Aunty Lois Cook is from Aboriginal Cultural Concepts. Aunty Lois is a Traditional Custodian of Ngangbul Country in the Bundjalung Nation of Eastern Australia. Ngangbul lands extend from Brunswick Heads in the north, through Byron Bay and Ballina, to Wardell and Cabbage Tree Island on the Richmond River, then to Evans Head in the south.

Aunty Lois has a diverse and rich background and has been involved in performing arts, education, and administration.

Olivia Katz is an American photojournalist and filmmaker. She moved to Australia in November of 2019. Soon after her arrival in Australia, the Blacksummer bushfires intensified and Olivia travelled south to document what was unfolding. The scenes were confronting and the devastation was vast. It was after this expedition that she founded her platform, The Heart Atlas—an independent platform for stories that draw light to injustice and inequity, within the realm of humanitarian, social and environmental issues. Since its inception, The Heart Atlas has delivered stories on the bushfires, climate change, biodiversity loss, the pandemic and most recently the catastrophic floods in the Northern Rivers. While Olivia’s love of photography will never be diminished, she recognizes the power of filmmaking is unparalleled in its capacity to deliver a nuanced, complex and deeply moving story. Olivia is currently directing a documentary “Out of the Mud” which examines the aftermath of the floods in the Northern Rivers, advocating for holistic solutions around housing and the restoration of our natural environment upon which all life depends.

(www.outofthemud.com.au) (www.theheartatlas.com/)

Peter Wigley is the CEO of Tiny Homes Australia Pty Ltd and also the current NSW State Lead for the Australian Tiny Homes Association (ATHA).

Peter is a staunch advocate for Tiny Homes. He regularly engages with councils, planning authorities, and the government about social and affordable housing outcomes. Peter has had global experience as CEO of Destiny Consulting in Asia and was President of the Australia Vietnam Business Council (AVBC) in Hanoi, Vietnam.

He is the main contact for your journey in owning your own Tiny Home. His ethos is connecting people, families, and communities.

Phil Dudman is a horticulturist and garden designer with a passion for growing organic food and teaching others. When he’s not out in his patch, he’s hosting the Good Gardening radio program on ABC North Coast or busy in his role as Horticultural Editor of ABC Organic Gardener magazine. He’s also a regular contributor to ABC Gardening Australia magazine, an author for ABC Books and, in a previous incarnation, a TV presenter on Channel 9’s Garden Gurus and Prime News.

Phil hosts monthly Grow Your Food workshops in his backyard patch in Lismore, where he demonstrates the simple methods that allow him to produce 75% of his household’s fruit and vegetable needs.

Professor Amanda Reichelt-Brushett has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Coastal Management, a Master of Science in Marine Chemistry, and a Ph.D. in Marine Ecotoxicology.

Amanda has 30 years of experience in investigating human impacts on the environment. Her research focuses on enhancing our understanding of the sources, fate, and consequences of containments in our environment and includes several subthemes. The general theme of her research incorporates catchment management and the interactions between the land and sea in the context of pollution inputs and habitat management. Now having research collaborations with state, national and international organizations to evolve new ways of thinking that can contribute to solving complex environmental problems we face.

Robyn Francis is a world-leading permaculture designer and educator based in the Northern Rivers where she has created Djanbung Gardens, a living permaculture demonstration farm near Nimbin. She is founding director of Permaculture International and Permaculture College Australia and was instrumental in the national accrediting of vocational qualifications in permaculture.

Francis is passionate about empowering people with practical skills in earth-friendly living and design.

Ross Smith is a retired Queensland High School Principal and a past District Governor of Rotary International.

He has volunteered on Rotary Projects involving education and health issues in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Tanzania. He currently works for the University of Sydney on Prostate Cancer research and is a Rotary ambassador for the Malaria Vaccine Project at the Glycomics Institute within the Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus.

He is member of the Rotary Club of Burleigh Heads and is a keen cyclist.

Samala Heart is Ballina Shire Council’s enthusiastic and collaborative waste education officer.

Having spent the past 20 years in the waste industry, she’s coordinated a range of projects including regional business waste reduction, circular economy solutions, and combating illegal dumping. In her current role, she’s passionate about implementing school and community-based behaviour change programs that aim to reduce barriers to successful resource recovery and increase participation in simple actions that avoid waste in the first place.

Seb Crangle is a sustainability consultant specializing in home energy efficiency and energy management. His work supports households to lower their energy consumption and carbon footprint, by implementing customized, practical solutions for a range of budgets.

He is an accredited assessor with the Residential Efficiency Scorecard program, assessing homes to provide energy ratings and improvement options. He also works as a consultant to the Victorian and NSW State Governments and locally has joined the Board of the organization Zero Emissions Byron.

Tim Williamson is the Director of Regional Development (DRD) for Regional Development Australia-Northern Rivers. Tim has over 20 years of experience in regional economic development, working for State and Commonwealth governments before taking on his current responsibility.

During this time, Tim has been responsible for planning, coordinating, and facilitating regional economic development from working one on one with local SMEs through to strategic economic planning at the regional level. Becoming interested in how regions can adapt and move to a Circular Economy has been an outcome of this strategic level work and he believes Northern Rivers is extremely well placed to become a
national CE leader.