Plenary speakers
 

Aunty Josie Winsor is a proud Wayilwan and Gamilaraay woman and senior knowledge holder from regional New South Wales. Aunty Josie has a deep lifelong spiritual connection to the Macquarie Marshes, a wetland of international significance. She brings her deep Traditional Knowledge to natural resource management in the region, providing a Traditional Owner perspective to guide management of water resources in New South Wales and environmental management of the Macquarie Marshes. She is generous in the sharing of her knowledge of Country with others in the local and scientific communities. She is a strong advocate for access to water for cultural and economic purposes and was a community leader in the recent successful Native Title claim on behalf of the Ngemba Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan and Wayilwan (NNWW) Peoples. She is chair of the newly-formed board of the Ngemba, Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan, Wayilwan Aboriginal Corporation.

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The other side of the Dreamtime – Using contemporary Aboriginal Knowledge to alleviate drought: There is no concept of drought in Traditional Knowledge. Regardless of weather cycles, Traditional Owners know where to find water and food in the landscape. An obligation to care for land and water Country, and a deep connection to that Country, have maintained water and food resources for more than 65,000 years, through wet and dry conditions. Large changes to the management of rivers and waterways since European settlement have changed the way that water moves in the landscape, leading to water shortages that are now called drought. Incorporating Traditional Knowledge into the management of rivers and waterways and restoring Traditional Owners’ ability to care for Country would alleviate water shortages and lead to more sustainable communities and environments.

Professor Schirmer is the Director of the University of Canberra’s Centre for Environmental Governance, and also leads the WellRes Unit, a team of researchers examining wellbeing and resilience in regional Australia. Since 2013, her team have conducted the Regional Wellbeing Survey, an annual survey examining the views of 15,000 rural, regional and urban Australians about the liveability and resilience of their community, and their own wellbeing and resilience. It covers topics ranging from understanding how to support carers living in the bush, to identifying the impacts of poor internet connectivity, and understanding how events such as droughts, floods and environmental policy change affect rural communities – and how communities can build and maintain resilience. Jacki's personal research in recent years has focused on understanding wellbeing, resilience and recovery amongst communities experiencing cumulative extreme weather events and disasters, including drought, examining how to support climate change adaptation and resilience, and understanding the social acceptability and impacts for rural communities of environmental policy and practice. 

Dr. Kisekka is a professor at the University of California, Davis, specializing in hydrologic processes that impact water, nitrogen, and salt balances in agricultural landscapes. His research focuses on optimizing crop production and economic outcomes while minimizing environmental impacts through precision irrigation, agro-hydrological monitoring, and modeling. Over his 12-year career, he has authored or co-authored 106 peer-reviewed articles and led 85 projects as the principal investigator, securing $17 million in grants. Additionally, he has served as a co-Principal Investigator (co-PI) on projects totaling over $20 million, funded by organizations such as the USDA, NSF, and the US-Israel BARD.

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Dr. Kisekka’s significant contributions include establishing a precision irrigation testbed in California’s Central Valley, a first-of-its-kind deep vadose zone monitoring network to track nitrate and salt movement and protect groundwater, and developing a framework that integrates remote sensing, machine learning, and agro-hydrological modeling to improve evapotranspiration estimation. He co-founded the UC Davis Agricultural Water Center of Excellence, focusing on groundwater security for food, people, and the environment. As a lead researcher in the NSF Artificial Intelligence Institute for Next-Generation Food Systems, his work has gained media attention from CNN and CNBC. Dr. Kisekka has earned prestigious accolades, including the 2020 National Excellence in Education Award from the Irrigation Association and the 2022 ASABE Netafim-Microirrigation Award. He has mentored 13 PhD, 5 MSc, and 9 postdoctoral scholars, with many now in academia, government, and industry. He also teaches STEM courses to over 100 students annually. Dr. Kisekka collaborates with Makerere University (ABE) and international partners in China, Italy, Spain, and Israel.

Angelina Siegrist is a Senior Research and Extension Officer with the Sustainable Farms initiative, based out of the Australian National University. Her work focuses on research into the multiple benefits of native biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, with a focus on critically endangered Box Gum Grassy Woodlands across the sheep-wheat belt of south eastern Australia. Angelina is part of the team led by Distinguished Professor David Lindenmayer who have been collecting long-term ecological data on farms for more than 25 years.

Angelina leads the Victorian arm of the project, leading partnerships and research in the region and bringing the project’s research findings to the communities on the ground. She is passionate about ensuring research is shared with landholders and regional NRM practitioners to empower them with science-based data to inform their decision-making around land management practices.

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Angelina has a keen passion for ecology, conserving woodlands and woodland bird communities. She is a strong advocate for the role of private land and landholders in conservation. She believes biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is important not only for conservation outcomes, but also to enhance farmer well being and farm productivity.