Cecilia Riebl, Co-President
Cecilia has worked for more than 15 years in environmental law, policy, strategy and markets. Currently she is leading the development of a permanent protection methodology under the Nature Repair Market on behalf of the Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA). Previously she worked as Trust for Nature's dedicated senior policy advisor, leading policy and government engagement at the national, state and local level to remove barriers and increase support for nature conservation on private land. Cecilia has been the Regional Representative for the International Land Conservation Network (ILCN) since 2021, helping to build a global community of conservation practitioners. In 2009 she completed a Masters in Climate Policy at the University of Cambridge
Dr. Phillipa McCormack, Co-President
Dr Phillipa McCormack is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow at the Adelaide Law School and Environment Institute, Adelaide University. She began her career in legal practice and then as an Associate at the Supreme Court in Victoria, before completing a PhD on biodiversity law and climate adaptation. Her research now broadly centres on climate and environmental law and governance. Phil is currently leading a major project titled: ‘Preparing Australia for a fiery future: Strategies to guide law reform’, focused on laws that can facilitate adaptation and conservation as extreme fires become larger, more frequent and more destructive.
Brendan Sydes
Brendan is an environmental lawyer with a background in not-for-profit management, policy advocacy and law reform. He was a principal lawyer and CEO at Environmental Justice Australia from 2005 to 2020. Brendan currently works as National Biodiversity Policy Adviser to the Australian Conservation Foundation. He is a Senior Honorary Fellow of the University of Melbourne Law School where he teaches environmental law. Brendan is President of the Committee of Management of Connecting Country, and a member of the Research and Conservation Committee of Birdlife Australia.
Bronya Lipski
Bronya Lipski is an experienced environment and planning law and policy poindexter, currently leading the Clean Energy Council’s work navigating the many planning and environmental complexities of the renewable energy transition. Her work includes policy development and law reform in nearly every Australian jurisdiction to find practical solutions to the tensions inherent in three entwined wicked problems: energy transition, climate change, and biodiversity decline. Bronya is a planning and environment lawyer and undertook law reform and litigation for several years at public interest environmental legal practice Environmental Justice Australia, and lead Environment Victoria’s policy and advocacy work as their Policy and Advocacy Manager.
Emma Garlett
Emma is Director of Garlett Group, an independent 100% Indigenous owned and led consulting firm dedicated to creating impact across Australia. Garlett Group specialises in providing tailored, client-focused solutions that drive inclusion, innovation and social impact in critical areas. Emma's work at Garlett Group spans five key service areas: ESG Advisory, Research and Analysis, Stakeholder Engagement, Data and Digital and First Nations Advisory.
Faith Roche
Faith is an LLB / B. Science student at the University of Sydney, interested in the intersections of environmental law, Indigenous land rights, and ecological management. Her work explores how legal frameworks shape landscapes and communities, with a particular focus on rights of nature, decolonisation, and adaptive governance.
Dr. Laura Schuijers
Dr Laura Schuijers is a Barrister at the Victorian Bar and lecturer at Sydney Law School. She has fifteen years of experience in environmental law, and a particular expertise in climate change and climate litigation across a broad range of practice areas. Her research explores the science-law interface, including the way in which scientific information is communicated in court, and she enjoys working with experts and expert evidence. Laura is a member of the NSW Bar Association (serving on the Climate Change Committee) as well as the Victorian Bar Association. Laura teaches 'Environmental and Climate Science in Court' at the University of Sydney, where she recently also served as Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law. Before joining the faculty at Sydney and being called to the bar, Laura practised as a solicitor in environmental law at DLA Piper, completed a PhD on the capacity of the legal system to manage environmental risk (with visiting scholarships at Oxford and Columbia), and undertook a postdoctoral fellowship as the Foote Fellow in Climate Solutions at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. She is a member of the World Commission on Environmental Law.
Dr. Mat Hardy
Mat is project lead for the Environmental Markets Participation Initiative (EMPI) project, a DCCEEW-funded initiative to investigate, develop and trial engagement and extension initiatives to support landholders in understanding and navigating environmental market initiatives. Mat brings over 15 years’ experience within nature conservation on private land and related fields, and a substantial background in environmental markets as both researcher and practitioner. Mat’s previous roles include leading the nature markets team at Trust for Nature (Victoria), where he oversaw its revolving fund, biodiversity offsets and public policy programs, and was part of the design team for the Victorian Government’s BushBank (nature restoration for carbon storage) program. Mat has a keen interest in bringing together research and practitioner experience to develop pragmatic, evidence-based solutions to environmental challenges.
Nicola Silbert
Nicola is a senior lawyer at Environmental Justice Australia, where she uses her litigation expertise to support communities fighting for nature and threatened species protection. She began her legal journey as a lawyer at the Environmental Defenders Office and as a researcher (associate) to the Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of NSW. Nicola has a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from Monash University and a Master of Laws (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Dr. Paul Govind
Dr Paul Govind is a Lecturer at the Macquarie Law School, Sydney Australia and Deputy Director of the Centre for Environmental Law at Macquarie University. Paul convenes units in Environmental Law, Planning Law and Climate Law.
Paul’s research sits at the intersection of environmental law/biodiversity law/planning law and value change. He has carved out a distinct research niche that looks at the application of relational values to environmental decision-making. Paul is also Regional Director of the Global Network on Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE) for the Pacific, a Board Member of the National Environmental Law Association (NELA) a member the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) Biodiversity Law Specialist Group and a member of the Editorial Board of the Chinese Journal of Environmental Law.
Sarah Brugler
Sarah is research fellow with an Australian Research Council ‘Discovery Grant' at the Law School, University of Tasmania. Her research investigates the role of conservation covenants in facilitating ecological restoration and adaptation to climate change. Sarah has extensive experience working in environmental legal practice and was formerly Legal Counsel at Trust for Nature, Victoria's dedicated private land conservation organisation. Prior to joining Trust for Nature, Sarah worked as a lawyer for Environmental Justice Australia on EJA's nature protection law reform work and prior to that, as a lawyer for ClientEarth's biodiversity program in London. Sarah has also worked as a commercial property lawyer for Eversheds LLP (UK) and Henry Davis York (Australia).
