NPA ACT is a volunteer conservation organisation. Our members give generously of their time to lead walks and work parties, post to our social media sites, prepare submissions, oversee publication of field guides, produce a monthly e-newsletter and a quarterly magazine, and organise monthly meetings. Other activities include liaising with ACT Government and ACT Parks, participating in and supporting research projects, and being represented on the National Parks Australia Council, which is the umbrella organisation for national parks associations across Australia. A committee elected by members at the annual general meeting and supported by several subcommittees oversees our activities and administration.
National Parks Association ACT Committee members
Dr Rosemary Hollow
President
Dr Rosemary Hollow
Rosemary joined NPA in 2020 after decades of working in environment and heritage management with the Australian and Tasmanian governments. A keen bushwalker and cross-country skier, Rosemary and her husband Mark have walked extensively in the Australian alps and completed the Australian Alps Walking Track in 2018. Rosemary’s vision for the NPA is for an organisation that attracts a diverse range of members across ages and backgrounds so it can continue to support the protection of parks and reserves in the ACT and NSW in the years ahead.
Jenny Barnes
Treasurer
Jenny Barnes
Jenny is NPA ACT Treasurer. One of the things she loves about the ACT is its identity as the bush capital and she is keen to support that through the NPA. She has recognised the power and importance of the environment from childhood. Environmental and sustainability matters have long been her area of work and interest, especially in water policy and programs, energy efficiency, climate change and agriculture.
Dr Esther Gallant
Immediate past president
Dr Esther Gallant
Esther was president from 2017 to 2022. She has been on the Committee since 2013. A life-long conservationist, Esther was a member of the American environmental organisation, the Sierra Club, for nearly 30 years and joined NPA in 1998. Esther worked in the field of muscle biochemistry and is emeritus professor at the University of Minnesota and the ANU. She enjoys many activities in the natural world including bushwalking, camping and photography.
Mike Bremers
Outings Convener
Mike Bremers
Mike has been a member of NPA ACT for about 35 years and regularly walks with the NPA. Mike is also a keen kayaker, well known for his long-distance journeys on the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin. With his daughter Angela, he is the author of Murray-Darling Journeys, which explores the history of significant rowing and paddling journeys on the rivers of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin over the last 200 years.
Allan Sharp
Promotions and Outreach Convener
Allan has been on the Committee for 5 years and a member of NPA ACT for more than 15 years ...
Allan Sharp
Allan has been on the Committee for 5 years and a member of NPA ACT for more than 15 years. He is also an editor of the quarterly magazine, NPA Bulletin. Allan worked for more than 40 years as a journalist in New Zealand, England and Australia, and in senior communication roles in the public and private sectors.
John McRae
Environment Subcommittee convener
John brings great on-the-ground conservation experience to NPA having worked with the ACT Parks Service ... John McRae
John brings great on-the-ground conservation experience to NPA having worked with the ACT Parks Service for 17 years – 5 of them as manager of Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve – until his retirement in March 2024. His career included a 3-year stint as manager of the Australian Alps Program. At Tidbinbilla he was closely involved with the threatened species program and its work on the Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby, Northern Corroboree Frog, and Grassland Earless Dragon.
Alison Russell-French OAM
Alison Russell-French OAM
A member of the Committee since 2022, Alison is a former career public servant, including 10 years as a senior executive in the federal Department of Environment. Since retiring from the public service, she has continued to work as a consultant on the environment and has been chair/president of the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust in Canberra since 2014. She was awarded an OAM in the June 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours for her environmental and community work.
Jennifer Carter
Jennifer Carter
Jennifer joined the Committee in 2022. Her career focus has been on conservation and public access – and her particular interest is in enhancing public awareness of national parks to ensure community support for ongoing protection. She has been involved in heritage conservation policy and practice for over 30 years in New Zealand, England, Italy and Australia and has worked in various natural and cultural heritage organisations, primarily in the public sector.
Rhys Harding
Rhys Harding
Rhys joined the NPA through the Rosenberg’s goanna project. He has lived in the ACT since 2014, and loves its spectacular hiking, mountain biking, and fauna. Rhys studied at the University of Canberra, CIT, and overseas, and has worked 7 years for the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment, and Water.
Ben Schutte
Ben Schutte
Ben joined NPA with the aim of doing a few walks ,but other commitments have left little time for walks, so he joined the Committee as a way of giving back. Ben has a life-long interest in nature and has a BSc in Zoology. He has been volunteering with Bush Heritage Australia for at least 10 years. As a committed Christian, he feels a duty to be involved in the stewardship of the land.
Marian Pearson
Marian Pearson
Marian previously worked in private enterprise in human resources and payroll management and been on various boards as director and president. She lived on the South Coast for 20 years, and worked in the Marine Rescue as a radio operator and in the catering section at the Rural Fire Service, including g during the 2019 – 20 Black Summer fires. She moved to Canberra in 2020 where she has continued to pursue her interests in the preservation of the environment, bushwalking, and travelling outback Australia.
NPA Office
Craig Watson
Office Manager
Craig Watson
Craig has been a member of NPA for a number of years. He’s an editor of the Bulletin and a regular volunteer for work parties and the Rosenberg’s Goanna project. He worked in the agricultural and environmental sectors for both state and commonwealth governments. After two years of retirement from full-time work, Craig took on our part-time Office Manager position in 2024.
When not involved with NPA, Craig can be found most often out and about cycling, kayaking and bird watching.
Maisie Walker Stelling
Secretary
Maisie Walker Stelling
Maisie grew up in north-eastern Victoria and moved to Canberra to study at the ANU, where she completed her Bachelor degree with Honours with the assistance of an NPA ACT Scholarship in Biodiversity Management in National Parks and Nature Reserves. She is currently undertaking her PhD at the ANU, looking at reintroduction and conservation of the Golden Sun Moth (Synemon plana). Maisie enjoys getting people excited about nature and science.