Growing up, I was at the bottom of the food chain...

My hands shook, I was asthmatic, erratic, socially traumatic (or in kinder descriptions, enigmatic). I possessed all the self-confidence of a neurotic squirrel, speaking rarely, socializing rarely-er. 

But I rescued animals and they rescued me. Turtles, possums, cormorants, cockatoos, frogmouths… age 10 on, me and my bike got around. With dozens of rescues each year, a few didn’t make it, but I carry a memory and photos of the animals I couldn’t save, that I held dying. They drive me.

At 15, I summoned the confidence to run a local BioBlitz. After months of planning, only six people turned out. I cried. But with those six people I started a field naturalists club. Today it has almost 500 members with 50,000 wildlife observations across Sydney.

And the following year, I built a global conservation charity, Human Nature Projects, from my parents’ basement, with volunteer teams in 100 countries. 

I hadn’t planned it that way. I just told my story, inspired a few people and the ripples spread. But it transformed my life and taught me the power of storytelling. 

I skipped undergrads, got a few master’s degrees under my belt and set about creating impact.

Everything I’ve done since: 

• Sailing around the world with Darwin200, producing 50 inspiring five-minute documentaries led by incredible young conservationists; 

• Launching the Wild Stories podcast with audio tales revealing the forgotten history and science of our fellow animals told by the people that know them best; 

• Now creating monthly films spotlighting community conservation heroes at The Fable Fund, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for small nature charities; 

It’s all been using storytelling to champion conservationists and make conservation accessible. 

That’s my life’s purpose. 

This is who I’m doing it for: