“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
AIM: to introduce learners to a range of experts, perspectives and interested people related to the issue who set up their wish for how the issue might be solved. These interviews and profiles show the diverse people and careers involved in saving the koala.
Rebecca Montague-Drake
Koala Ecologist
Learning Areas:
Science, Technology, Geography
Rebecca is a scientist whose love of being outside and curiosity about koalas has led to a life working in the forests, radio-tracking koalas, seeking to understand what makes a tree an especially good koala tree (not all trees are equally yummy) and how we should protect koala habitat – the trees in which koalas live.
Linda Sparrow
President, Bangalow Koalas
Learning Areas:
Civics & Citizenship, Geography
Linda loves koalas, but she’s worried about how many challenges they face. Her way to help was to get together a group of friends and start protecting and planting trees. The idea grew and grew until now they have a big plan to create koala corridors and plant a quarter of a million trees for koalas.
Margot Law
Project Officer
Learning Areas:
Civics & Citizenship, Geography, Science
Margot is the Koala Officer for her Shire Council, which means that she works to convince people to set aside land for wildlife. She talks about trying to conserve koala habitat in perpetuity in the Southern Highlands – that means homes for koalas, forever. To get that right, Margot and her colleagues are mapping how many koalas are where.
Martin Smith
Parks Ranger
Learning Areas:
Science, Geography
Martin Smith is a Ranger with the New South Wales National Parks & Wildlife Service. He is
an Incident Controller, Operations Manager and Planning Officer for bushfires and has spent
thirty years protecting koalas. He talks about lots of things, from drought to how far a koala ranges (sometimes a long way), and what kind of music trees like best.
Billie Roberts
Senior Project Officer, Saving our Species
Learning Areas:
Science
Billie works on koala conservation projects. She works for the New South Wales government
on a project to make sure koalas are out there in the wild for the next 100 years. Billie is trying to secure a future for koalas and this means she knows a lot about flying-foxes – find out why.
John Turbill
Threatened Species Officer
Learning Areas:
Science, Technology, Geography
John Turbill has a different way of finding koalas. To help find koalas, John been working with consultants with specialised koala detection dogs. These dogs are trained to sniff out the scent of koala scat. That means poo. And there’s a lot a scientist can tell from koala poo.
Kai Wild
Arborist and Koala Rescuer
Learning Areas:
Civics & Citizenship
Kailas Wild is a pro tree climber, or arborist. He had experience of koala rescue, so when he
heard about the Kangaroo Island bushfire in the summer of 2020 he immediately wanted
to help. He spent seven weeks with the rescue effort, climbing trees to bring injured koalas
down so that they could be treated and released. He’s been in the media and campaigns for
koala conservation.
Cheyne Flanagan
Clinical Director, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital
Learning Areas:
Science
Cheyne Flanagan is the Clinical Director of the hospital, and a trained Wildlife Biologist. We talked about what it’s like to try to save koalas from the worst injuries – burns, smoke, disease and road accidents. Cheyne has some suggestions on what students can do to help.
Chels Marshall
Cultural Systems Ecologist
Learning Areas:
HASS – History, Science
Chels has a PhD in traditional seasonal knowledge and climate change. She talks about the experience of saving a joey koala as a young Ranger. She is involved in many things including Aboriginal cultural koala management plan and a koala sanctuary. We talked about the koala storyline for the Gumbaynggirr people and the mountain whose name means ‘koalas rolling down the hill’.
Jim Kinkead
President, Tregeagle Landcare group
Learning Areas:
Civics & Citizenship
Jim is the volunteer President of the Tregeagle Landcare group. Landcare works with
other organisations and communities to create koala habitat. They plant trees to join up
fragmented habitat into corridors that enable koalas to move around the landscape.
Mark Wilson
Trees Officer, Friends of the Koala
Learning Areas:
Civics & Citizenship, Science
Mark is the Trees Officer with Friends of the Koala, a voluntary group that began 30 years ago to plant habitat trees for koalas. They plant about 50,000 trees in a year and in recent years have set up care facilities for koalas. Mark and I spoke about tree planting and koala carers.