Meet our current committee members
Graeme O'Leary (President)
Graeme is very involved in local groups including being on the committee of the Friends of Edwards Point and a member of both the Friends of Point Richards and Ocean Grove Coastcare. He is passionate about maintaining and growing the on-ground community support for the unique biodiversity of the Bellarine. Graeme has worked with large corporations such as Westpac on their relationship team providing support in managing transactional and credit related products for the Government and health sectors. He has also been involved in staff support networks including those for LGBTI and Allies networks.
Beth Ross (Vice President)
Beth is a teacher at The Gordon, where her expertise is in plant identification, ecology and weed control. Beth has a contract to collect seeds for Australian Secosystems. She is on the Committee of Management of the Bellarine Secondary College Landcare Nursery, where she volunteers regularly and works casually as required. Beth is a committee member of Bellarine Landcare group, Friends of Ocean Grove Nature Reserve and a member of Geelong Field Naturalists and Friends Of Edwards Point. Beth is passionate about restoring our local ecosystems and preventing local extinction of our flora. Her hobbies include gardening, cooking, reading and botany.
Margot Busch (Secretary)
Margot is the current Secretary for the Bellarine Catchment Network. She has a background in community services and more recently in road safety education and walk/ride to school programs, home energy & water reduction program for low income households, and housing tenancy work. She currently works part time for a local diversity festival. She has connected with a couple of local volunteer environment groups since. She has been a committee member of Ocean Grove Coastcare since 2013 and her favourite outdoor activity is cross country skiing.
Michael Skinner (Treasurer)
Michael is the current Treasurer for the Bellarine Catchment Network. With qualifications in Outdoor Education, he has had a long interest and commitment to environmental causes. Michael is an active member of the Geelong Field Naturalists Club and Birdlife Australia and has served on the committees of Friends of the Bluff and Festival of the Sea. He is a great believer in the importance of and stewardship of our wild habitats. He admits to being a bird “nerd” and supporting citizen science projects. He also enjoys the challenge of taking vaguely in focus photographs of our avian wildlife.
General Committee Members
Andrea Dennett and Geoffrey Waite