OceanEarth Foundation has a talented and experienced Board of Directors that guides and shapes our strategic direction and policy, oversees our performance and compliance, and ensures effective governance.
Diane Tarte
Chair, Director
Diane Tarte is Chair of the TierraMar board and a Director at Marine Ecosystem Policy Advisors, with over 40 years experience in the protection and management of marine and coastal areas. She is also the Independent Chair for the Dry Tropics Partnership for Healthy Waters and a member of the CSIRO Oceans and Atmospheric Committee. Diane specialises in providing advice on policy and programs addressing research and management of marine, coastal and catchment areas with particular focus on ecosystem based management of catchments, waterways and fisheries.
Over the past 35 years she has been involved in the protection and management of the Great Barrier Reef and Australian tidal wetland areas, the development of government planning and management policies and legislation focusing on integrated coastal zone management and Oceans Policy, and the involvement of the community in the management of marine protected areas, coastal wetland reserves and rehabilitation of riparian zones.
She has contributed to a range of shipping and ports forums, most recently the Water Space Working Group for the North-East Shipping Management Plan, and the implementations of the Queensland government’s Sustainable Ports Act.
Specialties:
Marine ecosystem based management
Ecosystem approach to fisheries management
Ecosystem based catchment and waterways management
Tidal wetlands resource assessments
Monitoring, evaluation and reporting
Strategic advice on policy and programs
Stakeholder engagement
Workshop facilitation
Publications: https://independent.academia.edu/DiTarte
Tarte, D. and T. Hughes. 2020. Review of State Party Report on the state of conservation of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (Australia). Report prepared for the Australian Marine Conservation Society. https://www.marineconservation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/World-Heritage-Report_February-2020_web.pdf
Peter Cochrane
Director
Peter is a Councillor and Vice President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. He chairs the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS), Australia’s Tropical Herbarium, and the Marine National Facility National Benefit Assessment Committee. Peter is a member of the Australian Heritage Council and an Assistant Commissioner with the NSW Natural Resources Commission. He was Director of National Parks in the Australian government, from 1999-2013. He has a BSc and Master of Public Policy (ANU), is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW.
Imogen Corlette
Director
Imogen is a graduate of Sydney and Melbourne Universities. She's a communications strategist who works with people to craft stories that inspire action. She has worked with a wide range of people and industries including the arts, academia, politics and science. She led the NSW Government's Drought Communications Taskforce for two years helping rural communities in particular. Following this she led communications for the bushfires, flood and COVID border closures. She's passionate about sustainability in all its forms.
Sue Fyfe
Director
Sue is an environmental scientist with 20 years experience as an executive in the public sector, leading environmental policy, science, natural history collections, information and data initiatives. She has led programs in blue carbon, environmental science, environmental economic accounting and national state of the environment reporting as head of the Environmental Science and Nature Based Solutions branch in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. She was director of Biodiversity Science at the Australian National Botanic Gardens for 4 years including as deputy director of the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research and Australian National Herbarium. Sue has a PhD in marine sciences focusing on seagrass health, and a BSc honours in vegetation ecology and spatial sciences. She has hands on experience in teaching, research, environmental consulting, horticulture, bush rehabilitation and in local council.
Anissa Lawrence
Managing Director, Founder
Anissa Lawrence has a diverse background in environmental science, coastal and marine natural resource management (NRM) and conservation, environmental communication, business and risk management. She has over 24 years experience in developing and communicating strategic solutions and managing people, projects and businesses towards sustainability. As the Managing Director and Founder of TierraMar, Anissa has worked to build the capacity of NRM and conservation programme delivery agents in the private sector and governments to achieve better outcomes. This work has included strategic assistance to develop regional and national conservation frameworks, programme development, implementation and assessment, monitoring and evaluation framework development and implementation and the review of on-the-ground conservation and NRM projects.
Anissa has previously held leadership positions in a number of Australian conservation NGOs where she focused on improving the sustainability of Australian fisheries and coastal and marine ecosystems. In these roles she provided effective policy and governance advice and delivered industry, government and community partnerships, as well effective large scale strategic education, communication and extension programmes to industry and on-the- ground coastal habitat conservation and rehabilitation programmes.
She has held senior positions in a number of leading international consulting and professional services firms where she provided expertise in environmental, business, operational and technological risk management, systems and process design and control, and strategic planning and management. Anissa has worked across nearly every industry sector and with all types of organisations from blue chip companies to government departments both nationally and internationally in this capacity.
Anissa has a Bachelor of Business and a Masters in Environmental Science. She is also an Australian Chartered Accountant a Certified Environmental Practitioner (CEnvP), a Marine Stewardship Council accredited assessor and a fellow of the Winston Churchill Trust.
Recent publications: Co-author, Marine Policy
Dr Ray Nias
Director
Ray has a Bachelor’s Degree in Science (Flinders University) and a PhD in Zoology (UNE). From 1988 – 2009, he was the Director of Conservation for WWF Australia and led the development of WWF Australia’s large and growing program of conservation related activities including the management of research, policy development, advocacy, and community outreach programs. In 2009, he helped establish TierraMar with the aim of assisting organisations that work on coastal and marine conservation issues in Australia, South-east Asia and the Pacific. From 20012 – 2018, Ray was the Director, Southwest Pacific Region for the international NGO Island Conservation.
Leigh Thompson
Director
Leigh is a qualified Accountant (CPA) and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has qualifications in Project Management, Carbon Accounting, Sustainable Energy and Sustainable Resource Management, with a particular focus on emissions reduction and carbon sequestration through nature-based land solutions and land rehabilitation. Leigh holds a Bachelor of Commerce (UON), Grad Diploma Environment & Climate Emergency (Curtin) and Grad Diploma in Sustainable Energy (UOQ). She has been involved in projects focussing on decarbonisation in high carbon emitting industries including underground mining, wastewater, and waste management, creating workshops and training materials for management and staff. She is passionate about solving problems in a holistic manner and creating realistic solutions to achieve true carbon neutrality.
Jo Rowell
Company Secretary
Jo Rowell serves as the Company Secretary at TierraMar. Her professional journey, spanning over two and a half decades, commenced with a decade-long tenure in marketing and advertising in the UK and New Zealand.
Following the attainment of an MBA and accounting qualifications, she has dedicated the past 15 years to overseeing financial management within the realm of small businesses.
Over the past four years, she has chosen to leverage her financial expertise in the not-for-profit sector, complemented by her graduation from both the AICD Company Directors course and Governance Australia Company Secretary course.
The wealth of knowledge gained through her experiences in marketing, finance, and governance positions her uniquely to contribute to businesses. Jo is currently in a career phase where she is eager to give back and make a positive impact on the world. Her commitment to working with not-for-profit organisations allows her to fulfill this desire.