Our Team
Meet our team of friendly Ballarat Wildlife and Conservation Inc (BWRAC) volunteer committee & founding members
Melissa Morey (President & Secretary)
Melissa has over 27 years experience in the corporate environment where she has worked in various companies that were ISO quality accredited.Prior to moving to Ballarat, she was the Secretariat for the Australian Federation of Medical Women (AFMW) for about 10 years. She designed and implemented various systems and processes to improve the AFMWs governance compliance. Melissa was instrumental in getting the organisation accredited with the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), acquired Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce as Patron of the AFMW, introduced the first annual report publication for the AFMW and managed the successful award nomination of Dr Desiree Yap who received an Australia Medal (AM) in 2020. Melissa was one of the six founding members of BWRAC, she joined in 2022 as Secretary & Treasurer. Melissa is also a registered Wildlife Victoria rescuer.
Rebecca St Ledger (Community Education Director)
Rebecca is an accomplished environmental management professional with extensive experience in project management and stakeholder engagement within governmental and non-profit sectors. She has a proven track record in directing environmental recovery projects, securing funding, and fostering multi-sector partnerships and is also killed in strategic planning, resource management, and environmental impact assessments. She has a Master of Sustainability (Environmental Management) and a Bachelor of Science (Zoology) and has a passion for biodiveresity conservation.
Lisa Paliaga (Ordinary Committee Member)
Lisa is a keen advocate of our native wildlife and an active member of the wildlife rehabilitation and care community her whole life.
Her first experience with the wider rehabilitation community was with Tehree Gordon at Jirrahlinga wildlife sanctuary in the early 1990's and again in 1999-2000, for lengthy stints under her tuition and guidance in the care of many species, especially koala rehabilitation.
After moving to Ballarat she had wildlife carer positions under two reputable shelter operators and attended a Diploma in Natural Resource Management. Lisa also has hands on experience with landscape management issues including weed control, pest animal management; and companion and target species habitat restoration.
She has a passion for the conservation and expansion of wildlife areas and the species that inhabit them, and the urban conservation of species forced to cohabit our city areas. Lisa seeks to enrich the environments available to our wildlife and better facilitate the care of injured or displaced wildlife where possible. She enthusiastically encourages members to approach her about improvements and ideas they may have, which may lead to a positive futuristic outcome for our native species. She hopes we can be a progressive and helpful force in the care and management of this changing environment, to have the best outcome available for all our native species.
Maxine Wilkinson (Community Education Subcommittee)
Maxine .
Laura Guest (Advocacy Subcommittee)
Laura is a passionate advocate for wildlife and nature, this shows throughout her dedication to wildlife and educating the community about what they can do to help wildlife and the environment.
She gained valuable experience at the Linely Park Sanctuary where she helped care for native animals, like the tawny frogmouth, wombat, emu, ostrich, and kangaroos as well as water birds.
Laura’s indigenous culture plays a big part in her passion for preserving the land and educating people on how they can do the same and looking out for wildlife. Her devo-tion to wildlife continues in many ways, from collecting donations to share amongst other rescuers and attending working bees to assist wildlife and conservation etc.
She hopes that we can work together in assisting wildlife and addressing issues as well as addressing the land management issues.
Benne Harrison (Communications Subcommittee)
Benne .
2022 Founding members of BWRAC:
BWRAC is run by volunteers. If you are passionate about our wildlife, we encourage you to Become a Member.
If you would like to contribute to our work then please consider making a donation.