Meet the Team
Our dynamic team, based in our Hobart office, is a group of knowledgeable and passionate people with skills across a range of areas, including conservation, land management, marine sciences, administration and project management. Want to be part of the team? Keep an eye on our careers page for opportunities as they arise.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Nepelle Crane
CEO
Nepelle has been working in the natural resource management field in Tasmania for over 15 years, working in Local and State Government, at the University of Tasmania, and across the farming, seafood and forestry sectors. She has a passion for finding connections and commonality between people, and has demonstrated that it is possible to have business success and improved environmental outcomes. Nepelle loves spending time with her family – camping, bushwalking, fishing, snorkeling, landcaring, cooking and painting.
todd nation
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & OPERATIONS MANAGER
Todd is an experienced business manager with a demonstrated history of developing and delivering key initiatives across the environmental, agricultural, and higher education sectors. He has LEAN certification and is passionate about process improvement, knowledge transfer and joining dots to develop new opportunities and create partnerships. As a graduate of the Tasmanian Leader’s Program and with extensive experience in strategic HR, Todd enjoys building high-performing teams, positive culture and effective people processes. Todd oversees NRM South’s corporate services, operations, and business development function.
joss fenton
FINANCE MANAGER
Joss is a CPA qualified accountant and has worked with a wide range of businesses and NFPs over the past 25+ years in Tasmania, mainland Australia and the UK. This experience, combined with family history in agriculture and being brought up near the Derwent River estuary, has resulted in Joss’ strong passion for Tasmania’s environment and sustainable industry practices. Outside of work, Joss greatly enjoys water-based activities, travel and time spent on kunyani/Mount Wellington.
dr. cindy hull
PROGRAM MANAGER – BIODIVERSITY AND RLP
Cindy has spent the past 20 years working in the environmental management sector, with a particular focus on bird conservation. With a PhD in avian ecology, her work has taken her to Victoria, Macquarie Island, Antarctica and Canada. Cindy manages NRM South’s biodiversity projects and oversees the Wedge-tailed Eagle offset fund and Orange-bellied Parrot project. She is also involved in a variety of other projects ranging from weeds to penguin monitoring in the Derwent. Cindy is passionate about Tasmania and can often be found exploring its parks and reserves, or enjoying all that the state has to offer.
jennifer hemer
Program Manager – Water and Marine
Jennifer has more than 20 years’ experience working in natural resource management, STEM education and community engagement. She loves to develop collaborative and diverse partnerships to achieve impact. Her research background is in fisheries biology, and she has experience working across different levels of government, research organisations, not for profits and the private sector. Jen is happiest by the sea and can often be found exploring the great outdoors by foot, bike, or paddle. She’ll usually have a set of knitting needles stowed somewhere in her bags.
james stronach
Program Manager – Agriculture and Carbon
James has a diverse career leading change in multiple sectors. He developed an interest in sustainable food systems during his time as Deputy Director for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture. At TIA, he led programs that brought together government, community, academic, philanthropic and commercial interests and now continues this work with NRM South. James is passionate about Tasmania’s natural landscape and when he is not photographing it, he is often found at one of Tasmania’s world-class mountain bike parks.
CORPORATE TEAM
Amelia Jensen
Administration Officer
Amelia has previously been working as a Consultant in the Energy, Resources and Utilities industry. She is new to the island, transitioning to the NRM Sector while also studying Marine and Antarctic Science. In her spare time, Amelia can be found hiking, surfing and eating the amazing food Tasmania has to offer.
Nathalie Laurence
Communications Officer
Nathalie has been working in the NRM field for the last decade, and draws on her environmental management background to help with project administration and developing communications content. She has worked internationally on global conservation projects and spent many years in Australia’s tropical north studying Top End wildlife and ecosystems before moving to Tasmania in 2015. Nathalie is an advocate for strengthening local food networks and can usually be found pottering around her food and flower garden with her two dogs on her own plot of rural paradise in the Huon Valley.
Billy Pangestu
Finance Officer
Billy brings extensive experience in finance and administrative support for in consulting, healthcare and government industries to the NRM South team. He has a proven track record in managing accounting transactions, bookkeeping, payroll, and financial reporting and is motivated to support more efficient workflows and continuous improvement in NRM South’s finance operations. He has completed a Bachelor of Professional Accounting at Macquarie University in Sydney. He is currently working on completing his CPA program and in his spare time he enjoys playing basketball, eating and travelling in Tasmania.
Maudie Brown
Business Development Officer
Maudie transitioned from the resources industry to the NRM sector in 2017, bringing a raft of transferable skills and a passion for protecting Tasmania’s unique and wonderful flora and flora. Maudie spent several years managing threatened species conservation projects for the organisation before taking an extended period of leave. She has recently returned to work in a business development role and looks forward to embracing the opportunities to broaden her skillset that her new role offers. Maudie enjoys bushwalking, camping, yoga, live music, dancing, cooking and gardening. A firm believer in distributed urban food systems, Maudie is researching and planning the development of a food forest on her suburban property.
LAND TEAM
tim ackroyd
Senior Project Officer – Agriculture | Regional Agricultural Landcare Facilitator
Tim helps to deliver on-ground agricultural projects across our region. He works with farmers, industry and community to share information on sustainable agricultural practices and support NRM South’s Agricultural Program. Tim has been with the NRM South team since 2012 and during this time has worked tirelessly to provide landholders with the necessary skills and knowledge through workshops, field days and on-ground trial work to assist them in building on their land management practices. Originally from the UK, he previously helped to manage public reserves in his role as a Countryside Ranger – work which included using cattle as a management tool to improve native pastures and rare heathlands (a popular practice in the UK and Europe).
nick macgregor
Project Officer – Land
Nick recently completed his Bachelor of Environmental Management with the University of the Sunshine Coast where he developed a keen interest in the engagement and collaboration with First Nations peoples in the environmental space. He gained NRM experience through internships in Bendigo, Victoria and South East Queensland. Having recently moved from the Sunshine Coast, he is excited to join NRM South’s Soil Extension and Farming Forecaster programs and explore what Tasmania has to offer in hikes, music, surfing and motorcycle riding.
yolanda hanusch
Project Officer – Land
Yolanda’s academic background is in entomology and agroecology, and she a keen interest in promoting insect-plant interactions and their ecosystem and biodiversity functions in agricultural landscapes. Originally from Germany she completed many of her studies in Tasmania, where she focused on ecological direct-seeding and native tree-planting in the Midlands. Her PhD thesis examines species-compositions and floral usage of beneficial flower-feeding insects (pollinators, natural pest-enemies) in orchards and small-scale diverse cropping systems in Tasmania and NSW. After moving back to Tasmania in 2022, Yolanda is excited to call the island home again, adventure out into agricultural landscapes, cycle to the office, make compost and watch another garden grow.
belinda neilsen
Regional Soils Co-ordinator
Belinda joins the NRM South team as Regional Soils Co-ordinator for Tasmania. With a background in agricultural science, specialising in soils and horticulture, Belinda is keen to be out and about across the state, getting to know anyone and everyone involved with Tassie soils. As a part of Australia’s National Soils Strategy, Belinda’s role looks to identify and support regional priorities for soil management, as well as investigating broader linkages into other state and national activities. When she’s not out chatting soils, Belinda can be found making the most of Tasmania’s natural landscapes and fresh produce.
BIODIVERSITY TEAM
dr. cat young
Senior Project Officer – Zoology
Catherine has a research background and extensive experience working with Tasmania’s threatened fauna. She has a broad interest in conservation and ecology with a particular focus on birds and their breeding habits. Her research has enabled her to work on a variety of taxa and environments around Australia, South Africa and the UK. When not in the office or watching birds, Catherine likes to bake and try her hand at new crafts like felting, cyanotype or crochet.
sophie golding
Senior Project Officer – Biodiversity
Sophie has spent her career working across diverse environments from remote communities in the Northern Territory and the Pacific to the urban ecology field in NSW. She has extensive experience managing projects, in community engagement and working with landowners. Sophie is passionate about contributing to the conservation of Australia’s biodiversity and is driven by the opportunity to make a positive impact working alongside the community. She recently relocated to Tasmania with her partner and new bub and is excited about exploring the area and surviving her first winter. When she can, Sophie enjoys climbing, hiking and drawing what she finds in nature.
WATER TEAM
laurel mcGinnity
Water Program Coordinator
-ON MATERNITY LEAVE- Prior to transitioning to the NRM sector, Laurel spent nine years working in the resource industry in Queensland and New South Wales on various projects including site revegetation, coordination of water extraction and discharges and monitoring and management of biodiversity offsets and nature reserves. She is working on an NRM South-led project to improve the ecological character of the Moulting Lagoon and Apsley Marshes Ramsar sites. She enjoys going to the gym, walking her dogs, hiking and exploring the great outdoors in Tasmania.
grace isdale
Senior Project Officer – Marine
Grace manages the Fisheries Habitat Restoration Program with projects at Pittwater-Orielton Lagoon and North West Bay, as well as the Blue Carbon Ecosystem Restoration project. She has an academic background in zoology, geography, and writing, and holds an Honours degree in marine biology during which she investigated immunonutrition in Atlantic salmon. Grace has experience working in the Tasmanian fisheries industry, providing support to the state’s commercial fishers, marine farmers, and processors, and promoting the seafood industry to the wider community. She can usually be found climbing, hiking and exploring the outdoors, or at home reading or baking.
zak wheaton
Project Officer – Water
Zak is working on NRM South’s Handfish conservation project and provides project support for the Tasmanian Smart Seafood Partnership. Zak has a Marine Ecology background with a particular interest in exploring novel techniques and technologies for the purpose of environmental restoration. His honours project explored how soundscape manipulation could be used for oyster reef restoration. Having moved to Tassie this year Zak is excited by the prospect of working to conserve and protect the diverse and unique ecosystems our island has to offer, as well as continuing to hike and surf.