People

Professor Chris Daniels

JFN Patron: Professor Chris Daniels

Prof Chris Daniels is currently Presiding Member/Chair of the Green Adelaide Landscape Board. He is also CEO of the International Koala Centre of Excellence and Chief Strategic Adviser to Cleland Wildlife Park.

He was the Presiding Member of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges NRM Board from 2011 to 2018, and Chair of the Board of Nature Play SA from 2016 to 2018. Chris is also Adjunct Professor of Biology in the School of Pharmacy & Medical Sciences at UniSA.

He is focused on conserving wildlife and connecting people with nature.

Chris has published 9 books and over 250 scientific and community publications. Books include Adelaide Nature of a City (2005) and Adelaide Water of a City (2010). Book awards include the Whitley Award, and awards from the Planning Institute of Aust, Stormwater Industry and Aust Institute of Landscape Architects. Other books include The Possum-tail Tree, The Fearsome Flute players, and Guide to Urban Wildlife. In Oct 2018 the University of Adelaide awarded him a Doctor of Science (DSc) for his research into “The lives of animals and animals in our lives”. 

Chris has held fortnightly sessions on 891 ABC Radio since 2002, conducted field trips with ABC listeners, and has run “Citizen Science” initiatives with the ABC since 2007. 

Chris won the South Australian Premiers Science award for communication (2007) and the Medal for Natural History from the Field Naturalists Society of SA (2010).

Chris gave the CONASTA oration on Citizen Science in 2014.

Chris was a member of the City of Marion Strategic Directions committee, is a Governor of the World Wildlife Fund and was Patron of Unley City Council Adopt a Tree Program. He is patron of the Friends of Woorabinda (Stirling Linear Park) and the Junior Field Naturalists SA . He was chair of the Board of Nature Play SA (2016-2018) and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Committee

  • Rona Sakko – President and Founder (1983)
  • Michele Hamdorf – Treasurer
  • Julia Bignall – committee member
  • Sam England – committee member
  • Kirstie Morandell – committee member
  • Wendy McKeown – committee member
  • Daniel McKeown – student club member
  • Cameron McDonald – Quiz Master
  • Chris Daniels – Patron 
  • Louise Petherick – Consultant