Committee

Dr Lachlan (Lachie) McCaw AFSM, Chair

Lachie McCaw is a Fellow of Forestry Australia and a Registered Forestry Professional (RFP) with skills in native forest management.

He has extensive experience in bushfire research and management with a focus on forests, woodlands and shrublands of Western Australia and has published more than 90 journal articles and book chapters on fire.

He gave evidence to the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission on the role of prescribed burning in forest fuel management. Lachie was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal in 2021 and is an active volunteer firefighter with his local bush fire brigade.

Dr Tegan Brown

Tegan is a land and fire manager working at the intersection of research, policy and implementation in Victoria, Australia. Starting her career as a Science Graduate with the Victorian government, Tegan has worked across bushfire planning and recovery, forest policy and planning and climate fire research.

Tegan completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2022, and then a post-doctoral research fellowship at the US Forest Service’s Missoula Fire Lab, where she focussed on physiology-based approaches to estimating flammability in living vegetation.

Tegan currently works in the Applied Fire Science team for Forest Fire Management Victoria, focused on future fire and land management under climate change.

Neil Cooper PSM

Neil gained a Bachelor of Science (Forestry) degree from ANU in 1982, after which he held various forestry, land management and fire related positions, before commencing at ACT Forests in 1986.

Following the devastating 2003 Canberra fires,  Neil was appointed to the position of Senior Manager of Fire Forests and Roads with the ACT Parks and Conservation Service, responsible for all fire issues across the 150,000 ha of unleased Territory Land in the ACT with additional responsibility for all ACT commercial forestry operations and all rural road maintenance. Neil was a director on the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC) Board for over 10 years; Chair of the Forest Fire Management Group (FFMG) for 12 years, and the ACT Representative on the Forestry and Forest Products Committee (FFPC), a Ministerial subcommittee, for 20 years. In 2010 he was awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM) for his involvement in the national and international fire sector.

Neil “retired” from the ACT Government in 2021 and is now a part time farmer while also being contracted to CSIRO as the Programme Manager for the National Bushfire Intelligence Capability (NBIC) project that aims to achieve uniformity in the way bushfire risk and bushfire intensity is mapped across Australia.

David de Podolinsky

David has worked in fire management on the public land estate since 2009, in both field based and operational planning roles.

He has spent this time in forests of the Victorian Central Highlands, working to minimise the impacts of bushfire on local communities, forests, and Melbourne’s water supply catchments.

From an early stage in his career, David became interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the forest environment he was working in, which inspired him to complete a Master of Forest Ecosystem Science with the University of Melbourne.

Peter Leeson

Previously a Forester and Senior Forester with the Queensland Department of Forestry and Dept of Natural Resources from 1980 to 2002 in several areas including Beerburrum and Gympie, Peter transferred to the Qld Parks and Wildlife Service in 2002, where he developed an increasing specialization in forest fire management and fire investigation. As Principal Conservation Officer, Fire Management, Peter’s primary role was in operational development, fire training, fire investigations and inter-agency liaison.  

Peter is now with Burning Issues and Solutions, providing specialist fire investigation, incident analysis, and investigation training services.

Gary Morgan AM AFSM

Gary was previously a Chief Fire Officer (9 years for Public land in Victoria) and the CEO of the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (7 years) before retiring.

Today he continues to undertake occasional consultancies and a range of voluntary activities.

Mark Poynter

Mark is a professional forester with over 40 years’ experience working for both government and private industry mainly in Victoria and Tasmania, including over 20 years as an independent consultant.

He is Forestry Australia Fellow and has been a regular commentator on forestry issues in the public arena for many years, mainly via online media outlets. He has written two books on the enviro-political campaigning against native forest management, including the implications for forest and fire management.

Ruth Ryan AFSM

Ruth Ryan has over 40 years’ experience in forestry and fire management in Australia. She is the Principal Consultant for Waroo, a consulting business in forestry, fire and natural resource management.  She has extensive experience in commercial timber production and previously worked as Corporate Fire Manager for HVP Plantations.  She is a Registered Forestry Professional with recognised skills in fire management and softwood plantations.

Ruth is an experienced firefighter, with operational roles in major and minor fires since the 1983 Ash Wednesday Fires. Ruth has been appointed Captain of three Victorian Country Fire Authority Forest Industry Brigades. She is a Fellow of Forestry Australia and in 2018 was awarded the Australian Fire Services Medal for outstanding leadership to the Country Fire Authority’s Forest Industry Brigades and plantation fire management.

Anthony Walsh 

Anthony Walsh is a Registered Forestry Professional (RFP) with 30 years experience in land management throughout Australia, much of it in senior management roles.

He is the General Manager of the Green Triangle Fire Alliance on a contract basis through his consulting company, Apical Management.

Anthony’s fire experience includes high level engagement with fire authorities, developing and implementing fire management systems for numerous plantation estates throughout Australia, undertaking incident management team roles and operational firefighting – both locally and during campaign fires.