Speakers & Workshop Presenters

  • Mary Colreavy,  Department of Environment, Heritage and the Arts
  • Matthias Gelber, International Consultant (Malaysia)
  • Susan Sakaki, PEER Centre, California
  • Graham Brown, Environmental Auditor & Consultant
  • Mick Dawes, Medicare Australia
  • John Collins, Centre for Public Agency Sustainability Reporting
  • Petar Johnson, Chairman of Good Environmental Choice Australia
  • Aaron Westwood, Environmental Auditor
  • Paul Cheal, NCS International
  • Roger Carthew, EcoIntegrity

Mary Colreavy

Mary Colreavy is Assistant Secretary, Natural Resource Management Programs Division in the Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, a position she has held since April 2006. This Division is responsible for coordinating the implementation and delivery of the Australian Government’s recently announced Caring for our Country.  Mary is also a member of 4 Joint Steering Committees, overseeing delivery of NRM funding and program management in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory and Western Australia. She also manages delivery of the Community Water Grants Program.

Mary has worked more than 10 years in a variety of policy and program management roles in the Commonwealth Government, both in the environment portfolio and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, where she was a senior adviser the Reconciliation and Equity Branch of the Office of Indigenous Policy. From 2000 – 2003 she left the Australian Public Service to work at the Australian National University, managing the Council and Boards Secretariat. This position supported the governance and executive management of the University, coordinating secretariat services to the University Council and Academic Boards.

Mary was born and grew up in Western Australia and she worked for 12 years for the WA State Government in the then Department of Conservation and Land Management and former National Parks Authority in a variety of roles, but primarily as a Policy Adviser. She prepared conservation area management plans, negotiated land use agreements, prepared natural and cultural conservation policies, developed some Indigenous ranger training programs and provided policy advice on a wide range of environmental issues for senior executives and Ministers.

Mary has completed a Master of Environmental Laws and a Graduate Certificate of Public Policy (Policy Options and Policy Processes), both from the Australian National University, and a BSc (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Western Australia.

 

Matthias Gelber

Matthias Gelber is an internationally recognized trainer, consultant, speaker and facilitator with experience in more than 35 countries worldwide covering both the public and private sector.

He was project champion of the UK based project Acorn, which was an initiative of large UK companies to support the needs of their small suppliers. The experiences of the project resulted in the development and publication of BS 8555, the British Standard on phased implementation of Environmental Management Systems including the use of Environmental Performance Evaluation (EPE).

Matthias is a member of the board of INEM, the International Network of Environmental Management and until recently a member of the board of Trustees of the APRSCP, the Asian Pacific Roundtable of Sustainable Consumption and Cleaner Production. He has served on the strategic planning group of ISO TC 207 and has been a member of ISO TC 207 and the BSI Committee on EPE for many years. In 2007 he chaired various events, including the Malaysian Professional Speakers Convention and the 4th Dubai CSR Summit.

Matthias is as well active as an entrepreneur and investor. He owns 16 hectares of forests in Panama and he does not own a car. He is currently director of a new start up company called Maleki GmbH which specializes in low carbon footprint / high performance building materials.

Susan Sakaki

Susan Sakaki is co-founder of the Sustainable Earth Initiative and Manager of the Public Entity EMS Resource (PEER) Center in California, USA.

Susan has worked in the environmental management field for 30 years. As a manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she was involved in the development of strategies and the management of multi-state, multi-media programs.

Her private sector experience includes regulatory compliance management, auditing, pollution prevention, and strategic planning. As co-founder of Sustainable Earth Initiative, she is working in Sustainability and Environmental Management System (EMS) development and offers particular expertise in strategic planning and meeting facilitation.

Since 2002, Ms. Sakaki has been serving as consultant to a major U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory in the development and implementation of their EMS. She has been involved in every step of the process, and continues to serve as an advisor and member of the EMS core team, now in its third year. She serves in a similar capacity for the EMS work at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Sonoma County Water Agency and the Reno-Tahoe Airport.

Susan has conducted EMS workshops, conducted audits and other EMS tasks for several organizations including the City of San Jose (CA), City of Glendale (AZ), and the City of Scottsdale (AZ).

Susan has a Master's degree in Public Policy and Administration from Golden Gate University, an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction and a B.A. in English from the University of Oregon. She participates in several professional organizations including the Environmental Auditing Roundtable, International Society of Sustainability Professionals, and Western Regional Pollution Prevention Network.

Graham Brown

M.Sc, FAus IMM Principal Environmental Auditor, UK, USA and Australia

Graham Brown has over 40 years industrial and commercial experience including over 30 years as an environmental consultant, during which time he has carried out over 500 environmental assignments. Graham has achieved general management positions and provided technical expertise and leadership to a wide range of governments and industries (including mining and petroleum), in natural, rural and urban environments. He has carried out over 80 environmental impact assessments and in excess of 200 environmental audits covering almost all industry sectors. He has also prepared numerous environmental management plans for mining and industrial clients, as well as undertaking environmental consultancy assignments for governments, industry and community interest groups internationally. Graham has been involved in the development of a number of environmental management systems in Australia and the Arabian Gulf region for mining, petroleum, petrochemical, industrial and government clients, eight of which have been certified to ISO14001 standard.

Graham is an experienced lecturer and trainer, and has assisted with the training of more than 2000 coal miners in environmental awareness, as well as several thousand others from government and industry in environmental awareness, environmental auditing, environmental management systems, pollution control, risk management, waste management and other topics. He has delivered Best Practice Environmental Management in the Oil and Gas Industry, and other training programs in Dubai, Oman, Bahrain and Pakistan. His five-day Environmental Audit Workshop is the only comprehensive environmental auditor training program accredited by RABQSA International in Australia. Graham was a joint presenter during 1998 in Australia of Dialogue on the Environment, a worldwide environmental awareness training program for Volvo. He has conducted public and in-house training courses, presented papers and provided training in environmental and waste management subjects at Newcastle University (NSW), University of New South Wales, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Wollongong University (in association with the Australian Mining and Petroleum Law Association).

Graham is listed in the International Who's Who of Professionals (1998).

Mick Dawes

Mick Dawes is the environmental manager of Medicare Australia. He holds post-graduate qualifications in environmental management, is a certified environmental auditor and is a professional member of the Ecological Society of Australia. He is an industry adviser for the Canberra Institute of Technology ‘managing environmental performance’ curriculum, has delivered community environmental management presentations to the Canberra University ‘young achievers’ business network, and has addressed Commonwealth government forums and conferences on Medicare Australia's EMS.

Mick is also a qualified accountant that has held senior accounting positions in government, specialising in management accounting and financial systems. Consequently, Mick has a broad appreciation for economic and social issues within the context of environmental management.

John Collins

John Collins was appointed Assistant Director, Centre for Public Agency Sustainability Reporting™ in November 2006 after having several years experience as a specialist consultant in business integration of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility.

This work included; issue identification, system development for measuring and reporting, risk and opportunity analysis, and development of business systems and processes for public sustainability reporting. John provided assistance to organisations wishing to participate in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, The Corporate Responsibility Index, Reputex and adoption of the Global Reporting Initiative.

Since joining the Centre, John's role has specialised in working with the Public Agency sector, with experience in Federal, State, and Local government focusing on sustainability integration and reporting for public agencies.

In addition to the work mentioned above, John has over ten years experience as a Communications Project Manager and Senior Public Affairs Adviser in the minerals industry. His particular expertise is in motivating small project teams to deliver creative solutions for internal and external communication; adoption of sustainable business practices; cultural change programs; Internet and Intranet communications; and developing and publishing public reports.

In these roles, John Collins also gained significant expertise in community engagement/stakeholder relations with external advisory committees and community groups, senior executives and internal business divisions.

Petar Johnson

Petar Johnson is Chairman of Good Environmental Choice Australia Ltd, a non profit public company and owner of the Australian Good Environmental Choice Label Program.

Petar has spent 20 years in the environmental arena working within the broadest elements of the environmental challenge in Australia.He is a member of the Board for the Australian National Centre for Sustainability, a Director of Good Environmental Choice Services Pty Ltd and a Director of Addressing Global Warming Pty Ltd, a wind turbine establishment company

He has held positions with the Centre for Resource and Environment Studies, ANU the Blue Mountains World Heritage Committee; and the Earth Repair Foundation. He has also worked in the Commonwealth Government with the Energy Efficiency Labelling Team, and with the Greenhouse Challenge Group in the Australian Greenhouse Office. He was a primary consultant for the development of the safety case quality assurance licensing system for offshore petroleum and gas recovery structures and vessels in the Department of Industry, Science, and Resources.

Prior to the establishment of the GEC program Petar was manager of the Environment Ministers Working Group on Product Stewardship for Electrical and Electronic Equipment in the Sustainable Industries Branch, Commonwealth Department of Environment and Water.

Petar has an ongoing interest in the associated fields of human ecology and sustainable development and in progressing social shifts towards a balance between environment and society.

Aaron Westwood

B.Env.Sc, MEIANZ, Registered Environmental Auditor, Australia, Certificate IV Training and Assessment.

Aaron Westwood is a highly experienced environmental consultant with a wide range of experience in the development, maintenance and auditing of Environmental Management Systems (EMS). Aaron has a highly successful career with Graham A Brown & Associates, an environmental consultancy in Newcastle, Australia. Aaron has worked with national and international clients in developing, implementing and maintaining Environmental Management Systems and associated processes for over ten years. Aaron has worked in industries such as mining, manufacturing, agriculture and banking to implement management systems ranging from simple programs for small businesses, through to integrated management systems for multi-national and government clients seeking certification to ISO 14001, AS/NZS 4801 (or OHSAS 18001) and ISO 9000 standards. Aaron has also worked on EMS projects with local, state and federal government agencies. All of Aaron’s clients have achieved certification with no nonconformances.
Aaron has also been involved in the development of commercially available EMS Auditing protocols including the AS/NZS ISO 14001 Gap Analysis Protocol, AS/NZS4801 Gap Analysis Protocol and a suite of EMS Audit Protocols which was released in 2005 (updated in 2007). His EMS experience also includes development of corporate EMS standards and guidance for multi-site operations nationally and internationally. He has worked with a number of EMS software tools and databases across the various industries and has been involved in supporting processes such as EMS auditing, legal compliance audits, training needs analysis and training development. Aaron is also responsible for delivering the Graham A Brown & Associates three-day EMS Workshop in capital cities across Australia and for inhouse clients.

Paul Cheal

Paul has ten years of practical environmental & safety management experience in industrial, commercial and retail environments.  He has had experience as a practicing Environmental Engineer, and in the role of EHS Manager has worked in organisations including Century Yuasa Batteries and associated Standby Power projects.  He has also had practical EHS experience within the rural sector.
Paul has extensive experience in environmental & safety management systems, risk management, auditing, training and environmental monitoring from within organisations.  He has worked with NCSI since April 2003 and has demonstrated a strong value adding capability and a sound project management ability.  He has been responsible for such significant clients as CS Energy, Comalco, Newmont Pajingo, Brisbane Water and Energex.  He has further experience auditing Ergon, Country Energy, Energy Resources of Australia, Energy Australia, Boyne Smelters, Northparkes Mine, Comalco Weipa and SPAusnet. Paul has special expertise in safety & environmental legislative compliance, land, health, dangerous goods, waste and water issues.  He has also worked in areas where an understanding of community attitudes was vital to the successful management of environmental concerns.

Roger Carthew

Roger Carthew is the Managing Director of Carthew Corporation Pty Ltd. His businesses include a trade printing service and The Great Australian Roadsign Company - manufacturer and distributor of roadsigns and souvenir products.
Between 1990 to 1996 Roger owned a 300 cow dairy farm, giving him experience in intensive farming systems using conventional agricultural techniques.
From 2000 Roger invested in research to find a tool to assist in the management of business environmental performance and in the process discovered ecomapping and ISO Easy. He is currently implementing an EMS within Carthew Corporation Pty Ltd using the ecomapping ISO Easy process.
Roger travels extensively on business and speaks French to a conversational standard.