Sue O’Connor
President. BAppSc, GDipBus Mgt, FAICD. Appointed 2019
Sue has served as a Chairman, Director and senior business leader with ASX Top10, global unlisted companies and high-profile statutory authorities and not for profits. She brings to the Board her commercial acumen, growth mindset and deep expertise in technology, climate change, critical infrastructure and risk. Sue is currently Chair of Indara Digital Infrastructure, a Director of Mercer Superannuation, CDC Data Centres and ClimateWorks Australia, and an Advisory Council member of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute. Sue is also a photographer who uses her art to promote conversations about the environment and our relationship and response to the natural world.
Phillip Cornwell
Vice President. BA LLB (Hons). Appointed 2015
Phillip is a former partner at commercial law firm Allens, the principal provider of pro bono legal services to Bush Heritage. There Phillip headed the Project Finance practice and was Chair of the Pro Bono and Footprint Committees. Phillip is also Chair of the Midlands Conservation Partnership and a Director and Chair of the Australian Pro Bono Centre. Phillip recently retired as Director and Deputy Chair of Suicide Prevention Australia.
Dr Alexander Gosling AM
FTSE FIEAust DEng MA(Hons) MAICD. Appointed 2016
Dr Alexander Gosling was the founding director of Invetech, and has worked in the field of product development and technology commercialisation for 40 years. He has been appointed a member of the Order of Australia for services to industry, technology and the community, awarded an honorary Doctorate of Engineering, elected a fellow of the Academy of Technology and Engineering and a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia, and sits on a number of Boards. He is an active supporter of Zoos Victoria’s “Fighting Extinction” programme. He produced a film about the Outback which included a section on Bush Heritage.
Angus Holden
B.Sc LL.B. Appointed 2023
Angus is the CEO of Jord Group. Founded 52 years ago, Jord is a privately-owned global organisation that designs and constructs bespoke plants and systems for a wide range of industries in the energy and resource sectors. Its focus is on assisting industry to transition from conventional technologies to sustainable ones. Angus brings significant business experience coupled with a passion for environmental issues and a deep understanding of Bush Heritage Australia’s work through volunteering and corporate support.
Dr Jack Pascoe
PhD, BSc(Env.Sci) (Hons). Appointed 2024
Jack is a Yuin man living on Gadabanut Country and the Biodiversity Council's Co-Chief Councillor. Jack is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne in the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences where he focuses on understanding and managing biocultural landscapes. Jack is an honorary Strategic Advisor to the Conservation Ecology Centre and for the past decade has led their adaptive management and applied ecological research program across the Otway region. Jack currently sits on scientific reference groups for Zoos Victoria and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (formerly DELWP) and was a member of the Expert Panel which recently reviewed the Victorian Wildlife Act 1975. Jack completed a PhD at the University of Western Sydney where he studied the predators of the Blue Mountains.
Karen Jacobs
Appointed 2024
Karen is a bloodline descendant and a Traditional Owner of Whadjuk Country, within the Noongar Nation. Her primary focus is on developing opportunities and encouraging Aboriginal people’s involvement in planning, enterprise and business.
Karen is the Principal of Indigenous Economic Solutions Pty Ltd, trading as IES Cultural Heritage, IES Enviro Scapes and IES Enviro Clean. She has an extensive background in business management and strategic planning, cultural heritage and practices, facilitation and consultation, environmental planning and management, cultural tourism, education and was a former lecturer at the UWA, School of Social Science in the Foundations to Heritage Management.
Her career has led to the provision of Indigenous Specialist Services, as an expert in the integration of cultural heritage in design and placemaking, and landscapes within the design teams for urban design, construction, and infrastructure projects.
As a company director, her board competencies are; corporate decision making, probity and procurement, compliance, business management, strategic planning & analysis, financial management, marketing and promotion, engagement and participation of Aboriginal people.
Prue Bondfield
LLB, Dip (ProjMan), GAICD. Appointed 2023
Prue is a livestock industry leader with extensive experience across family and corporate agricultural businesses. She is a non-executive director on a number of commercial, industry and government boards. Prue’s roles have provided her with a broad knowledge of finance and business management, biosecurity and environmental risks, property acquisitions and sustainable land and livestock management.
Prue was the inaugural Chair of the Beef Sustainability Framework committee, which designed the first public report to document the industry’s commitment to continual improvement across a range of environmental and animal welfare priority areas.
Prue supports stronger links between agriculture and conservation to foster long term sustainable natural capital stewardship.
Professor Sarah Bekessy
PhD, BSc (Hons). Appointed 2017
Sarah leads ICON Science at RMIT University (Interdisciplinary Conservation Science), which seeks to engage in high-impact, interdisciplinary and collaborative research to find solutions to applied environmental problems. She's involved in a range of research projects investigating nature-based solutions for cities, biodiversity sensitive urban design, message framing for effective biodiversity communications, and designing effective private land conservation schemes.
Professor Sarah Legge
Appointed 2024
Sarah is a Professor at Charles Darwin University, and an honorary Professor at the Australian National University. She has 30 years of research and conservation management experience, focussed mainly on understanding and managing threats to native species and ecosystems. Her work is carried out collaboratively with government, non-government, and Indigenous land managers.
This work has been recognised in various awards, including a WA State Environment Award, Landcare Awards, an Ecological Impact Award, Birdlife Australia’s Serventy Medal, and a Distinguished Service Award from the International Society for Conservation Biology.
Sarah contributes to advisory committees for many organisations, including Purnululu World Heritage Area; Invasive Species Council; Accounting for Nature; Foundation for National Parks; Wild Deserts; and the Feral Cat Taskforce. She was previously the Deputy Chair of the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee, and a member of the Australian Government’s Expert Panel for Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery during and after the 2019-20 megafires.