More about our Advisory Board members
Dr Deborah Nias
Email: debnias[a]primus.com.au
Deborah was raised in Adelaide, South Australia completing her degree in zoology and biochemistry with Honours from University of Adelaide in 1991. After completing her PhD at Monash University on carbon dynamics in temporary floodplain wetlands, she lived in Mildura for three years whilst working on the Darling Anabranch Management Plan.
Responsible for co-ordinating and writing the management plan, Deborah worked closely with the Darling Anabranch community, addressing issues ranging from water security, fencing and grazing management to Indigenous cultural heritage. The plan was an enormous success, with the Federal and NSW Government committing funds to building a pipeline to supply stock and domestic water to residents, and the estimated 35,000 megalitres of water saved annually being used for the Snowy River and the Darling Anabranch. Deborah is now involved with determining environmental flow options with the Anabranch community.
Following her work with the Darling Anabranch, Deborah moved to Albury NSW in 2000 and began working with the NSW Murray Wetlands Working Group. This community based group are leaders in wetland management and rehabilitation for over 17 years and have been responsible for managing up to 32,000 megalitres of water on behalf of the NSW State Government in the Murray Valley for the past 10 years.
As Program Manager, Deborah oversaw the development and implementation of the Group’s strategic plans, leading the Group to national recognition in 2007 when it was awarded the prestigious Thiess National Riverprize for its innovative management of water on private wetlands.
Ms Sarah Moles
Email: sarah.moles[a]gmail.com
Sarah was born and raised in Europe and came to Australia with her parents in 1967. She attended high school in Sydney and traveled extensively in Australia and overseas before moving to Melbourne to study photography and graphic design at RMIT. She subsequently spent 10 years working in the advertising industry.
In 1987 Sarah and her family settled on a small property on the eastern Darling Downs. Their location in the headwaters of the Murray-Darling Basin awakened a keen interest in river health and environmental flows and led to active involvement in Landcare, catchment management and conservation organisations.
Sarah spent 5 years working for WWF (Australia), brokering voluntary conservation agreements over important wetlands in the Queensland part of the Murray Darling Basin and developing management plans for Ramsar listed wetlands in north western NSW.
Sarah has been closely involved in numerous water planning and floodplain management processes, served as Chair of the NSW Ramsar Managers Network and was a member of the NSW government's Science and Information Board. She spent more than 4 years as a Queensland representative on the Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council's Community Advisory Committee and 3 years on The Living Murray Community Reference Group.
A Fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation, Sarah is currently a Director of the Queensland Murray Darling Committee Inc and the Ethos Foundation. She also sits on the Queensland Great Artesian Basin Advisory Council and is the national environment sector representative on the Great Artesian Basin Co-ordinating Committee.