I pay my respect to the Traditional Custodians of the Wangal Land that I live on, and the Cammeraigal Land that I work on. I extent this respect to all First Nations people and acknowledge their long and continuing relationship with Country despite all the odds.
Gael graduated from the University of Sydney in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours, majoring in genetics and biology. In March 2021, she joined ZAA as a Project Support Officer, assisting members in implementing recovery actions for native species impacted by the 2019/2020 bushfires. Since February of 2022, Gael has taken on the role of Conservation and Population Management Support Officer. In this role she splits her time evenly across the ZAA Species Management Program Team and the ZAA Threatened Species Unit/Centre for Species Survival Australasia.
Within the Species Management Team, Gael is responsible for supporting the operation of ZAA’s Species Management Programs, including stakeholder relationship management, upskilling of members in small population management and ensuring appropriate documentation and reporting. She assists with the coordination of three of the programs hosted by the ZAA office - Kea, Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby and Sumatran Tiger. She is heavily involved in strategic planning for species within the region, facilitating the development of 5-year Regional Species Plans. Gael also participates in and provides administrative support to the ZAA Wildlife Biobank Working Group, which is establishing a framework for the development of a network of accessible Biobanks within the Australasian region.
Within the ZAA Threatened Species Unit, Gael undertakes assessment and planning for native species in partnership with the Australian Federal Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). This involves evaluating the extinction risk of species to determine their threat status, producing strategic conservation documents to guide species recovery, facilitating stakeholder involvement in legislative processes, and supporting ongoing collaboration on the implementation of conservation actions via National Recovery Teams. Gael’s work is underpinned by the principles of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Species Strategic Plan, focusing on implementing the Species Conservation Cycle (Assess, Plan, Act, Communicate and Network) for positive conservation impact for Australasian native species. To support her work, Gael has completed CPSG’s Facilitating Species Conservation Planning Workshops as well as the IUCN Red List’s Global and Regional Assessor training.
In her spare time, you will often find Gael out sailing on Sydney Harbour or training her dog Fergus.