Our board
Bursting with experience and passionate about our beautiful city, our board drives the strategic direction of our work.
Board meetings are held monthly. If members of the public wish to attend a meeting they can contact the Executive Officer on dew.greenadelaide@sa.gov.au, or call us on 7424 5760.
The next board meeting is on 12 December, 2024. View the agenda.
Get to know our board members:
Professor Chris Daniels
Presiding Member
Chris has made an extraordinary contribution to science and science education in Australia. He educates and communicates through his ABC Radio program, and via a host of different modalities and organisations, to promote wildlife conservation and nature appreciation. Chris is Adjunct Professor of Biology at UniSA and Adjunct Professor of Zoology at Adelaide University. He has published 10 books, one DVD and more than 250 scientific and community publications. As Green Adelaide's Presiding Member, and as a member of dozens of other environmental boards and committees, he is leading many efforts to ‘rewild’ the city and connect citizens with nature.
Adrian Skull
Board Member
Adrian was the CEO of the City of Marion and was previously CEO of the Yankalilla Council. He served six years in the Australian Army before becoming Academic Dean of a hotel management college in Switzerland. Returning to Australia, Adrian ran his own training business before joining BAE Systems as People Development Manager. Following HR roles with the cities of Charles Sturt and Adelaide, Adrian ran his own leadership consultancy for eight years. Adrian is a Council member of the Institute of Company Directors and a member of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Selection Committee.
Dena Vassallo
Board Member
Dena is the Founder and Managing Director of Adelaide-based national marketing communications agency, SOCIETY. An experienced marketing professional, Dena has 20 years of international marketing communications and operational experience. She has worked with household brands such as Woolworths, Kraft Heinz, Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive, as well as the City of Melbourne, the South Australian Tourism Commission, Australia Post and many more. Awarded the Telstra Business Winner for Emerging and Energised in SA for 2019, Dena is also a 2020 Small Business finalist for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards.
Tobias Turner
Board Member
Tobias is a proud Kaurna man from the southern suburbs of Tarndanya (Adelaide). He is the Cultural Director of Southern Cultural Immersion, the Kaurna owned tourism business managing the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre at Warriparinga, and an Executive Director of Aboriginal Urban Design, a Kaurna owned business that facilitate Aboriginal design integration into infrastructure projects. Before joining the Green Adelaide Board, he was Chair of Warpulai Kumangka Aboriginal Advisory Group. In 2019 he began studying to be a doctor at the University of Adelaide with an interest in Aboriginal health and traditional medicine. He is a critical thinker, creative problem solver and ethical decision-maker.
Melanie Ford
Board Member
Melanie is a Senior Architect at the Office for Design and Architecture South Australia, Department for Trade and Investment. She has been in the public sector for the last 3 of her 30 years working as an architect in Adelaide and Darwin. Melanie is passionate about creating strong connections between inside and outside spaces for all to enjoy, which celebrate and assist in the regeneration of our unique environment. She advocates for our natural environment to be valued equally with our built environment. She is currently a member of the SA Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects Regenerative Design Committee. Melanie loves exploring and camping in our regional and remote places, including at her property in the Murraylands.
Sarah Sutter
Board Member
Sarah has broad experience across the corporate, elite sporting and not-for-profit sectors, in roles ranging from CEO, Business Development and Leader of Change, to Sponsorship and Funding, Sales, and Coach and Mentor. Sarah is highly regarded for her leadership and strategic skills, and has been instrumental in setting up Nature Play SA, a not-for-profit organisation for children and families in South Australia. Alongside her professional, corporate achievements, Sarah has also excelled in the sporting world – Commonwealth Games Gold Medal winner, dual World Champion, inaugural Adelaide Thunderbirds player and Vice Captain of consecutive Championship winning teams are just some of her netball accomplishments. Sarah is also an accredited Be Well Trainer at Be Well Co, an entity of SAHMRI.
Natasha Davis
Board Member
Natasha Davis has been CEO of Trees For Life since 2015. She is passionate about the vital role of nature in supporting a resilient and healthy environment, as well as underpinning our personal and community wellbeing. Natasha grew up in Adelaide and has worked for nearly 30 years in the environmental sector in South Australia and the ACT in many different roles encompassing strategy, activating communities and leading and evaluating change. She is committed to using her skills and networks to create good outcomes for people and our planet. Natasha spends as much time in nature as possible and loves bushwalking and cycling to work along the Linear Park.
Tiahni Adamson
Board Member
Tiahni is the Lead Community Engagement Officer for CH4 Global, which fosters sustainable seaweed aquaculture with a goal of zero methane agriculture. As a Torres Strait Islander woman, descended from the Kaurareg Nations of Thursday Island, and a Wildlife Conservation Biologist, Tiahni works diligently on projects to nurture Country, find solutions to our climate crisis and advocate for First Nations justice and land rights. She is also a guest lecturer at UniSA, embedding First Nations knowledges into STEM careers, an Uluru Statement from the Heart Youth Leader, and is the state coordinator for Seed – a First Nations only-run climate youth activism group. In 2019, Tiahni was trained by Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader, and has spoken to thousands of people at events all over the country. She was recently awarded the Distinguished Alumni Tirkapena Indigenous Award and featured in InDaily's 2023 '40 Under 40' Awards.
Angela Evans
Board Member
Angela was elected as a Councillor in the City of Charles Sturt in 2006 to 2014 and then elected as Mayor in November 2014, a position she will hold until 2026. During her tenure, she has overseen significant redevelopment projects including the award-winning $8.4 million Henley Square Precinct, the $110 million Port Road Drainage Project, and the $26.5 million St Clair Recreation Precinct. Demonstrating her commitment to sustainability, she also collaborated with the Mayor of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield to establish a joint Materials Recovery Facility for processing recyclables. Angela’s committee involvement is vast, including roles on the Gender Matters Panel, the Greater Adelaide Region Organisation of Councils, the Central Adelaide Waste and Recycling Authority, the Climate Emergency Australia Strategic Advisory Group, and most recently, the Premier’s Climate Change Council.
Craig Wilkins
Board Member
Craig has worked in the areas of public health, social services, environmental change and politics for more than 30 years in for-purpose organisations, in the public service and in Parliament House. At the end of 2023 he stepped away from South Australia’s peak environment body, the Conservation Council of SA, after serving as Chief Executive for the past decade, and is now the National Director of the Murray Darling Conservation Alliance – the leading national conservation advocacy voice for a healthy Murray Darling river system. In addition to the Green Adelaide Board, he straddles the insider/outsider divide as an appointed member of the SA Premier’s Climate Change Council, the Adelaide Parklands Authority and Electranet’s Consumer Advisory Panel, while also leading and assisting community campaigns and movements for change. Craig is a passionate believer in collective altruism – people generously working together on behalf of others and the planet we call home.