WTA Committee
WTA Committee
Ronda Green (chair), Roger Smith (vice chair) Aise Kim (secretary), Peter Wood (treasurer), Maree Kerr (membership secretary and Greg Clancy (nonexec sommittee member)
CHAIR Ronda Green, BSc(Hons) PhD
Queensland
Ronda Green
Dr. Ronda Green is an adjunct research fellow at Environmental Futures, Griffith University, conducting research on seed dispersal by fruit-eating animals and the effects of habitat alteration. She has been involved in wildlife tourism for several decades, and runs the multi-award winning ‘Araucaria Ecotours’ specialising in wildlife tours from Brisbane. Ronda has also recently developed the Scenic Rim Wildlife Information Centre, powered by photovoltaic cells, on her family property near Rathdowney, South East Queensland, and nature trails emanating from this. She is the author of a handbook of wildlife tourism for guides, students and business start-ups, and has authored and co-authored several research reports for Sustainable Tourism CRC Griffith University (negative and positive effects of wildlife tourism on wildlife, birdwatching tourism in Australia etc.,) and initiated and run various wildlife workshops and a 2 day Wildlife Festival in Beaudesert. She is also chair of Wildlife Preservation Society Scenic Rim Branch Inc. Publications and presentations by Ronda can be viewed here.
VICE CHAIR Roger Smith
Roger Smith
An experienced naturalist, birdwatcher, all-round bushman and dedicated conservationist, Roger is a friendly, outgoing character who loves sharing his passion for Australia’s wildlife with his guests. He founded Echidna Walkabout with Janine Duffy in 1993.
He has travelled extensively throughout Australia and has a comprehensive understanding of the environment both in his home state of Victoria and across Australia. His special interest is the macropods (kangaroos and wallabies) and he enjoys “reading” the body language of these timid creatures and has trained many of Echidna Walkabout’s guides on the careful approach these animals require.
Aboriginal Culture is another of Roger’s concerns – he has worked closely with Aboriginal People in many parts of Australia and believes strongly that the Indigenous people of Australia must be recognised through a respectful Treaty. He is a great advocate for self determination by Australia’s Indigenous People and believes strongly in protecting the original rights of these extraordinarily resilient people.
The genus Eucalyptus has enthralled Roger for many years – there is nothing he likes more than to sit under a gum tree and chew a blade of grass – or tell you all about this uniquely Australian icon. Much of his previous work with the Australian Conservation Foundation involved protecting large areas of Eucalyptus forests in far East Gippsland.
Roger believes that far East Gippsland (in Victoria) and the Top End (in the Northern Territory) are the best places for wildlife viewing. He should know because he has guided many tours in both these areas and is very proud to be a fully accredited Kakadu Guide.
His second love after Australia is Africa where he has travelled with Janine on safaris into South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Roger’s previous experience included working for the Australian Conservation Foundation and as an environmental builder and a journalist.
SECRETARY, Aise Kim PhD
South Australia
Dr Aise Kim is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management at the University of South Australia.
She completed her PhD on visitor interpretation and sustainable tourism at the University of Surrey, U.K. Her research interest areas include tourism impacts, tourist behaviours, pro-environmental behaviour, market segmentation, destination image, and tourism destination marketing. She has a distinctive track record in the field of environmental behaviour and visitor interpretation in nature-based tourism areas, publishing her research work in top-tier journals, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, Journal of Ecotourism, and Tourism Geographies.
Dr Kim has been actively involved in several research projects focusing on tourist behaviours and the psychological and environmental impacts of those behaviours in the field of special interest tourism, such as bird-watching tourism, fossil-based tourism, nature-based tourism, food tourism, and ecotourism. She was one of the successful applicants to the South Australian Tourism Commission and Flinders Ranges Tourism Industry Association for the project which examined the potential of nature-based tourism products for sustainable regional economic development in the Flinders Ranges region, South Australia. Her recent research work also is extended to examine a cross-cultural study on green accommodation, targeting wildlife tourists and nature-based tourists.
She is keen to make a stronger connection with the industry and engage with the project which makes significant impacts on the policy development and practical implications for sustainable business development at a local, regional and national scale.
TREASURER Peter Wood , BSc, PhD
Peter Wood
Far North Queensland
Peter Wood completed a PhD at the James Cook University (JCU) on the conceptual, supply and demand of marine research tourism worldwide and in Australia in 2011. Presently he is a researcher with the JCU studying products and markets for offshore research tourism over the Great Barrier Reef. Since 2009, Peter has supported the marine tourism company – Eye to Eye Marine Encounters with marketing, grant and award applications, and advanced ecotourism accreditation. He presented a paper on marine research tourism at the national wildlife tourism workshop in 2013. Other presentations have included
- Wood, P. (2009). Opportunities for marine research tourism in Australia. Paper presented at the First International Symposium on Volunteering and Tourism.
- Wood, P., & Coghlan, A. (2008). The conceptual nature of marine research tourism and key stakeholder involvment in marine research tourism. Paper presented at the 18th Annual CAUTHE Conference.
- Wood, P., & Rumney, J. (2009). Key stakeholder views of marine research tourism in Australia. Paper presented at the 6th Coastal & Marine Tourism Congress, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.,
- Wood, P., & Zeppel, H. (2008). The preferences of potential marine research tourists for different marine research tourism products in Australia. Paper presented at the The Future Success of Tourism: New Directions, Challenges and Opportunities. ISTTE (International Society of Travel & Tourism Educators) Conference. AWARD: Best Paper (Full Refereed Paper) at ISTTE Conference 2008
MEMBERHIP SECRETARY Maree Kerr
Maree Kerr
Maree Treadwell (Kerr) has a Masters of Wildlife Management and is an executive committee member of the Australasian Bat Society Inc, a member of Australian Wildlife Management Society and Animal research group, and a state representative of Interpretation Australia. She has a background in environmental, heritage and cultural interpretation and visitor services in zoos, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and museums, including nine years in outreach community and school programs with Ku-ring-gai Bat Conservation Society. Maree has a special interest in bats, particularly flying-foxes, and in 2012 created the annual Australasian Bat Night which she coordinates on behalf of the Australasian Bat Society (ABS), in partnership with community groups, local councils and people involved in bat conservation, interpretation and tourism. Maree is conducting a PhD project investigating societal values on flying foxes and assessing impact of education/ interpretation (including tourism) programs in changing attitudes and impact of this on conservation effort and outcomes. Maree is also coordinating a Batty tourism project on behalf of the ABS. She is currently compiling a list of places to see bats of all sorts throughout Australia and New Zealand prior to placing these onto an interactive map on the ABS website, and is asking for information from people involved in tourism, education, research and bat care. Please send information to cantcatchme@netspeed.com.au. Maree also has an interest in social media and its potential for education, conservation, research and tourism.
Dr Greg P. Clancy
Greg completed a Bachelor of Science (Zoology/Earth Sciences) at Macquarie University and a Master of Science (The breeding biology, feeding ecology and diet of the Osprey Pandion haliaetus cristatus in New South Wales) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ecology, conservation and management of the Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus australis) at the University of New England, Armidale.
He has worked as an ecological consultant since 1979 after a number of years as a clerk/administrative assistant in the NSW public service. During this time he has also worked as a ranger, a seasonal ranger and now a discovery ranger with the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service (Office of Environment and Heritage). The seasonal and discovery ranger work has provided Greg with experience in the interpretation of the flora and fauna of local national parks and his vast experience in ecological consulting allows this interpretation to be science based.
He also worked as a fauna consultant on the North-east Forest Biodiversity Surveys, the Rainforest Surveys, the Natural Resource Audit Council surveys, the Joint-Old Growth Surveys and the surveys for the Comprehensive Regional Assessment of Forests in NSW all carried out during the early to mid 1990s.
He has published over 50 papers in refereed journals, mostly on birds. Greg has long wanted to carry out wildlife tours and in 2013 set up his tour and guiding business ‘Greg Clancy Ecologist and birding-wildlife Guide’ based in the Clarence Valley at Coutts Crossing, near Grafton, and runs tours on demand from Grafton, Coffs Harbour and Yamba.