President
Rex Dusting is the KooyongKoot Alliance President.
As representative of the Friends of Scotchmans Creek and Valley Reserve (FSCVR), he has been actively involved with the Alliance since its inception – both on the committee and also contributing to field work, policy development, submissions, and the KooyongKoot Collaboration.
Rex, amongst other interests, has a passion for Australia’s natural environment and its effective protection and improvement. Living a childhood and adult family life mostly within the Gardiners (KooyongKoot) Creek catchment and with an urban water professional background, he has a strong personal interest in success of the Alliance’s objectives.
As well as KKA and FSCVR he has also been active at committee level in other community not-for-profit organisations. Rex is currently retired from full time employment. Previously he had a professional career in the urban water industry in technical, strategic, and executive leadership roles – as well as project development and delivery roles including managing large teams and budgets, community engagement and advocacy to government and other authorities.
KooyongKoot Catchment Keeper
The KooyongKoot Catchment Keeper is a very important role within the KKA. The Catchment Keeper acts as a voice for the creek and its biodiversity and also advocates for a strategic plan that involves all the major stakeholders, such as governments, landowners, businesses, educational institutions and the catchment community.
Graham Ross was engaged in the role beginning 1st December, 2022. Graham has a background in conservation and land management.
Graham has over 30 years of experience in the commercial property sector with a strong focus on sustainability. Since then, Graham has become active within the not-for-profit space, forming and working with several biodiversity focused advocacy groups.
Graham has a personal and professional interest in native revegetation. He has been involved in a number of reforestation initiatives in Victoria, is a board member of Greenfleet and is on the committees of the Victorian Environmental Friends Network and Rewilding Stonnington. He is a founding member of the KooyongKoot Alliance and was the organization’s first President. As part of his role as KooyongKoot Catchment Keeper, he is also a member of the Concerned Waterways Alliance and Urban Waterways Alliance.
With a wealth of experience across sustainability, land management, and real estate, Graham brings a unique perspective to his role as the KooyongKoot Catchment Keeper.
Vice-President
Frank Giorlando is Vice-President of the KooyongKoot Alliance.
Dr Frank Giorlando is a clinician-scientist with long-standing interests in environmental rehabilitation and community access to nature. He was a founding member of the Yarra Link project, which is primarily focused on revegetation and care for indigenous flora and fauna near the confluence of the Kooyongkoot (Gardiners Creek) and Birrarung (Yarra River).
Frank is also interested in how healthy waterways and natural environments can contribute to human well-being. Having undertaken research studies in neuroscience and neuroimaging, Frank believes that application of modern data-sciences and information technology tools can help shape our understanding of the determinants of health of natural
environments and lead to informed decisions regarding management.
Secretary
Pam Welsford is the inaugural Secretary of the KooyongKoot Alliance.
Pam has lived in the Gardiners Creek catchment for over 30 years. She has worked in education in secondary schools and as the education officer for Environmental teachers across Victoria. Pam was a Science teacher at Strathcona including the Hawthorn campus on the Yarra River where she initiated a revegetation program.
Pam has been president of Friends of South Surrey Park for over twenty years. The focus has been revegetating the park, so that the area becomes a significant aspect of the Back Creek biodiversity corridor.
As Secretary she has worked to:
- Establish KooyongKoot Alliance as an important charity
- Create networking opportunities for Friends Groups within the catchment
- Raise the importance of having a management plan for Gardiners Creek. Gardiners Creek is the only tributary of the Yarra River without an overall management plan.
Urban Guerrillas Representative
Sam Russell has initiated and leads a youth-based and very successful grassroots environmental organisation called the “Urban Guerrillas”. The Urban Guerillas aim to restore biodiversity to urban landscapes. The Urban Guerrillas often partner with the KKA in revegetation projects along the KooyongKoot Creek.
Sam coordinates and plans strategies with multiple stakeholders’ groups including Friends-of Groups, institutions, nurseries, local communities and Local, State and Federal Government.
Sam has a strong interest in ecological conservation and indigenous based management, implementing holistic frameworks to incorporate human and environment-based solutions. While studying, Sam has worked several years part-time in bush regeneration, learned conscientious understanding of habitat, communities and Ecological Vegetation Classes.
Sam’s group has already conducted several major revegetation events in the Gardiners Creek Reserve with the KKA and local community.