REGENWA - Key Persons
Bonnie grew up in the Mid West region of Western Australia, where she developed the drive to support farmers build resilient farming systems that have a positive ecological impact.
She currently works at Perth NRM on the RegenWA Program and the Natural Capital Accounting Project conducting on-farm ecological and soil assessments.
She enjoys working with farmers, community groups and all stakeholders involved in sustainable food production and landscape renewal.
Bonnie has previously worked in the broadacre gains sector at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) in Geraldton, and with Western Australian cereal breeding company, InterGrain.
Job Titles:
- Manager of the Sustainable Agriculture
- Perth NRM, Senior Manager, Sustainable Agriculture
David grew up exploring the natural environment on South Coast of Western Australia where he developed an appreciation for Australian landscape. A series of outdoor jobs and recreational activities further increased David's interest.
David graduated from Charles Darwin University with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Ecology and Environmental Biology. Starting his NRM career with the Oyster Harbour Catchment Group as a NRM Officer, David moved into the Agricultural space with South Coast NRM in 2008 where he was a Regional Agricultural Landcare Facilitator and Land & Water Program Manager.
David enjoys working with farmers and support people to incorporate evidence based NRM into their farming businesses.
David is currently Perth NRM's manager of the Sustainable Agriculture program.
Dianne, with her husband Ian, are world renowned for their approach to regenerative agriculture by working with native pastures for their livestock which complements their biological cropping program of over 13,000ha.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Glenice has demonstrated a long-term personal and professional commitment to landcare and natural resource management with extensive experience representing community and working in the industry along with roles in agriculture, biosecurity and local government.
From a farming background, Glenice began her diverse career studying Horticulture at iconic Kings Park aligned to her love of Western Australian plants and the natural environment. She and her husband own a small mixed enterprise on Ballardong Noongar Country at Tammin, with a goal of sustainably increasing biodiversity.
Glenice has a long involvement at strategic level on grassroots boards and organisations including Chairing the grower group, Saltland Pastures Association and the Wheatbelt NRM Regional organisation. She was a founding member and then chair of WA's NRM Regional Leaders Group and appointed to the Avon River Management Authority and inaugural secretary of the Avon Waterways Committee. She has served as Councillor and President for the Shire of Tammin and represented WALGA as the WA Country member on the Roadside Conservation Committee.
Glenice was awarded the prestigious DAFWA Landcare Professional Award and was a WA finalist in the RIRDC Rural Women's Award. She was a founding member of Therapeutic Horticulture Australia - understanding the importance of nature and human interaction. In 2019 she was inducted as a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Horticulture.
Glenice is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and believes in the importance of strong and ethical governance.
Hannah has a passion for protecting the natural environment and is relishing the opportunity to obtain a more in depth understanding of regenerative agriculture.
Hannah holds dual roles, being the Financial Controller at Perth NRM and company secretary for RegenWA Ltd.
Job Titles:
- CEO of the WA Landcare Network, Jacqueline
CEO of the WA Landcare Network, Jacqueline has served on community boards for over 20 years and is currently a member of the Advisory Committee for Kalgulup Regional Park, Bunbury, and serves on the Selections Panel and the Governance Committee of the National Landcare Network. Much of her career has been spent working for social justice and she considers the regenerative agriculture movement to have a pivotal role in addressing the complex environmental issues impacting our society, not necessarily equitably. Working and volunteering to better align human use and interaction with nature brings her great satisfaction, personally and professionally.
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant Sustainable Agriculture, Perth NRM
Jess grew up in the wheatbelt town of Merredin where her interest in agriculture and passion for the environment began.
She moved to Perth to study a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Botany, and is completing the final year of her degree in 2024.
Jess joined PerthNRM/RegenWA in early 2023 and has enjoyed working with all stakeholders interested in working in the regenerative space.
She looks forward to continuing to be involved in a space which supports sustainability, regenerative practices and our environment.
Job Titles:
- CEO at Perth NRM
- Perth NRM, RegenWA, CEO
Keith is CEO at Perth NRM, a for-purpose organisation in the Natural Resource Management (NRM) sector. Perth NRM collaborates with government, industry stakeholders and community to empower people to have a positive ecological impact.
Keith was instrumental in establishing RegenWA, a network of West Australian farmers who are identifying and sharing leading regenerative practices.
This has since been supported with Perth NRM's natural capital accounting program, which is establishing methods and standards to verify if a farming practice or system is beneficial for both the farming enterprise and the broader landscape.
Most recently, Keith is championing the most important piece of the puzzle - establishing a collective impact approach for ecosystem restoration, that can be extended to all purpose-driven enterprises involving social benefit and/or behaviour change.
Nick is a broadacre minimum till cropping farmer, of Holland Track Farm in Newdegate, WA.
The Kelly family's weather resilient farming system is enhancing soil health, sequestering carbon, reducing erosion, increasing moisture retention, reducing chemical use and improving crop yields.
All while sharing these learning and knowledge with other farmers Australia wide.
Ronnie has over thirty years experience working in creative communications and is a co-founder and Chairman of Meerkats.
He's passionate about encouraging a better form of capitalism and acts on this by helping companies to be purpose-led, and by focusing on sectors that can make a disproportionate difference to creating a better world.
For him, the food and agriculture sector offers a great opportunity to do this, as what we consciously choose to eat is one of our most powerful acts - although he recognises that both he and his family depend on good farmers since his own veggies patch is currently unpredictable.
Stuart is a fourth-generation farmer who owns and manages a 5,000 ha farm in Buntine, Western Australia.
He is a co-founder of the Liebe Group, one of Australia's premium grower groups.
Stuart has expert knowledge in soil and regenerative agriculture practice and his efforts in natural resource management saw him honoured as a Soil Champion in the International Year of Soil 2015. As a result, he was then added to the Regional Natural Resource Management Leadership Honour Roll in 2016.
He has also been a part of the team that has seen the first "4-returns" regenerative agriculture company in Australia become listed on the ASX. He remains to be a non-executive Director of Wide Open Agriculture Ltd.
Stuart McAlpine is a fourth-generation farmer who with his wife Leanne, owns and manages a 5,000-hectare farm at Buntine, Western Australia.
Stuart is a co-founder of the Liebe Group, one of Australia's premium grower groups, and was its inaugural President in 2007. During this time, Stuart has gained extensive experience in research, extension and strategic development of agriculture in Australia.
Stuart instigated the Regional Repopulation Plan with the Shire of Dalwallinu in 2010 and Chaired the Regional Repopulation Advisory Committee (RRAC). He sat on the Perth Working Group Committee associated with the RRAC as deputy Chairperson. The program supported an increase in population in Dalwallinu by around 15%. From this work Stuart has cofounded the Regional Regeneration Alliance, a cross regional impact, not for profit organisation aimed at developing and supporting sustainable land, economic and community regeneration projects utilising collective impact.
Stuart has expert knowledge in soil and regenerative agriculture practice and his efforts in natural resource management saw him honoured as a Soil Champion in the International Year of Soil 2015 and then added to the Regional Natural Resource Management Leadership Honour Roll in 2016 by the Northern Agricultural Catchment Council in Western Australia. He regularly presents at he University of Western Sydney's Soil Biology Masterclass. Stuart is a committee member for RegenWA a network of committed West Australian farmers and industry stakeholders who are identifying, implementing and sharing innovative land management practices that other farmers can adopt.
Stuart has also been part of the team that has seen the first four return regenerative agriculture company in Australia Wide Open Agriculture Ltd. Listed on the ASX. Stuart also provides lupins and beef for Wide Open Agriculture and its food brand Dirty Clean Food as one of its many regenerative suppliers.
Tom farms 20 Hectares North West of Gingin with his wife, Emma and two daughters, Darcie and Grace.
Tom and Emma began developing the farm in November 1999. Their enterprise is comprised of a market garden where they grow pumpkins in the summer and mixed cover crops in the winter and an orchard producing limes and three varieties of mandarin.
Since 2012 they have taken a more biological / regenerative approach to their farming. Their objective is to grow tasty, nutritious food and run a profitable business. Their farming practices aim to maximise soil carbon and biological diversity. They have introduced cover cropping and green manuring to their market garden operation and have drastically reduced the amount of cultivation. They are currently working on increasing the diversity of inter-row species in their orchard as well as increasing the organic matter levels under our trees. They have eliminated the use of all fungicides from our operation and drastically reduced the amount of pesticide use.
Monitoring plant and soil conditions are the keys to the success of their operation. Plant nutrition, soil nutrition, soil moisture are all measured with the aim of growing the healthiest plant possible.
Tom is an experienced environmental professional, having worked across consulting, waste and mining industries. Tom has extensive experience working with the Environmental Protection Act, environmental impact assessments and site environmental management.
Tom is also an elected Councillor at the City of Cockburn, sitting on 7 internal committees and 4 external committees. Tom grew up on an Olive Grove in York where he developed a love for nature and has a keen interest in sustainability as well as reuse and recycling.
Tom holds a Bachelor of Science (Coastal Zone Management) from Curtin University and is currently studying the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course, and an MBA through the University of Central Queensland.
Wendy is a passionate environmentalist who strives to learn more about how we can all farm better with nature.
Her family farm in Tambellup is where she can implement these learnings from her studies including a Bachelor of Land Management and Master's in Education.
She and has worked at Greening Australia for a decade as well as working with South Coast NRM for four years.
Wendy is connected with her local grower group, the Gillamii Centre and uses her own environmental consultancy business to focus on restoring biodiversity and soil health on farms.
"I see our biggest and vital challenge is understanding and profitably implementing the transition from conventional to biological agriculture."