Background notes (177kB)

HELEN GEE (Keynote Speaker), a wilderness activist, was a founding member of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society. Helen has co-ordinated many wilderness and forest protection campaigns and was compiler/editor of The South West Book, a Tasmanian Wilderness (1987) and For the Forests (2001)...more

BOB BROWN Senator Brown is the National Spokesman of the Australian Greens in the federal Parliament. A former Director of Tasmanian Wilderness Society he has played an inspirational role in the campaigns for wilderness and world heritage protection, most notably in the Franklin and Lower Gordon areas.

JAMIE KIRKPATRICK is Professor in the School of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania and President of the Institute of Australian Geographers . With major interests in natural vegetation and garden ecosystems he is the author of many publications on forest and heritage conservation.

JOHN SINCLAIR runs Go Bush Safaris, an outdoor excursion firm specialising in visits to Australia 's world heritage areas. Best known for his defence of Fraser Island , John was in 1987 the author of a salient report to the federal government on proposals for a national wilderness policy and programme.

KEITH MUIR is the Director of the Colong Foundation for Wilderness with the Foundation and before that worked with the Total Environment Centre. Keith has been at the centre of wilderness campaigning in New South Wales for many years.

ALEC MARR is National Campaign Director of the Wilderness Society. He has been involved with many wilderness campaigns, notably in the protection of Tasmanian forests and other wild areas. In 2005 he was a speaker at the World Wilderness Congress in Alaska .

VIRGINIA YOUNG is national Wild Country Program co-ordinator for The Wilderness Society. Based in Canberra , Virginia is currently focussing her efforts on TWS's Wild Country Project.

HAYDN WASHINGTON is an environmental consultant based at Nullo Mountain in the northern Blue Mountains who is currently conducting research for a PhD thesis on wilderness language. He has been involved with many wilderness campaigns most notably the defence of the Colo. He is the author of several books including A Sense of Wonder .

PETER PRINEAS is a former Executive Director of the National Parks Association of New South Wales. He was centrally involved with the development of the NSW Wilderness Act of 1987 and is the author of several books and reports on wilderness , including Wild Places (1983 and 1997) and ‘Australia's Wilderness an Inventory' (1986).

GEOFF MOSLEY (Conference Director) is an environmental consultant and a former CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation. He has been involved with wilderness research, campaigns and education since the early 1960s and coordinated each of the four previous national wilderness conferences.

IAN BROWN (Workshops Coordinator). After a long field career with the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, Ian is now a consultant in heritage communications and protection and a freelance photographer and writer. His main wilderness interests are in the Blue Mountains (where he lives) and Cape York Peninsula .

PETER THOMPSON (Chair) is a well known broadcaster with the ABC. Peter has a background which includes working as an ACF South West Tasmania project officer. He is the author of several books including Power in Tasmania (1981).

Background notes (177kB)