Anna Murphy
Chairperson, director & HEAD OF FLORA ECOLOGY
Anna Murphy co-founded the Threatened Species Conservancy with Abi Smith in March 2018. She is passionate about threatened species and has longstanding experience in the development and implementation of threatened flora recovery and community engagement.
Anna has dedicated over 20 years of her career to biodiversity conservation in Victoria, South Australia and NSW. She has worked across State government, not-for-profit and tertiary education sectors.
Anna also has expertise in plant evolution, plant breeding systems, and pollination ecology.
Ben Thomas
DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON & SENIOR LANDSCAPE ECOLOGIST
Ben has 15 year’s experience working as a Landscape Ecologist for state and local governments as well as a number of not-for-profit organisations.
Ben has wide-ranging expertise including: island pest-eradication; threatened flora and fauna recovery; fire and biodiversity interactions and grassland conservation.
Richard Brenchley
SECRETARY
Richard is an Architect and Director of Dock4 Architects. Richard has a wealth of experience working on State and Local Government projects. Through these experiences, Richard developed a strong understanding of the various external pressures that can be exerted on community projects. In addition, his original training and practice as a Quantity Surveyor in Hobart and overseas has given him a valuable insight into cost management and cost control.
Abi Smith
treasurer, director & HEAD OF FAUNA ECOLOGY
Co-founder Abi Smith has extensive experience in the area of threatened flora and fauna recovery, animal husbandry and wildlife management.
Abi has worked for federal and state government, not-for-profit organisations as well as zoos and museums. In these positions she developed recovery strategies, undertook ecological research and managed large scale habitat rehabilitation projects. In particular, Abi has expertise in faunal ecology including ornithology and herpetology, with a special interest in island conservation and translocation ecology. Most recently, Abi’s skills in avian ecology saved the Norfolk Island parakeet from the brink of extinction.
Abi holds a Masters of Environment.
Dr Joss Bentley
BOARD MEMBER & SENIOR FAUNAL ECOLOGIST
Dr Joss Bentley has worked as a threatened species ecologist for more than 30 years for both government and not-for-profit organisations, including the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Bush Heritage Australia and the Tasmanian, South Australian, Queensland and New South Wales governments. In these positions she has been responsible for the development and implementation of recovery plans, threat mitigation and reintroduction/translocation programs for a range of taxa.
Joss has expertise in the development of monitoring programs for threatened species and experience in reserve management. Throughout this time she has maintained an active involvement in threatened species research, and has held adjunct research positions with a number of universities.
JAMIE ROCKLIFF
BOARD MEMBER & SENIOR OPERATIONS
Jamie has spent his whole working life managing land in one form or another. For many years he managed outback pastoral stations, before becoming Operations Manager for the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. In this position he was responsible for managing over a million hectares of conservation estate spread across southern Australia. His responsibilities included pest and weed control, infrastructure (including predator-proof fences), fire management and OHS, as well as a large contingent of staff and volunteers. He also played a key role in fund raising.