Our People

Phil is an ecological and heritage assessor and has been working in environmental fields since 1991. He has worked from the tip of Cape York to Tasmania in a broad variety of environmental impact or conservation proposals often in regional or remote areas. He has worked closely with Aboriginal communities, stakeholders and clients and provides services as an ecology Expert Witness for matters argued in the NSW Land and Environment Court.

Phil is an Accredited Assessor under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and enjoys offering impartial and evidence-based advice to clients to achieve effective outcomes.

Rowan graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 2015. He now combines this degree with his work as an Accredited Assessor under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. He is proficient at enabling clients to navigate the expanding and complex environmental regulatory framework.

Rowan has provided expert opinion in several matters before the NSW Land and Environment Court.

He has a Certificate IV in Government Investigations, focussing on the environment and heritage conservation regulatory framework.

Rowan is also accredited and experienced in auditing environmental management systems under ISO14001.

Rowan is experienced in leading environmental and heritage investigations, compiling evidence, and negotiating the appropriate management of sensitive environmental and heritage features.

Mel is an accredited auditor who is currently working towards becoming accredited as a Lead Auditor – Integrated Management Systems; including quality (ISO9001), environmental (ISO14001), and work health and safety (ISO45001:2018) management systems).

Mel has extensive experience in the development of management systems, as well as impartial and evidence-based auditing of compliance with conditions.

Addy has almost 20 years of biodiversity and ecology related experience. Addy’s experience ranges from captive vertebrate management including fauna population management, to monitoring and responding to environmental matters in the mining industry including management of biodiversity offset areas, to completing environmental assessments and community engagement as an environmental regulator for the NSW Government in the Environment Protection Authority gas regulation branch, to her current role as an Environmental Consultant. This broad scope of environmental experiences means Addy can provide a pragmatic response to varied situations, projects and problems.

Addy is an Accredited Assessor under the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme and can provide advice on the application of this scheme, as well as completing the required field assessment and reporting requirements under the Scheme, for developments and for private land conservation.

Dave has almost 15 years of horticultural and agricultural related experience and seven years of biodiversity and ecology related experience. Dave has undertaken a wide range of jobs in his time with AREA, is a senior ecologist at AREA with experience in field work and report writing for complex projects including flora and fauna assessments for Environmental Impact Assessments, Biodiversity Assessments, biodiversity monitoring reports. Dave has a particular focus on rehabilitation and vegetation management plans. Dave has experience in the horticulture / landscaping sector which allows him to seamlessly blend his skills and apply his knowledge to landscaping in the built environment, working with developers to satisfy Development Application conditions of consent to open spaces in urban settings. This can range from stakeholder advice to designing open spaces, streetscapes, and parks to developing vegetation management plans and rehabilitation plans.

Dave is an Accredited Assessor under the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme and can provide advice on the application of this scheme, as well as completing the required field assessment and reporting requirements under the Scheme, for developments and for private land conservation.

As part of the AREA management team, Dave can provide high level project management and stakeholder engagement. Dave’s broad skill base enables him to provide a pragmatic approach to problem solving for his clients.