Secretariat
The Wentworth Group relies on a small secretariat to support the Group’s activities.
The Wentworth Group has been supported in its work by a number of scientists, policy analysts, lawyers, and other professionals. See our contributors list.
Debbie Medaris
Acting Director
Debbie is a passionate environmental services professional seeking to drive meaningful conservation outcomes for people and planet. She has a Bachelor of Science (first class honours) in Ecology and Conservation Biology from Griffith University and a decade of experience working in several Commonwealth and NSW government roles before moving to the NGO sector. Debbie has worked on a number of challenging issues ranging from species and ecosystem conservation to climate change adaptation to waste management and resource recovery. She also spent a year undertaking conservation research in Vietnam. Debbie has extensive skills in policy development and program management, and she dedicates her working hours to applying these skills to enhance the protection and restoration of Australia’s unique environment. In her free time, she enjoys connecting with nature and sharing the joy she takes from this with family and friends.
Dr. Celine Steinfeld
Director
Dr Celine Steinfeld is a geographer specialising in natural resource policy and management in Australia. She was awarded the University Medal in 2008 for research on floodplain development in the internationally significant Macquarie Marshes in the Murray-Darling Basin. After graduating, Celine worked in policy implementation at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. She was the inaugural recipient of the Peter Cullen Postgraduate Scholarship in 2009 and won the international River Management Young Achievers Award at the River symposium in 2012. She joined the Wentworth Group in 2015 with a passion for using scientific evidence to advance water reform and landscape conservation in a changing climate.
Michaelie Trenbath
Healthy Landscapes Project Officer
Lucy Broad
Strategic Communications Consultant
Lucy has joined the Wentworth Group as an independent strategic communications consultant. She has more than forty years of experience in strategic communications, media relations, stakeholder engagement and extension and behaviour change across rural and regional Australia including in the area of environment and sustainability.
Her career commenced as a rural reporter with ABC Radio, and over the following 23 years roles included reporting, producing and presenting a range of ABC radio and television programs, National Editor for ABC Rural, State Director for the ABC in Queensland and Network Scheduler across ABC’s Radio networks.
Lucy also has extensive senior management and leadership experience outside the ABC, as Managing Director of the full-service public relations business Cox Inall Communications (now part of Dentsu Creative), General Manager Communication and Extension with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and General Manager Communications with Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA).
In her most recent role as part of MLA’s executive leadership team, Lucy oversaw all strategic communications including reputation and crisis management, media relations, stakeholder engagement, events, MLA membership and producer communications, and the sheep and cattle sector’s Sustainability Frameworks.
Siobhan Isherwood
Healthy Landscapes Project Officer
Siobhan has a background in large-scale renewable energy development, renewable energy advocacy, environmental assessment, bush regeneration, and waste management and resource recovery. She is a passionate environmental scientist and experienced project manager. Siobhan has an environmental science degree (first class honours) from Monash University and is currently completing a Masters in conservation biology at Macquarie University. Her academic experience includes ecology, policy development, ecological economics, remote sensing and GIS, and climate change.
Michael Vanderzee
Policy Analyst – Water
Michael was formerly the Director of Strategy and Policy and a Senior Policy Adviser – Intergovernmental in the Victorian Office of Water. Most recently he was the inaugural CEO of the Winton Wetlands Committee of Management working on restoration of the former Lake Mokoan in North East Victoria. He has worked on national and Murray-Darling Basin water reform since early 2000, including restoration of Snowy River environmental flows, the Living Murray Initiative, and the introduction of the Commonwealth Water Act. He has worked for the Victorian and Commonwealth governments advising Ministers, central agencies, and departments on broad range of environmental and natural resource management issues. Michael’s work with WG is focused on ensuring one of the outstanding and most important components of the Basin Plan is achieved – removing constraints to allow floodplain forests of the southern MDB to receive environmental water. Without this the survival of river red gum and black box forests is at risk. He also provides policy advice more broadly on the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
David Miller
Policy Analyst – Water
David’s expertise is in water policy and water sharing plans in NSW. He has twenty years experience in NSW NRM agencies, specialising in water sharing plans. He has worked in every river in NSW and each of the main groundwater systems. He has extensive knowledge of water allocation including legislative and policy requirements, extraction limits and water licensing. He is currently working for the Wentworth Group as a consultant.