A few recent changes to the team at NGT
It has been a while since we provided an update on the NGT team, so given a few recent staff changes to our aquatic ecology team and the crew in Mt Gambier, here is the latest…
After eleven years of leading NGT’s aquatic ecology work with threatened fish and crayfish, we recently said farewell to Dr Nick Whiterod, one of NGT’s original Committee members. Since 2012, Nick carried on and expanded upon the great fish conservation work of Dr Michael Hammer, also an original NGT Committee member and founder of Aquasave (previously a private consulting business which Michael donated to NGT in 2012).
Nick has now commenced a new position as the Science Program Manager, Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Research Hub in Goolwa, but will continue to assist NGT temporarily with a few handover tasks in a casual capacity, to ensure a smooth transition of a number of important fish conservation projects. It also just so happens that Nick was awarded the Unsung Hero of Science Award in SA earlier this month, which is a great recognition of his dedication and efforts with aquatic species conservation over the past two decades. We wish Nick all the best with this new challenge and look forward to working together through his new role over the years ahead.
Nick leaves behind big shoes to fill, but we are fortunate and grateful to have Dr Sylvia Zukowski ready to now take the lead in this key area of work for NGT. So that we won’t skip a beat, Sylvia is supported by a team that includes Scott Huntley, who is based in Mildura and now leads our Victorian fish projects, and Maiko Lutz, Regina Durbridge, Cory Young, Emma Vanderzon, based in SA. We also have some more recent additions to the team in SA, including Paul Drummond, undertaking a range of ecological work including fish, crayfish and habitat surveys, and John Nixon, who is assisting with the operating of the Southern Bell Frog facility at Clayton Bay.
In the Mt Gambier team, we recently said farewell to Ute Grehn, who – originally at short notice – was a great help with a significant amount of field-based work over the past several months, and we also have long-term staff member Jess Bourchier dropping back her commitments at NGT (after 9 years – time flies!) to allow her to take up an exciting opportunity at the science lab at Tenison Woods College.
Finally, we also recently said farewell to Paula Thomson who had helped NGT significantly over the past couple of years with our philanthropic partnerships, helping us to connect with our supporters in Melbourne and beyond.
While we have seen a few changes recently, our commitment to NGT’s important work across south-eastern Australia remains the same. So, if you see one of our newer staff members while out and about, please make them feel welcome!
To learn more about the dedicated crew who make up the team at NGT, please visit our staff page.
