Mere and Natasha

Mere has worked for Fiji’s Department of Environment for the last eight years. She has a background in marine science and environmental geoscience and is currently undertaking a Master of Environmental Science specialising in land rehabilitation.

Mere is committed to bridging indigenous and science-based knowledge in ecological research, monitoring and natural resource management. She intends to share her knowledge and newly established networks to encourage Fiji’s ecologists and natural resource owners to collaborate and find solutions to conserving Fiji’s marine and terrestrial fauna and flora.

Mere believes that effective conservation utilises the contributions and knowledge of indigenous people. She hopes to develop solutions to record this knowledge, ensuring it is used properly to provide opportunities for indigenous people to be fully involved in the protection, rehabilitation and restoration of environmental assets.

Natasha is interested in understanding human-environment interactions in the management of biological resources. Some of her broad research interests include local knowledge and use of biological and environmental resources for livelihoods and ecosystem management, ecosystem services in mosaic landscapes and the interactions between natural and social systems in environmental management and planning.

Before joining the University of Western Australia, Natasha worked in Perth as an environmental consultant. She also worked for the Western Australian Department of Environment as an environmental officer, and worked on international conservation policy with a London-based non-government organisation. She has field experience in a range of environments and countries including Fiji, Timor-Leste, Honduras, Colombia, and Australia.