Landcare ACT held our Annual General Meeting on Monday 6th November. 

As well as presenting the Annual Report, we also elected four new Board Directors, three to replace retiring Directors, and one to fill an existing vacancy

We would like to offer our deepest gratitude to our outgoing Board members, Wally Bell, Glenys Patulny, and Sandy Lolicato. Your contributions are too many to mention, and we are eternal thankful for all that you do.

Welcome to our new Board Directors - Karen Denny, Philip Prentice, Miranda Gardner and Ken Hodgkinson. We have included some information about each new Director below. Thanks also to those nominees who were not successful this time, we do appreciate your contributions, and your willingness to step up.

Karen Denny

Karen is a Ngunawal woman and a Director of Buru Ngunawal Aboriginal Corporation (BNAC), which is one of the founding member organisations of Landcare ACT. Karen’s passion lies in safeguarding the rich cultural heritage of the Ngunawal people, ensuring it thrives for future generations. She actively raises public awareness about the significance of Ngunawal traditional women's culture as part of advocating for protecting and preserving Ngunawal cultural sites within the natural environment. 

Karen sits on Dhawura Caring for Country Committee and ACT NRM Advisory Committee.  In her local community of Yass, she is deputy chair of the Onerwal Local Aboriginal Lands Council,  Member of the Aboriginal Consultative Committee & the Economic Development Committee both under Yass Valley Shire Council.  Karen is also on the Landcare ACT Members Council where she has thoroughly enjoyed being with like-minded people, and feels that nominating to be on the Landcare ACT Board is the next important step.

Philip Prentice

Philip is a chartered environmental engineer and experienced team leader. He currently offers consulting services via his business, Prentice Eco Systems, with the goal is to measurably improve organisations’ environmental and financial performance.

Philip’s career so far has included leading an ACT Government business unit’s operations with over 50 employees, an annual budget over $30M, and financial delegation up to $1.5M, authoring and leading stakeholder engagement for three major ACT Government environmental management documents, and creating and running a financially sustainable small business.

As Treasurer of the Southern ACT Catchment Group since 2019, Philip has improved the organisation’s financial literacy and security.  

Miranda Gardner

Miranda has been involved in environment volunteering for her whole adult life, including 13 years in the ACT, and would love the opportunity to serve on the Board of Landcare ACT. She is convenor of her local Landcare group, Holder Wetlands Volunteer Group, and has been a member of several on-ground groups, as well as having worked for the National Landcare Network, and is currently chair of the Southern ACT Catchment Group. 

Miranda has a good understanding of local ecology and land management, not-for-profit governance and financial management, and education and behaviour change programs gained across her professional and volunteer roles in the environment sector. She also has experience of funding negotiations between government and Landcare organisations, and designing and reporting on funded programs.

Ken Hodgkinson

Ken is a CSIRO environmental scientist and active landcarer. He has university degrees in agriculture (BAgricSc, PhD) and in ecology (DSc), led CSIRO’s National Rangeland Program for 11 years, served on scientific committees and boards, consulted by ACT Government for scientific advice on managing native grasslands and was recently a member of the ACT Scientific Committee. 

Ken convenes the Native Grassland Restoration Landcare Group and is currently Deputy Chair of the Ginninderra Catchment Group. The Native Grassland Restoration Group is conducting research on the long-term effects of prescribed fire and mowing regimes on critically endangered grassland ecosystems, and ways of adding locally extinct plant species.

Annual Report