developments that involve a hazardous or vulnerable use. Clare regularly prepares bush hazard management plans for both small and large subdivisions and developments that are capable of meeting the permitted standard.
Clare has more than 17 years' experience as a planner and has been a valued member of the ERA team since 2013.
Job Titles:
- Senior Planning and Engagement Consultant
Connie is a skilled engagement and planning practitioner with experience across both strategic and statutory projects. She joined ERA in 2023 after working across the public and private sectors in NSW,
Job Titles:
- Principal Environmental Consultant
Dan's previous projects include management documentation and environmental approvals for wind farms, mines, wastewater facilities, quarries, marine outfalls, dams, desalination plants and pipelines. He is particularly skilled in producing Environmental Impact Statements (EIS).
Before joining ERA, Dan worked on major marine reclamation projects and completed environmental advisory secondments with some of Australia's largest primary production companies.
Dan's close attention to detail, extensive on-ground experience, multidisciplinary industry knowledge and well-developed technical writing skills make him highly successful in this crucial discipline.
ERA is built on Emma's passion for people, place and planning.
Emma leads by example, bringing her strong personal values to life both internally at ERA and in team members' abilities to build and realise clients' planning needs.
Emma has more than 20 years' technical experience and continues to practise as a planner, managing a wide range of projects ranging from large-scale master and structure plans through to large-scale development applications. She also regularly appears as an expert witness before the Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Tasmanian Planning Commission.
Emma has oversight across all ERA projects, but is particularly proud of her work with:
Infill Development Pilot Project,
City of Hobart Transport Strategy background papers,
Cradle Mountain Gateway,
Freycinet Peninsula Master Plan,
Three Capes Lodge walk experience and
Greater Glenorchy Plan.
Under Emma's directorship ERA continues to grow in both size and reputation and is a leader in Tasmania•s planning and environmental sectors.
Job Titles:
- Senior Environmental Consultant
- Senior Environmental Consultant / Master of Environmental Law
Erin has over 10 years' environmental consulting experience, providing environmental, planning and approvals advice for a wide range of projects within the water, transport and renewable energy industries.
Having worked across Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales, she has a strong and varied understanding of Commonwealth and state-specific legislation, statutory requirements and processes.
Erin is also skilled in coordinating and interpreting specialist studies in order to produce high-quality approvals documentation and manage the potential impacts of projects.
Fiona is ERA's point of contact for all day-to-day account management enquiries. An integral part of the team, Fiona ensures the effective and efficient operations of the business while providing a high level of customer service.
Fiona previously worked for the AMP Group in client service and investment roles. Fiona's customer service, communication and administration skills are complemented by her accounting and technical experience.
Georgina provides in-house planning assistance to local councils and private clients on residential, tourism and commercial developments. Her experience and skills focus on statutory planning within the Tasmanian system.
She has worked on small and large-scale applications ranging from multi-dwelling housing and residential subdivisions to tourism developments. She also has experience in strategic planning projects, in particular the drafting of planning scheme amendments.
Georgina provides quick and reliable responses to our clients.
Mark's focus on transport in the planning and development industry provides the specialised expertise our clients need to achieve success on a wide range of large-scale projects.
Large-scale subdivision applications, planning scheme amendments and environmental planning assessments all benefit from Mark's talent for land use, environmental and transport planning as well as project management. He is particularly skilled at navigating the intricacies of site complexities within environmental and infrastructure constraints.
Mark has a broad understanding of strategic, statutory and policy planning matters.
He has worked for public, private and non-profit organisations across Australia as well as enjoying a stint in Chicago, Illinois, in the USA where he worked with the Metropolitan Planning Council.
Job Titles:
- Brand and Communications Manager
- Brand and Communications Manager / Associate Degree in Applied Design
Monica works predominantly within statutory planning and has a comprehensive understanding of both the Tasmanian and Victorian planning systems.
She returned to Hobart after working in Melbourne for five years on large and medium-scale residential, commercial, retail and mixed-use developments.
Monica has facilitated a broad range of land use and development applications, managing projects that involve multidisciplinary teams, and engaging with stakeholders and communities to achieve good planning outcomes.
Job Titles:
- Senior Planner
- Senior Planner / Master of Environmental Planning
Joining ERA in 2022, Patrick has over 10 years of experience working in Local and State Government in Tasmania and prides himself on advocating for pragmatic, high-quality planning outcomes.
He is well experienced in both statutory and strategic planning and has appeared at the Tasmanian Planning Commission on numerous occasions.
With additional training and experience in project management, Patrick also brings his excellent communication skills, a commitment to collaboration and a talent for working under pressure to a consistently high standard to the team.
Job Titles:
- Stakeholder Engagement Consultant
Rodney joined ERA in March 2021 after working for a financial services start-up in Sydney over the last 6 years. Rodney has experience working with diverse stakeholders in a triple-sided marketplace including consumers, small businesses and corporates. He has also completed his Certificate in Engagement from IAP2.
Additionally, Rodney has extensive experience in the small business sector after running his own award-winning retail business for a decade in Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach, where he learned the value of listening to the concerns of the local community.
Sarah recently joined ERA in November 2021 after working for local Councils in Tasmania for three years. During her time in local government Sarah has worked on a wide range of small and large-scale development applications including developments of regional significance, multi-dwelling housing, mixed-use commercial, aged-care and residential subdivisions. She also has experience in the drafting of planning scheme amendments.
Before moving to Hobart, most of Sarah's experience lies within the Northern Territory Government where she spent approximately 10 years in both the statutory and strategic planning areas working on large scale residential and commercial subdivisions, shopping centres, hospitals, FIFO worker accommodation camps, high-rise developments, developments of regional significance, planning scheme amendments and stakeholder engagement.
Sarah also has experience working in both the private sector and spent approximately 2.5 years in London as statutory planner.
Job Titles:
- Senior Spatial Data Analyst
Sebastian is a human geographer and researcher at the Argentinian Research Council (CONICET). After completing his PHD at Griffith University, he's back in Australia as a Visiting Research Fellow at UTAS.
Job Titles:
- Studio Assistant
- Studio Assistant / Master of Teaching ( Secondary )
Since joining ERA in 2023, Stephanie has taken over the reins as our right-hand woman. She keeps the office running smoothly in the background so our practitioners can focus their full attention on client services.
With her background as a high school teacher and coordinator, Steph is an expert communicator and a natural at creating order out of chaos. When she's not focused on front of house services and office management, she's putting her organisational prowess towards streamlining our internal processes.
On her days away from ERA, Steph runs her fine art studio Stephanie Jane Studio.
Job Titles:
- Principal Environmental Consultant
Suki is a renewable energy sector powerhouse who is passionate about being part of Australia's current transition. She joined ERA in 2024 following her time spent at Renewables Climate Future Industries Tasmania (ReCFIT) where she developed and led the implementation of key policy guiding the achievement of the Tasmanian Government's 200% renewable energy target.
During her 15+ years working with Tasmanian industry, Suki has gained considerable experience working in the energy and water sectors. She has been involved in the coordination of policy across all levels of government, as well as private sector client services in environmental approvals and management, project management, options analysis, environmental strategies and stakeholder engagement.
Suki is a highly respected practitioner in Tasmania. She has built her reputation by developing a trusted and extensive professional network alongside her proven commitment to successful delivery of the projects the manages, from concept through to operation.
A selection of projects for which she has been involved in the strategic planning, environmental assessments and approval pathways include:
Renewable Energy Coordination Framework
Renewable Energy Guideline for Community Engagement Benefit Sharing and Local Procurement
Robbins Island and Jims Plains Renewable Energy Parks
Low Head Wind Farm
North West Transmission Line Development
Marinus Link.