About Us

Richard joined the WHA Board in July 2024 as Chair. He was a director of RSPCA Australia and was Chair for five years to 2023. He has previously been a director of Worksafe Victoria, Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority and several private companies, a Councillor for NH&MRC, Ambassador of Bridge the Gap Foundation, Development Committee Member at Menzies School of Health Research. He is a current examiner at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and a Champion for Palliative Care Australia. 

He is a registered specialist medical practitioner and Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the RACP. He has medical degrees from University of Adelaide and a Master of Public Health from Sydney University and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). He has experience in rural general practice, corporate and private occupational medicine, public health medicine, governance of private, government and NFP organisations, and multinational risk and leadership consulting.

Richard is a passionate practitioner of environmental, occupational and public heath medicine as well as an enthusiastic supporter of One Health and the central role of wildlife health in the future health of our planet.

Cameron Bell is a veterinarian with over 20 years of experience delivering government veterinary services in Victoria, Tasmania and abroad. Prior to this, he worked in private veterinary practice in south eastern Australia and undertook sub-antarctic marine mammal research. 
 
Cameron is currently the Manager Veterinary Science with Agriculture Victoria and in this role, he leads a team that provides technical and policy advice to the Victorian government on animal health and welfare issues. His professional interests include new and emerging animal diseases, disease surveillance, veterinary public health, and emergency response and preparedness, and he fosters a ‘One Health’ approach wherever possible. Cameron has also acted as the Chief Veterinary Officer for Victoria for extended periods. 
 
Cameron completed his undergraduate veterinary studies at the University of Melbourne and a zoology master degree by research at the University of Tasmania. He is a member by examination of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (veterinary epidemiology) and is a fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.

Andrew is the Director – Strategy and Support in the Environmental Biosecurity Office at the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. His work is largely focussed on reducing the risk of exotic environmental pests, weeds and diseases from entering Australia and minimising the damage of exotic pest incursions. Andrew has undertaken several roles within the Commonwealth Government and the Australian Federal Police dealing with biosecurity risk assessment and management.

Prior to joining the Australian Public Service, Andrew completed a medical research PhD and several post-doctoral research positions looking into malaria vaccine development with the University of Melbourne at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. This research identified malaria vaccine candidates using genomic analysis and examined immunological responses that protect against severe disease.

Andrew currently leads a team managing a program of projects that includes wildlife health and disease surveillance, wildlife exotic disease prevention, and diagnostics. The team is also developing biosecurity training materials for Ingenious Rangers, in addition to targeted biosecurity awareness raising and environmental biosecurity surveillance capability building.

Michelle commenced on the WHA Board in February 2024, and represents Animal Health Committee. Michelle is the WA Chief Veterinary Officer, and has held the role of WA CVO since 2013, and has previously held roles as Director Livestock Biosecurity in WA and Executive Director Biosecurity and Animal Welfare in the Northern Territory. Michelle has a long history of surveillance activities having had field roles in both private practise and government, and management roles in surveillance and emergency preparedness. 

Sharon is currently the Principal Director of the Office of the Australian Chief Veterinary Office within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Sharon has over 20 years’ experience in leadership positions throughout the agriculture sector, including as Executive Director of the (then) Wool Council of Australia. Sharon has skills and qualifications in strategic leadership, foresight, international business and business management, and emergency management. Sharon is also a Churchill fellow and graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Throughout her career, Sharon has had extensive experience across industry and government advocating for producer’s interests, delivering strategic initiatives and complex programs, leading international engagement and capacity building activities, and delivering innovative animal health and biosecurity policy outcomes. She is an experienced strategic foresight practitioner and enjoys designing and implementing strategic policy pathways to both move issues forward from the past or to create preferred futures. Sharon is also a passionate advocate for One Health and has led numerous initiatives aimed at strengthening systems nationally and internationally to reduce emerging disease risks at their source in animals and the environment. 

Sharon is Australia’s World Organisation for Animal Health focal point for communications and sits on the Steering Committee for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Emergency Management Centre for Animal Health.

Michelle is a wildlife veterinarian and animal welfare advisor with a strong background in clinical practice, including terrestrial and aquatic wildlife conservation and rehabilitation. Her experience also encompasses teaching, research and project management, and she has worked with wildlife in assorted capacities on four continents. Michelle is Team Leader Animal Welfare Policy and Program with the Department of Regional NSW (Primary Industries) and has been a Veterinary Officer with Taronga Conservation Society Australia for over a decade. Alongside her team, she provides evidence-based technical advice on individual and population health and welfare matters and promotes best practice care and management for non-domesticated species.

Michelle is President of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists Zoo and Wildlife Chapter, an Australian native fauna consultant for the Veterinary lnformation Network and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Charles Sturt University. Michelle is an author of many scientific publications and regularly presents at national and international conferences. She values cross-disciplinary collegiality and quality scientific communication. Her professional interests include One Health-One Welfare approaches to contemporary wildlife dilemmas, animal and environmental ethics, conservation medicine and nutritional ecophysiology.

As an undergraduate Michelle attained degrees in zoology and veterinary science from the University of Sydney. After several years in mixed general practice, she completed a residency in exotic and wild animal medicine at the University of Edinburgh and has since acquired formal post-graduate qualifications in zoological medicine and international animal welfare, ethics and law.

Nicola is the Executive Director for the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and is responsible for strategy development and implementation to achieve ZAA’s strategic vision. ZAA represents the collective voice of zoos and aquariums in the Australasian region, supports wildlife health and biosecurity, drives positive animal welfare (via the Association Accreditation Program) and regional conservation initiatives.

Nicola is the Acting Chair of the Australian Wildlife Health Institute Initiative, having been involved with the AWHII since 2020.

Nicola also holds a seat on the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) Council, is Chair of the WAZA Membership Committee, a member of the WAZA Ethics and Animal Welfare Committee and is the Vice Chair/Chair Elect of the Species360 Board of Trustees, having recently completed a term as Chair of the Species360 Finance and Audit Committee.

Julien (He/Him) is the Veterinary Operations Manager at Endeavour Veterinary Ecology (EVE). EVE is a private ecology consultant with a focus on wildlife population management projects, achieving population recovery through veterinary services.
 
Julien was born and raised in France before finishing his schooling at a French-Australian school in Canberra. He is fluent in both written and spoken French and English. He completed his undergraduate studies at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga before working as a mixed practitioner in Tamworth, NSW.
 
Throughout his undergraduate studies, Julien was heavily involved in both the Australian Veterinary Conservation Biologists and Wildlife Disease Association. Julien served on both the AVCB committee as Student Representative and on the WDAA committee as Student Chapter President. In 2020, he was awarded the AVCB inaugural Student Award for his commitment to conservation biology and for his contribution to the association. In his final year of university, he completed his Honours thesis on emergency wildlife disease event responses. His thesis aimed at informing effective management of wildlife disease emergencies based on a review of past responses. Julien continues to be involved with the AVCB as an Executive Committee member. 
 
Julien is a past Pinnacle Foundation Scholar, having been awarded a scholarship aimed at supporting LGBTQIA+ students experiencing hardship. He is also an active member of the Australian Rainbow Veterinarians Association, an advocacy and support group for LGBTQIA+ veterinarians, having spoken at several events on diversity, inclusion and identity.

Leanne is Zoos Victoria’s Wildlife Health and Welfare Advisor, part of an holistic, transdisciplinary approach to wildlife conservation, and aiming to integrate the science of wildlife health and welfare into efforts to safeguard biodiverse ecosystems, ensuring Australia’s wildlife continues to thrive in the wild well into the future. In this role, Leanne works collaboratively with external partners to ensure Zoos Victoria’s research and conservation strategies contribute effectively to state and national priorities for wildlife health and welfare. 

Formerly the Senior Veterinarian at the Australian Wildlife Health Centre, Healesville Sanctuary, Leanne has held a diverse range of clinical, research and management roles throughout Australia, Antarctica, Vietnam, Laos and China. She has worked in rescue centres caring for sick, injured, orphaned and trade confiscated wildlife, contributed to the development of recovery programs, husbandry and veterinary care standards for threatened species, conducted health and disease surveillance in free-ranging wildlife, managed the health of captive wildlife in zoos and conservation breeding programs, provided veterinary care to sick, injured and orphaned wildlife, and contributed to the emergency response to wildlife impacted by bushfires in Victoria. Working in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation in Southeast Asia the aftermath of the first SARS CoV outbreak in 2003, a pandemic which emerged from the trade and consumption of wild animals for human consumption, has driven an interest in improving our understanding of the impact of impact of human behaviour on the health and welfare of wild animals. 

Leanne completed her Masters in Veterinary Science from the University of Sydney, following research on the health of trade confiscated Viverridae (civets and binturong) in Vietnam, and became a member of the Zoo and Wildlife chapter of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Science in 2016 (Medicine of Australasian Wildlife). She is a longstanding and active member of the Wildlife Diseases Association, and the executive committee of the Victorian branch of the Australian Veterinary Association. Passionate about pangolin conservation, she is an active member of the IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group and a board member of Vietnamese conservation organization ‘Save Vietnam’s Wildlife’.