Our places 
Chowder Bay
1. Can you share a bit about your career journey and how you came to join the Harbour Trust?
I headed up Australia’s two largest botanic gardens – in Sydney and Melbourne – and worked for a couple of years as a senior executive at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, in London. In 2023, after leaving Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria after 10 years as Director and Chief Executive, I was looking for something challenging and fulfilling I could do alongside spending more time writing and with family. With its blend of heritage, conservation, events and business, the Harbour Trust was a perfect fit – ‘similar but different’ to botanic gardens. It also brought me back to working alongside Sydney Harbour, where I spent many happy years at Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.
2. What did you study or train and how does this influence your role as a Member of the Trust?
I’m a botanist by training but my three decades in botanic gardens took me into management and gave me the opportunity to hone my communication skills. My love and knowledge of plants is an obvious connection but hopefully my ability to listen and make informed decisions is of even more importance in my role as Chair.
3. Are there any books, films or experiences that significantly influenced how you think about heritage and public spaces?
I’m an avid reader, mostly of fiction and history, all of which helps me better understand the world around me. Other than that, my preference is to visit and experience public spaces as the best way to become better informed about them.
4. What has been the most defining moment of your career so far?
A decision in 2004, as then Executive Director of Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, to remove and replace eleven Morton Bay Figs from beside Hospital Road, in Sydney’s Domain. Defining, because it was an informed and carefully considered decision which I was able to defend successfully in the public arena and in court. You can read more about it in my memoir, Evergreen: The Botanical Life of a Plant Punk (Thames & Hudson, 2022)!
5. What is your vision for the future of the Harbour Trust and its destinations?
For every Australian and every visitor to Australia to experience our extraordinary places. During my time as chair, I particularly want to achieve financial sustainability for the Harbour Trust: only then can we adequately protect, maintain, make accessible and interpret our sites. I’d also like the Harbour Trust to be a catalyst and leader in planning, caring and storytelling for the whole of Sydney Harbour.
6. Is there a lesser-known spot at a Harbour Trust destination that holds personal meaning to you?
I’m still discovering the many nooks and crannies in our portfolio but the former Marine Biological Station at Camp Cove, in Watsons Bay, is pretty special (it’s rarely open to the public but we plan to do so more often). I particularly like its connection with Russian biologist, Nikolai Nikoleavich de Miklouho-Maclay, who lived and worked there in the late nineteenth century. It’s a reminder that the Harbour Trust has custodianship above and below the water level, and that science is part of our cultural history and present.
7. Which recent project or initiative by the Harbour Trust are you most proud of and why?
I came in as Chair just as the landscaping was completed at Sub Base Platypus (which could well have been my answer to the last question!). The combination of restoration, interpretation and commercial use is as impressive as the pocket park featuring local flora I opened. That project, along with all our work, includes active collaboration with Traditional Owners.
8. What upcoming Harbour Trust project or initiative are you most excited about?
The master plans for Cockatoo Island / Wareamah, Middle Head / Gubbuh Gubbuh and North Head Sanctuary, all include exciting initiatives. In the next few years, I can’t wait to swim and then launch my kayak from Cockatoo Island, a $10.2 million project from the master plan funded by the Australian Government.
9. What role does tourism play in what the Harbour Trust sets out to do?
Tourism should be front of mind in everything we do. The more people who visit these amazing places the better – for them and for us. We conserve places and tell their stories so that others may experience them, not to lock them up.
10. What advice would you give someone to start a career in heritage management or conservation today?
Study, read and travel. Get as broad an education and as much experience as you can. And volunteering (for example with the Harbour Trust), is a great way to break into this field and to extend your knowledge.
The Members of the Trust are non-executive members appointed by the Minister for the Environment and Water. In accordance with the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Act 2001, this body consists of 8 members including the Chair as well as 2 members recommended by the NSW Government, one representing the interests of First Nations peoples and another who provides a local government perspective and experience. To see the full list of members, click here.
