About Us

Rupe is CEO of WHA. He is a member of the International Association for Public Participation, Governance Institute of Australia, and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  Rupe is interested in Australia, people and how good decisions are made. View Rupe’s profile on LinkedIn.

Tiggy is the National Coordinator and COO of Wildlife Health Australia and has been working for the organisation since May 2009. Tiggy obtained her veterinary degree in Glasgow, Scotland in 1999 and returned to Glasgow to complete a PhD in molecular parasitology in 2006. In 2006, Tiggy moved to Australia to work at the then new School of Animal & Veterinary Sciences where she lectured in parasitology and communication skills at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, NSW. In 2021-2022 she undertook a part-time secondment with WOAH to support WOAH's Wildlife Health Framework. Tiggy was the recipient of the Wildlife Diseases Association Australasian Section Barry Munday Award for her outstanding services to wildlife health in Australia. She enjoys connecting people through positive, mutually beneficial partnerships. 

Tiggy is Australia's World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Focal Point for Wildlife Health and Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Wildlife Health Specialist Group (IUCN WHSG). 

As Business Manager, Kaz acts as the chief administrative officer in the organisation.  Kaz acts as Public Officer/Secretary, and with a focus on governance  provides guidence to the Board on corporate law regulations and the organisation's constitution, encompassing rules, regulations, and bylaws.  Her role includes: 

• Advising the Board on corporate governance principles and plans, and implementation of corporate governance programs.
• Communicating the instructions of the Board, assisting in the implementation of corporate strategies and giving practical effect to the Board’s decisions.
• Leadership of the Business Unit, encompassing Administration, Marketing, Communications, HR,  IT, Finance, and Legal, ensuring smooth operations across these crucial areas.

Keren's role is Program Manager - Surveillance. She is a veterinarian who has been working for Wildlife Health Australia since September 2010. She is a University of Sydney graduate and has completed a Graduate Diploma in Applied Science (Wildlife Health & Population Management) and study units in veterinary & wildlife epidemiology. Keren started her career as a small animal veterinarian in Canberra and Sydney. After 6 years in private practice, she moved into the animal health industry where she worked in a variety of technical roles. In 2010 she followed her interest in wildlife health and began working for WHA. In 2018, Keren was recognised with an Australian Biosecurity Award for her work to protect Australian bats against a fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome.

Simone is a veterinarian who joined Wildilfe Health Australia in July 2022 as Program Manager - Emergencies. She graduated from Murdoch University in 1990, working in mixed practice before returning to Murdoch to complete her PhD.  Simone joined Perth Zoo in 1997 and was the zoo’s Senior Veterinarian from 2004-2021. She has been involved in many wildlife veterinary conservation projects, including in situ conservation work with Carnaby’s cockatoo, brush-tailed bettong, Christmas Island blue-tailed skink, Australian sea lion and Sumatran orangutan. She is a member of the Australia and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Medicine of Zoo Animals. As a Senior Project Officer with the WA State government, Simone provided strategic and procedural support for a range of wildlife emergencies, including oiled wildlife, bushfires, cetacean strandings and entanglements and emergency diseases.  Simone was Project Lead for the National Koala Disease Risk Analysis project, the first national-level DRA undertaken for a native Australian species

Steve joined Wildlife Health Australia in April 2022 as the Program Manager for the International One Health Program and heads WHA's World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborating Centre for Wildlife Health Risk Management. Steve graduated from Massey University in New Zealand in ecology and veterinary science. He has worked as a wildlife clinician in several zoos, wildlife rehabilitation centres and conservation projects in Australia, Thailand, Cameroon and UK, and academia in the UK. Steve is a European specialist in Zoo Health Management and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK. He has coordinated international, multidisciplinary wildlife health networks in Africa and South-East Asia.

As a systems thinker in the One Health space, Steve aims to mitigate adverse environmental health impacts from human activity at the human-wildlife interface in the Indo-Pacific region through interdisciplinary research, capacity development and effective networked risk management. Steve’s research interests focus on wildlife infectious diseases, especially zoonoses, disease risk analysis and mental health of wildlife health practitioners. 
 
View Steve’s profile on Linked In

Joanne (Jo) joined Wildlife Health Australia in January 2023 as the Program Manager – Capacity Building. Jo is a graduate of Flinders University with Doctorate and Masters in Public Health. Her doctoral thesis explored the nexus between ecological public health and sustainability in rural communities in Australia. Jo has over twenty years of experience in the health sector. She started her career as a Registered Nurse and Midwife before moving into management, research, policy development and advocacy roles. Jo aims to apply her extensive experience in health promotion and capacity building programs to increasing awareness, collaboration and coordination and building partnerships and networks in the One Health space.

Clare works as a Senior Project Officer and began with Wildlife Health Australia in March 2021. Clare completed her Bachelor of Veterinary Science at The University of Queensland in 2001 and then worked in mixed and small animal practice before completing her Masters of Conservation Medicine at Murdoch University in 2008, which included a research project investigating pharmacokinetics in wombats. In 2015, Clare completed her PhD at The University of Melbourne on industrial fluoride toxicosis in marsupials. Following this, she gained membership to the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in veterinary epidemiology and spent four years in federal and state government agricultural policy and regulation roles. More recently, Clare has been working in toxicology and risk assessment focused environmental consulting, and as a research associate on various ongoing wildlife disease projects at The University of Melbourne.

Claire is a veterinarian who has recently joined Wildlife Health Australia in the role of Senior Project Officer in April 2022. She is a University of Sydney vet graduate and has also completed a Bachelor of Science and Master of Applied Science (Wildlife Health & Population Management). Claire began her wildlife career as part of local and international in-situ conservation programs and before joining WHA she worked in state government animal biosecurity with a focus on wildlife, surveillance and emergency response.

Andrea is a veterinarian who works as a Senior Project Officer at Wildlife Health Australia and joined the team in January 2016. After graduating from Sydney University, Andrea completed a veterinary residency at Melbourne Zoo, gaining a Masters in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Andrea has over 17 years experience working as a clinical vet in Australia’s major zoos, including Perth, Taronga and Melbourne Zoos and is a member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Medicine of Australasian Wildlife. She has been involved in a wide variety of wildlife and conservation programs both within Australia and overseas, including in situ conservation programs for the endangered northern hairy nosed wombat, brush-tailed bettong, eastern barred bandicoot and African painted dog. Andrea recently lead a collaborative research project to investigate the potential role of disease in small mammal population declines in Northern Australia.

Silvia is a veterinarian from Brazil who joined Wildlife Health Australia in the role of Project Officer in May 2016. After graduating, she has coordinated an array of database projects and has also a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Following her interest in wildlife health and conservation, she concluded a Masters of Wildlife Health and Population Management at The University of Sydney. Her research project was on coccidiosis in green turtles. Silvia has also consolidated risks and mitigation strategies of feeding wild birds in Australia. In September 2024 Siliva began working as an Acting Senior Project Officer in the Surveillance team and she is thrilled to work in a multi-stakeholder environment that improves wildlife disease management.

Shana began working for Wildlife Health Australia in January 2023 as a Project Officer in the Wildlife Disease Surveillance team. She graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Animal Science and completed postgraduate studies in Conservation Biology at Macquarie University. Shana has worked in South Australia and New South Wales in a variety of fields including eco-tourism, bush regeneration, and environmental education. Prior to WHA she spent three years working in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation and hopes to continue championing the work of wildlife volunteers and professionals to make a positive impact to wildlife health in Australia.

Erin is a veterinarian who joined Wildlife Health Australia in February 2023. She is the Senior Project Officer on the International One Health team and assists the team to manage WHA’s World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborating Centre for Wildlife Health Risk Management. Erin started her career as a small animal veterinarian, working in Canberra, Brisbane, and Sydney. She spent two years working with marine mammals at Taronga Zoo and completed a Master of Veterinary Science (Conservation Medicine) at Murdoch University in 2023. Erin also has a degree in agricultural science and has experience working with the Federal Government in risk assessment, animal disease preparedness and response, vector projects, and biosecurity and animal disease surveillance capability building in Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste. Erin’s interests include wildlife health risk analysis, risk communication, and enhancing the integration of wildlife health into One Health decision-making.

Lauren joined Wildlife Health Australia in February 2023 as a Project Support Officer. Lauren completed her Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience, majoring in Wildlife Conservation and Management in 2019. Before joining WHA, Lauren worked for almost 2 years as a research assistant with the University of Sydney, organising and developing a range of wildlife disease and conservation research projects. She has experience working with a variety of stakeholders and organisations focused on wildlife rehabilitation, research, and conservation.

Joe joined the Wildlife Health Australia team in October 2022 as a Project Support Officer and  transitioned to the role of Project Officer in the International One Health Program in August 2024 assisting the team to manage WHA’s World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborating Centre for Wildlife Health Risk Management. He holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science (Wildlife and Conservation Biology) from Deakin University and has undertaken postgraduate study in Strategic Communications at La Trobe University in 2021.

Joe's background includes statewide wildlife emergency response management, science communication, advocacy, and community outreach with leading conservation bodies. He also has a strong technical background, with expertise in database management, analytics, and website administration.

Tida joined Wildlife Health Australia in 2024 as a Senior Project Officer in the Capacity Building team. Tida has a background in conservation science. Most of her work has been in northern Australia, where she became interested in ways to bridge the gap between conservation research, policy and practice, science communication, and collaborating with Indigenous land and sea managers to support the work they do to care for Country and culture. She has worked in a range of roles across government and non-government organisations, Indigenous land councils and universities. Tida lives on the land of the Jagera and Turrbal people (Meanjin/Brisbane).

Avanthi joined WHA in 2024 as an Administration Assistant and is passionate about wildlife health, preservation and science. She supports the Chief Operating Officer, the Head of Administration, People and Culture, and the Operations team in administration, operations and I.T. Avanthi has worked extensively in Technology Industries, Sales and Operations. Outside of WHA she is an artist and is currently finishing off her degree in Fine Arts and Visual Culture.

Vicky joined Wildlife Health Australia as a Senior Project Officer in 2024 with a background in the surveillance and management of disease in free-living wildlife populations, wildlife health research, and clinical veterinary practice. Vicky holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (Royal Veterinary College, UK, 2011), an MSc in Wild Animal Health (Royal Veterinary College and Institute of Zoology, UK, 2016), and has completed a PhD (University of Tasmania, Australia, 2024) on advancing the field of disease management in free-living wildlife. Prior to undertaking her PhD, Vicky worked as a Wildlife Veterinarian/Research Associate for the Garden Wildlife Health project (Institute of Zoology, UK), conducting national-scale, citizen science-based health surveillance of British wildlife. Her research has focussed on the investigation, monitoring, and management of health threats to wildlife, people, and the environment in the UK and Australia, with trans-disciplinary collaborations forming a crucial part of this work.

Emma joined WHA in December 2024 as a Senior Project Officer with the Koala Health Project. She is a One Health veterinarian (BVSc, MSc, PhD) with experience conducting public health and socioeconomic research, capacity building, and community health education projects across Australia, southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Her background is mainly in zoonotic disease research, but she has also worked with the Australian Department of Agriculture’s Live Animal Program, CSIRO ACDP’s International Program, and the Victorian Department of Health’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Since 2021, she has led surveillance studies investigating Buruli ulcer (infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans) in possums and foxes. Emma lives on a few acres in Wadawurrung Country (outskirts of Geelong VIC).

Trish is currently the Head of Administration, People and Culture at WHA has been part of the organisation since 2018. She graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Business Administration. Prior to Trish joining WHA, she was the Live Scheduling Manager at a captioning company within the media industry. Trish enjoys all things operational within an organisation and is focused on seamless administration, employee wellbeing and assisting the Business Manager as needed. She is passionate about helping those around her and is the first point of contact for all WHA members, stakeholders and the public.

Kate joined WHA as the Communications Manager in August 2024. As a communications professional whose career spans government, politics, NGOs and animal welfare, she is highly experienced in public messaging and educational campaigns. Holding degrees in Journalism and International Relations, Kate’s early career included news reporting, media and policy, and business development. She also spent five years advocating for animals and wildlife at RSPCA SA in fundraising and public relations roles. Most recently, Kate was an adviser to a state Premier, Assistant Minister and Shadow Minister, specialising in communications and domestic violence prevention policy, and enjoys working with stakeholders at all levels.

Emma is the Marketing Manager for WHA and joined the team in March 2023.  After graduating from the University of Cape Town with a Business Science degree she started her career working for Nestle in the UK on their graduate training scheme.  She worked in their marketing department for 8 years in a variety of brand management roles across their Nescafe portfolio.  Following this, she moved to South Africa where she worked on a consultative basis for small entrepreneurial and medium sized national companies.  Projects included strategic brand reviews, commercialisation strategies for new product launches and general brand management.  Emma moved to Australia with her family in 2022 and began working at WHA the following year.  Her role focuses on working with the team to market and promote the valuable work done by WHA.

Stacey is the Administration Assistant at WHA. She supports the Head of Administration, People and Culture and the entire Business team in all things admin. Prior to joining WHA, Stacey has worked as Executive Assistant and Admin Support in various sectors including Recruitment/HR, Advertising and most recently Accounting. Stacey joined the WHA team in 2024 and is a first point of contact for all WHA members, stakeholders and the public.