Mary is a retired heritage architect who also has a master’s degree in museum studies and vast experience in project management and advocacy.  Mary is passionate about native plants and animals and has been secretary of the Arboretum for five years.  In 2021 Mary started the Pearl Beach Arboretum Ephemeral Art Trail (PBEAT) which has been a great success.

Phil Rich is a retired district manager of school counselling.  Phil has a vast knowledge of plants and animals having previously established his own nature reserve in Camden including native bush and habitat regeneration.  Phil is a practicing musician and artist and assists the Arboretum with ecology, event set up, promotion and management.

Frances has a Doctor of Philosophy from University of New England, Armidale, Australia. Her thesis was titled “Artful Thinking: critical and creative thinking in primary and secondary visual arts education.” Frances has a long career in art education and exhibition management in Australia and overseas.  Frances is also a practicing artist. 

Robyn McConchie is Professor Emerita in the School of Life and Environemntal Sciences at the University of Sydney. She has a BSc Plant Science from Wye College (Lond Univ), MA (Education) (Macquarie Univ) and a PhD (LSU). She is a graduate and member of the AICD. She has been involved in fresh produce and food research and education for over 30 years working on minimising pesticide use, postharvest quality, increasing consumption of vegetables and more recently food safety. 

Originally an engineer by trade, Gary has spent the last 25 years in senior IT positions and is currently CTO of a well know global IT provider. In his spare time Gary is a strong contributor to the Arboretum where he combines his engineering and IT skills refurbishing the many Arboretum benches and managing the Arboretum website, social media, membership and event booking systems.

Di has extensive qualifications and experience in Art Education and Occupational Therapy.  Di has experience curating major events for schools and community groups. During Diane’s career over 40 years in Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Injury Management, opportunities were provided, for developing , coordinating and implementing many diverse community based projects.

Marijke is a practicing artist of 40 years experience in watercolour, acrylic, oils and encaustic mediums. She has taught at art societies for 35 years and still teaches individuals. She has exhibited as solo artist in the Palm House in the Sydney Botanic Gardens over 15 years, as well as smaller galleries in Sydney and the Central Coast. 

Gabby is a retired psychologist having worked as a school psychologist in many schools and counselling psychologist with international students in the university sector. Gabby’s current priorities are the participation in and support of community activities at Pearl Beach. She is keen to promote the involvement of local schools in the Pearl Beach Arboretum and in PBEAT.

Victoria has over twenty five years management experience in State and Federal Government departments and five years in private organisations. Victoria has been our President for 5 years strengthening and implementing our Vision. Victoria was a member of Rotary for over 30 years organising major public events, including a concert event with around 7,000 annually for over ten years.