Our team

Karen is an experienced executive with a passion for leading change through people. A dynamic communicator with established government, water sector, First Nations and community networks, she has demonstrated experience working with diverse stakeholders to reach collaborative solutions on complex policy issues.

Kane has extensive experience in facilitating partnerships between government, industry and academia for addressing complex water management challenges. Kane joined Watertrust Australia from the Goyder Institute for Water Research, where he was Director and successfully developed it as a leading collaborative water research partnership within Australia.

Kate has over 20 years’ experience in regional development, project facilitation and building partnerships across diverse stakeholder groups. A proud Territorian and Northern Territory (NT) Rural Woman of the Year in 2017, Kate's strengths are in fostering relationships and having the resilience to tackle long-term goals.

Peter has a background in environmental and agricultural sciences with experience in partnership brokering, often in complex contexts. Before joining Watertrust Australia, Peter spent 25 years working in the Indo-Pacific region on strengthening agricultural livelihood systems that are being challenged by major shifts in the natural resource base, climate and markets.

Chris is an experienced land and water management practitioner and organisational leader, with extensive experience bringing together government policy, community values, science, knowledge and a systems/resilience approach to improve catchment health.

Mike is an experienced practitioner with over 20 years’ experience in water policy, river health, and environmental water management, underpinned by a background in freshwater ecology and deep knowledge of the Murray–Darling Basin.

Kylie is a seasoned professional with over 15 years' experience in operations, people leadership, project management, and stakeholder engagement.

Leila was drawn to water management because of the immense value of water and the complexity of its management. Her undergraduate studies brought together the science of water and an understanding of policy making through a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the Australian National University.

Mikayla has a background in Earth and environmental sciences with experience in international food security and water management. Before joining Watertrust Australia, Mikayla worked across domestic and international domains designing effective and sustainable research projects to support healthy river systems and rural communities.

Sophie brings a strong foundation in both communications and administration to the Watertrust team. With a Bachelor of Communication and Media (Journalism), she combines her passion for storytelling with exceptional organisational skills to support the effective delivery of Watertrust's mission.