Chairperson – Daniel Scarparolo
I’ve been with Project Numbat since 2006, starting off as the Treasurer and webmaster before becoming Chairperson in 2010. I’m very passionate about promoting the objectives of Project Numbat to make a real difference to the conservation of the Numbat in the wild. I’m keen to see our group grow and reach as wide an audience as possible to raise awareness about our state fauna emblem.
Vice-Chairperson – Vicki Power
I have always had a deep passion and concern for wildlife, particularly our native Australian mammals. I have been very fortunate to have a wonderful career spanning 30 years working as a zoo keeper and wildlife presenter, here in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. During that period I have had the opportunity to work with many of Australia’s threatened species including some exotic species.
My earlier years of my career were spent in QLD working as a wildlife attendant caring for sick & injured Koalas & other native animals. The past 24 years I have spent at Perth Zoo as senior zoo keeper and later as Native Species Breeding Program co-ordinator, which I held for 14 months until I retired on maternity leave. During that period the section was awarded the ARAZPA 2003 “In Situ Conservation Award” and a high commendation for innovation in zoo-keeping for the Predator Training Program for Numbats. I currently hold the position as Numbat species co-coordinator and studbook keeper and have also represented Perth Zoo on the Numbat Recovery team. More recently I have been working on the captive management program for critically endangered frogs of the south-west region of Western Australia.
I am also representing Project Numbat Inc as a numbat recovery team member.
I truly believe that people can make a difference by supporting conservation initiatives to help preserve our native mammal emblem, the Numbat, from disappearing forever.
Treasurer – Eva Wiehl
I am relatively new to Project Numbat, but having grown up in the country on a farm I’m no stranger to the many unique native fauna and flora our beautiful State has to offer. As a Chartered Accountant by trade I feel humbled and honoured to be able to give something back to the local community in a real and tangible way. I hope my skills will make a difference to the life and survival of our native Western Australian fauna emblem.
Secretary – Renee Kruger
I have always had a passion for the environment and native species conservation, which led me to complete a Bachelor of Science majoring in Environmental Science and Conservation Biology. I have since been a keeper at Perth Zoo since 2005, working with a wide range of Australian animals within the Native Species Breeding Program (NSBP) and the Australian Fauna Sections. My work at NSBP has allowed me to be involved in the breeding for release of numbats, as part of the Numbat Recovery Plan which aims to conserve the species.
Committee Member – Kristy Eriksen
I have recently moved to Perth from Queensland where I worked at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary for the five years. I studied Wildlife and Protected Area Management at University and have always wanted to be involved with wildlife in some way. Australian wildlife has always been a passion of mine, but living on the east coast of Australia my whole life meant that I had never even seen a Numbat! So when I started working at Perth Zoo I found out about Project Numbat and decided to join the Committee. I feel that as I have a lot of friends and family on the east coast, I can spread the message to them about Project Numbat.
Committee Member – Rosemary Johnston
Fundraising Officer – Dani Jose
My interest in native wildlife developed at an early age and led me to do a degree in Biological and Environmental Science. Whilst completing my degree I started volunteering at Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Gooseberry Hill where I was given many opportunities to further my knowledge and experience in rehabilitatiing wildlife as well as being involved in the Bilby breeding program in association with the Department of Environment and Conservation as part of its Western Shield Program. I assisted with this program for ten years, carrying out monitoring and releases of animals at Dryandra. This also led me to complete an honours project in the effects of predator training on Bilbies and Western Barred Bandicoots. Having volunteered with Numbat surveys also, my interest in these amazing animals grew.
I have worked at Perth Zoo since 2001, firstly on the Australian section, but for the last two-and-a-half years on the Native Species Breeding Program. This is where my true interest lies. I am now the main Numbat keeper and hope that we can help to make a difference in the conservation of this species.
Committee Member – Leanne Kelman
I have lived in WA my whole life and have been working with Australian wildlife for about six years. I started working at Perth Zoo in 2009 and am also currently working for the RSPCA. I am an avid supporter of Animals Asia, Free the Bears, and the Koala Foundation and when I found out about Project Numbat through a Perth Zoo keeper I thought it would be a great opportunity to take more action. I have previously been a part of a conservation and community engagement project for the Western Swamp Tortoise and am particularly fond of WA natives. I think Australian animals are highly under-rated and I would like to be a part, no matter how small, in the conservation and promotion of awareness, for these unique species.
Committee Member – Myrto Robert
I have always been interested in the protection and conservation of animals. When I arrived in Australia in 2008 to undertake a double major in Conservation and Wildlife Biology and Molecular Biology, I discovered the exceptional fauna of Western Australia. While doing my work experience at Perth Zoo in the Native Species Program, I learnt about the condition of the Numbat in the wild and decided to join the cause as a member and then to be even more involved being a member of the Committee.
Committee Member – Warwick Smith
Merchandise Officer – Emily Trainer
My whole life I have had a fascination with Australia’s native wildlife and always knew that I wanted to be involved in their conservation.
I have completed a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science at UWA, focusing on units in wildlife ecology and management. As a component of this I undertook an honours project studying the genetic differences between different populations of Little Penguins around Australia from a conservation perspective. I have also volunteered at the Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, working closely with the Bilbies. I have worked as a keeper at Perth Zoo since 2007, both with the Australian Fauna Section and the Native Species Breeding Program. I have enjoyed caring for a wide range of animals during this time but the Numbats have really captured my heart. I feel very lucky to be able to work closely with these beautiful and unique animals and it is great to be involved with Project Numbat, which plays an important role in helping secure their numbers for the future.
Committee Member – Dawn Forder
Department of Environment and Conservation Representative – Tony Friend
As a new Ph.D. graduate in Zoology in 1980, I was fortunate enough to be appointed to the position of Research Officer with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife with the task of carrying out research on the numbat, to determine why its numbers had plummeted in the late 1970s and to work out management strategies to help the species recover.
This led to a very satisfying and enjoyable career in wildlife research and management in Western Australia, during which I have continued my involvement with this beautiful little marsupial. This work has included demonstrating that fox control results in increasing numbat numbers, the first successful captive breeding of numbats, and involvement in the establishment of seven new numbat populations across the country. I chair the Numbat Recovery Team and lead the Department of Environment and Conservation’s numbat recovery project.
I am now based in Albany, where I also coordinate programs on other threatened marsupials, including Gilbert’s potoroo, dibbler and red-tailed phascogale.
Malleefowl Preservation Group Representative – Susanne Dennings
I am the fourth generation of a North Ongerup family on a wheat and sheep property settled in 1912. My family history, particularly my mother, Kaye Vaux has strong conservation interests. Kaye and a group of Ongerup citizens formed the Ongerup Conservation Group in the 1960s that was instrumental in helping to save the Fitzgerald River National Park from further clearing and mining.
As an inaugural member of the Malleefowl Preservation Group Inc. (Ongeurp -1993), I worked for 12 years in a voluntary leadership and management capacity. During that period the MPG won five state environmental awards and extended its projects and membership to a statewide organisation.
I have served six years as a board member with Greening Australia, Western Australia; was the driving force in working with the Albany community to develop the “Friends of the Gilbert’s Potoroo” group; and was a West Australian member of the National Malleefowl Recovery Team. I work with grass roots community members and landholders and I am a great believer in ‘less rhetoric, more action’!
On behalf of Project Numbat, we believe that Susanne’s willingness to offer support and practical advice to similar groups such as our ‘Project Numbat’ group is our gain.
Curtin University Representative – Christine Cooper
I completed my PhD at the University of Western Australia in 2004, during which I studied the physiology and behaviour of the Numbat. I examined the energetic, hygric and thermal physiology of the Numbat, and how these related to its diet, behaviour, phylogeny and geographical distribution. This project, carried out in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Conservation and Perth Zoo, contributed substantially to our knowledge of the biology of this unique marsupial, and we now have an improved understanding of how Numbats meet their energy, water and temperature requirements.
My work on Numbats has lead to a career as an ecophysiologist, and I have continued to study the physiology and ecology of terrestrial vertebrates, particularly birds and mammals. I am currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Environmental and Aquatic Sciences at Curtin University, where I teach undergraduate courses in animal biology, supervise postgraduate students working on a range of physiological and ecological projects, and conduct ecophysiological research.
Numbat Conservation Fund Board of Management
The Numbat Conservation Fund is for tax deductible donations made to Project Numbat. The funds generated are used for conservation activities and projects that align with our objectives. The Board of Management oversees the expenditure of these funds.
- Dr Christine Cooper
- Ms Liz Dempster
- Dr Tony Friend
- Dr Cree Monaghan
- Ms Vicki Power
