Biography

Donna joined the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) Ecosystem Surveillance team in 2020 as Curation Lead. Donna is responsible for enhancing the management of TERNs digital and physical plant specimen, leaf tissue and soil sample collection. With the team, she ensures the collection is well curated, discoverable, and available to researchers for various scientific studies. Donna has a particular interest in botany, vegetation classification and working collaboratively to ensure the collection of standard field metrics. Donna is the Northern Territory Ambassador for TERN.

Donna has over 20 years’ experience in field botany and vegetation science and was responsible for co-ordinating and conducting flora and vegetation surveys across the Northern Territory. Donna’s most recent role was with the Northern Territory Herbarium where she contributed to the curation of the herbarium collection, held various roles on national working groups and developed and managed flora and vegetation corporate systems. Donna also has experience in vegetation mapping and remote sensing applications. She gained a PhD in 2012 through the University of Queensland to evaluate field and image data to map vegetation communities in tropical savanna environments.

Donna's interests also include science education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Donna's areas of experience span the following:

• Leadership and team management: 12 years of periods of leadership and team management and on national committees. 
• Partnerships and strategic planning: developing partnerships through representation on national committees and working groups. Strategic planning in relation to various projects and core business to align with strategic plans.
• Advice and enquiries: 13 years of experience providing advice to a range of stakeholders across regional, national and international networks.
• Project management: 15 years of experience in project management, largely including flora and vegetation (biodiversity) related surveys across the wet-dry tropics and semi-arid regions. This involved managing small teams, working independently, coordinating field logistics, data management and analyses and report writing under State and Commonwealth Government contractual agreements.
• Data systems management: 13 years of experience in the areas of database development, application maintenance and data management including the standardisation for vegetation field data collection and implementing the National Classification System. Input into data management plans underpinned by data management strategies and policies.
• Herbarium management: 13 years working knowledge including facility management, curation (physical specimens and associated data), development of identification resources and active representation on national committees.
• Botany: 20 years of field botany experience in the wet-dry tropics and semi-arid regions, including the collection of Herbarium specimens. Field botany is supplemented with plant identification in the lab and vouchering and processing Herbarium specimens following specimen collection and vouchering protocols.
• Vegetation ecology: 20 years of experience undertaking various vegetation community and land resource mapping projects throughout the wet-dry tropics and semi-arid regions, spanning various land tenures such as Conservation Reserves (i.e., National Parks, Wildlife Conservancy), Pastoral properties, Indigenous Protected Areas, Commonwealth Dept. of Defence, Crown Land and Freehold. Gained competent experience in the disciplines of spatial science including remote sensing and GIS. 
• Stakeholder collaboration and engagement: developed various stakeholder partnerships and relationships during 20 years of experience, broadly including the community, Commonwealth/State/Territory and local government agencies, pastoralists, Indigenous land management organisations (Ranger Groups, Traditional Owners, Land Councils), landowners and industry.

Video

Featured