Board Members

President - Ian Campbell has Bachelors and Masters degrees of Agricultural Science and is a farmer at Deans Marsh, running beef cattle and sheep. He and his family have used tree planting and Whole Farm Planning to transform an overcleared and eroded farm into a sustainable and productive property. Ian has also worked professionally as a sheep advisor, as a lecturer in Animal Production and most recently as Manager of the Department of Agriculture in the Falkland Islands.

 

Co-ordinator and Public Officer - Andrew Stewart, Agricultural Scientist (B.Ag.Sci and Dip.Ed) and 4th generation Otway farmer ("Yan Yan Gurt West"). His farm produces prime lambs, wool, beef, native flowers and various tree products from integrated, multipurpose agroforestry plantings. Andrew is a founding member of the Otway Agroforestry Network and the recipient of many Landcare and farm forestry awards, including the 2020 $50,000 Bob Hawke Landcare Award.

 

Board Member - Rowan Reid, Forest Scientist (B.For.Sci and Masters For.Sci.), Otway landholder and tree grower for 35 years on his Bambra Agroforestry Farm and author of "Heartwood - the art and science of growing trees for conservation and profit". After leaving his full-time academic position at Melbourne University, Rowan is a fellow of the University of Melbourne (Agroforestry lecturer since 1991), managing director of the Australian Agroforestry Foundation. Rowan is the originator of the Australian Master Treegrower program. There have been more than 120 MTG courses delivered around Australia and about 50 overseas (Africa, Indonesia, Timor Leste and Vanuatu).

 

Board Member - Mike Robinson-Koss (Bachelor of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Dip Ed)) is the co-owner of Otway Greening Australian Plant Nursery, where they specialise in growing local species for rural landscapes. Mike is a founding member and past president of the Otway Agroforestry Network, a graduate of the first Master Treegrower course in 1996 and has helped deliver many Master Treegrower programs around Australia and overseas, including Uganda and Timor Leste.

 

Vice President - Becky McCann (M.For.Ecosys.Sc., B.Sc(Bot)) grew up on the family dairy farm near Cobden, SW Victoria. She has worked across the NRM sector: Coordinator for the Heytesbury and District Landcare Network; executive positions on the Victorian Landcare Network, initiating a regular NRM radio segment and undertaking project officer work with the SA state government. Becky has recently returned to the family property to become the third generation to manage the land.

 

Site Visit Co-ordinator - James Kidman has a Science Degree with Honours majoring in Botany, Conservation and Australian Wildlife. He grew up in the Otways and from an early age help his father salvage timber from the State Forest for musical instrument makers. He worked for Practical Ecology in bushland restoration and ecological consulting, before pursuing an Indigenous Land Management course at Melbourne University. This led to a role as an Indigenous Protected Area Co-ordinator in South Australia. Activities included cultural burns, cultural knowledge trips, weed control, threatened species monitoring and ranger training. He became the manager of the Land Management department, working closely with the APY Land Council and other state and federal departments. Returning to Melbourne, James worked as a seed collector for VINC Nursery and Australian Ecosystems before returning to the Otways to focus full-time on harvesting instrument timber from the forests of the Otways.

 

Membership Officer and Treasurer - Deb McSephney has degrees in Linguistics and Business Management. She lives in Pennyroyal in the foothills of the Otway Ranges. She and her husband manage a farm that produces grass fed beef and seasonal garlic. They became interested in agroforestry following a multi-year Landcare project to revegetate the creek and water courses running through their property. Deborah joined the OAN in 2018 and graduated from the 2019 Master TreeGrower Program. Deborah worked for ANZ bank and has extensive project management experience. She was a Board member of the Lorne Community Hospital from 2016-2019.

 

Board Member - Adam Nash recently retired as Associate Dean of Digital Design at RMIT University. He completed the Master TreeGrower Program via Heytesbury Landcare in 2022 after moving to a property west of Port Campbell. He is a volunteer nursery worker, an active member of Landcare and a casual worker with the company Direct Seed. Adam is also a professional artist with a still active 40 year career exhibiting all over the world. He hopes to apply his creative thinking and problem solving abilities to support the objectives of the Otway Agroforestry Network. Adam joined the Board in December 2023.

 

Board Member - Louisa Jane Cunningham (BA-Bcom and GradCertCom) was co-opted on to the Board in 2024. She is involved in her family farm at Shelford growing crops and sheep. She is passionate about growing trees and incorporating their use on the farm for biodiversity and to improve and protect the land for future generations. Her background includes public relations and marketing roles and being a board member of various organisations including: The Leigh Catchment Group, the Adult, Community and Further Education Board and the Southern Australian Livestock Research Council.