David Reid is the inaugural Chairman of the BRF. He is also the current Chairman of the Busselton Water Board, a position he has held for 7 years. David comes from a fourth generation South West family with a farming background of more than 100 years.

David is a previous Councillor and Shire President of the Bridgetown-Greenbushes Shire Council. He was the hosting Chair of approximately sixteen Shires at the "Conference on the Blackwood" in 1989. In 1990 he acted as Foundation Chairman of the Blackwood Basin Group, continuing as Chair for nine years. He served as founding Chair of the South West Catchments Council for a period of six years. He was selected by the Government in 2001 to Chair the Western Australian Floodplain Management Council. The Council developed a flood plain strategy for Western Australia.

A Bridgetown beef and dairy farmer, Derek is passionate about community-driven management of natural resources and has overseen strict adherence to good governance practices at the Blackwood Basin Group in his role as chairman for many years. Derek has served as a Bridgetown-Greenbushes Shire Councillor for eleven years

Retired Ecologist and Principal Research Scientist with more than 50 publications in scientific journals and books, Per has spent a lifetime working in the area of Natural Resource Management. Initially starting work in forestry in Kenya, he spent the bulk of his career in Western Australia as a researcher working on forest ecology and fire ecology. He also has many years experience in predator control and native animal re-introduction not only in south west forests but also in the arid interior and on the Peron Peninsula. He served for 12 years on the Shark Bay World Heritage Scientific Advisory Committee for the Shark Bay World Heritage Property. After retiring from a research career Per spent 7 years on the Board of the Western Australian Forest Commission as Deputy Chairman as well as practicing as a consultant ecologist. For the last 6 years he has been a member of the Blackwood Basin Group including two years as one of that group's representatives on the South West Catchments Council.

Pierre Horwitz - Associate Professor

Academic Qualifications B.Sc.(Hons) (University Western Australia) Ph. D. (University of Tasmania)

Pierre Horwitz is an aquatic ecologist with 25 years' experience in wetland management, including the areas of invertebrate ecology, systems ecology, environmental history, community-based participation approaches, wetlands and human health, and together the pursuit of interdisciplinary studies into the role of ecosystems in the human condition.

Pierre also has over 30 years of scientific experience with the Blackwood River, its associated wetlands, and freshwater crayfish fauna.

Peta Richards is an extension officer with the NRM program of the Department of Agriculture and Food. Peta is interested in integrating NRM and agricultural production, her work has largely been in the area of improving irrigation and nutrient management on farms throughout the state.

Following a personally requested transfer to the Manjimup office, she has developed good relationships with local landcare groups including the Warren Catchment Council and the Lower Blackwood LCDC. Involved in extension work from strategic planning to on-ground delivery, Peta is experienced in successfully communicating with a range of audiences.

Peta holds an Agribusiness (Marketing) Degree (hons) and has a personal interest in maintaining the health of the Blackwood River and its communities.

Wayne became involved in community NRM when working with Ross George, Don Crawford and the NRM Steering Committee in developing the first South West Regional Strategy and inaugurating the South West Catchments Council (SWCC).

Wayne has been an inaugural member and board member of SWCC, an inaugural member of GeoCatch and Leschenault Catchment Coordinating Group and a member of the Blackwood Basin Group.

Wayne's approach is to integrate regulatory and management initiatives in a community partnership framework that enhances the opportunities that arise to change behaviours and improve the condition of the region's waterways health.

A 5th-generation Katanning farmer, Mick's passions are sustainable land use and communities. As a committee member of the Katanning, Wagin, Woodanilling and Beaufort River LCDCs, the Blackwood Basin Group's upper catchment representative, a member of the South West Catchments Council Association, Chairman of the Lake Ewyamartup Restoration Committee and the Secretary Treasurer of the Blackwood River Foundation, Mick pursues his passion with much energy and enthusiasm.

Angela Wardell-Johnson is an Environmental Sociologist at Curtin University in Western Australia. Angela's research focuses on concepts of resilience in linked social and landscape contexts through identifying rationales for decision-making in complex adaptive landscape systems.

The landscapes Angela has researched include the Blackwood Basin in Western Australia, SW Australia, SE Queensland, Outback and Far Northern Queensland, Western Queensland, the Channel Country in Queensland, coastal tropical Queensland and southern Africa.

Angela's research explores the relationships between social capital, sense of place and environmental discourse in landscape contexts. To do this Angela integrates social and landscape scale through qualitative and quantitative methods.