Our Board

Megan Munchenberg

Chairperson

Megan Munchenberg

Megan has been on the SG NRM Board for 6 years prior to taking over as Chair. She is the current president of the Gregory Landcare group and has a high level of involvement in projects undertaken to manage and control weeds in the Gregory area.

Megan has a Graduate Diploma in Rangelands Management and a Bachelor of Applied Science majoring in Rangelands Management. Megan has undertaken Governance training to ensure she is continuously improving her professional and corporate governance knowledge.

Working part time as a private consultant, Megan is involved in projects that relate to land and pasture management within the Cattle Industry in the Gulf. Megan has been living and working on cattle stations within the Southern Gulf region for the past 15 years. She is currently based at Gregory Downs Station and has called it home with her family for the past 11 years.

With a keen interest in the Grazing industry, Megan hopes to continue to see the livestock industry thrive in the Southern Gulf region. Megan is also a passionate advocate for the future sustainability of the rangelands and the natural resources in the Southern Gulf. Megan hopes that her contribution may help towards ensuring that communities which rely on valuable natural resources for economic, recreational, environmental and cultural purposes can continue to do so.

Natalie Hughes

Deputy Chairperson

Natalie Hughes

A fourth-generation grazier raised in a multi-cultural part of North Queensland, Natalie is passionate about the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of the Southern Gulf.

Employed as a Rural Financial Counsellor for the region and its surrounding areas, Natalie works in numerous multi-stakeholder projects and has built extensive networks on which she draws to contribute to the strategic direction of the board. Prior, she spent nearly a decade teaching secondary school before turning her focus to agricultural economics and research into the effect of environmental legislation on farmers’ attitudes, beliefs and actions towards natural resource management.

Natalie holds a Bachelor of Education (Sec), Cert IV in Training and Assessment, and a Master of Economics (AgResEc). She is presently studying for a Dual Diploma in Agriculture and Agribusiness and a Diploma of Financial Counselling (Rural).

Following the devastating 2019 monsoon, Natalie also sits on the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency’s Implementation Working Group to support its endeavour for a locally led, locally understood and locally implemented approach to long-term recovery. She continues to be keenly interested in environmental and agricultural policy, and an ardent proponent for on-going skills development for agricultural and small businesses in addition to investment in infrastructure for rural and regional centres. 

Gavin Scott

Director

Gavin Scott

Gavin has many passions that have landed him in some incredible careers. Managing fire with Indigenous rangers in The Kimberley to protect Gouldian Finches, discovering the world of regenerative agriculture to produce grass finished beef for Cattlelyst, protecting endangered Cycads on mining offsets, and now as a permanent urban firefighter in Queensland. Gavin studied a Bachelor of Zoology at Macquarie University in Sydney and quickly found work as a Zookeeper, extracting venom from Australia’s most venomous snakes for antivenom production. This sparked an interest in Australia’s remote landscapes and led Gavin to The Kimberley region of Western Australia, where he developed his passion and skills in managing fire in the landscape for improved ecosystem health.

After seven years working in The Kimberley, Gavin returned home to Biggenden to establish a paddock to plate beef business and completed a Certificate IV in Small business management. Gavin has contributed to many successful biodiversity and conservation projects and now as part of the board of directors for Southern Gulf NRM aims to continue adding value to regional Australian communities.

June Kuhl

Director

June Kuhl

June has a strong connection and commitment to North West Queensland and the Southern Gulf.  She and her family have a long grassroots history in agriculture and pastoral areas.

June and her husband, Gavin, owned and operated a grazing property with both sheep and cattle in the Richmond Shire for over 40 years, experiencing floods and droughts as well as the lush years.  June developed a wealth of knowledge regarding the sustainable management of their land and is a strong advocate for pasture management, conservative stocking and pest and weed control.

June built connections through those years with the vast School of the Air and ICPA families and has grown and broadened that base through the Local Government network in her role as a Councillor for the Richmond Shire for the last 14 years and the portfolios she has held which have included Rural Lands, Pest Management and Livestock Facilities as well as Tourism, Community Events, Finance, Corporate Governance, Asset Management, Planning and Development, Regional Development and Disaster Management.

Water was the attraction to the North West for June and Gavin, and they have experience with the Great Artesian Basin, GABSI, the poly-pipe scheme and overland flows. The future potential of water in the Southern Gulf is enormous, and June will endeavour to fight for the benefits, work to negate the difficulties and looks forward to celebrating the successes ahead.

Iain (webp)

Prof. Iain Gordon

Director

Iain Gordon

Iain Gordon works as an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University, where his interests lie at the human/environment interface, particularly in the context of biodiversity management, ecosystem services provided by agricultural landscapes and engaging human communities in the management of natural resources.

In 1986, he received his PhD degree PhD on a nature reserve off the West Coast of Scotland from the University of Cambridge and has since led interdisciplinary research across five continents.

Over the past 30 years, Iain Gordon has published more than 200 papers in international, peer review journals and published seven books, with an eighth book in progress to be published.

His published research spans a range of areas, including livestock nutrition and health, ecology of natural ecosystems, grazing management to achieve environmental objectives, and community-based conservation.

He joined the Commonwealth Scientific and Industry Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia in 2003, leading its Building Resilient Biodiversity Assets Theme and the rangeland management programme of the Water for a Healthy Country Great Barrier Reef Theme.

During this time, he was Officer in Charge of the Davies Lab in Townsville and lead the co-location CSIRO with James Cook University in the Australian Tropical Science Innovation Precinct.

Ray Thieme

Director

Ray Thieme

Ray and his family have enjoyed a long standing connection with the North Queensland Region over the past 30 years. He is passionate about the region’s future development and sustainability, actively seeking opportunity to contribute and influence to a positive direction.

Having come from a diverse background, Ray chose agriculture as his career path at the age of 16yrs. Now, with 35yrs of experience in the Beef industry, Ray has gained sound industry knowledge and developed practices focussed on optimum production with sustainable outcomes.

His practical background has equipped him with a grounded skill set and an intuitive insight to life.

Ray understands the potential, the capability, and sensitivity of the land and appreciates the importance of Cultural, Social, Environmental and Economic Sustainability.

Ray believes the industry is ready to rise to the next level and it will not rise if our feet are flat on the ground. The next level will be driven by innovative thinking which will be supported by our core values.

Sam Fryer

Director

Shane McCarthy

Director

Shane McCarthy

Shane comes from a family with deep-seated roots going back four generations in the Southern Gulf region around Hughenden, Richmond and Julia Creek. He has spent the majority of his life living and working in the region in a wide range of capacities, from the banking sector to local government and associated rural industries of both wool and beef.


Currently, Shane is the Regional President and Director of North Queensland AgForce. Shane previously served on our board from 2012-2016 and was on the board for Hughenden Irrigation Project Corporation (HIPCo), the Hughenden Show Society and the Hughenden Race Club. He has been a local government sector representative and a Flinders Shire Councilor. Shane lists Flinders Shire's "Good Neighbour Policy" implementation and formation as a highlight during this time. Throughout his career, he has also developed many contacts at local, state, and federal levels of government, and he advocates for being involved in the community as he donates his time to many community groups in the region.

Margot Richardson

Company Secretary

Margot Richardson

My first passion is to help Boards and Directors develop really strong skills in governance, financial management, understanding risks and creating great strategic platforms to grow and strengthen organisations.My second passion is helping small and medium businesses reflect on the way they do business so as to ensure they grow in a healthy sustainable manner.

I am a Non-Executive, Chair, Company Secretary, Director, Audit Committee Member and CFO with over twenty years of board-level experience with particular working with Government, NfP and Commercial organisations and within the Consultancy, Telecom, Health, Community, Education, Environmental and Indigenous sectors. At board level what I do is drive governance compliance for sustainable growth. I do that by leveraging my knowledge in financial management, governance, accounting, fiscal responsibility, risk management, strategy development and implementation. Board level highlights include Audit Committee Member at Queensland Ombudsman; Treasurer at Queensland Rural Regional & Remote Women's Network; Company Secretary and Member of Finance, Audit and Risk Committee at Southern Gulf NRM; Chair of Finance and Audit Committee at Cape York Sustainable Futures, and as an Independent Director, Community Enterprise Queensland during my tenure I oversaw the business grow from a $50M to $126M turnover and the workforce from 120 to 370 employees. In an executive capacity, I am currently the Director of Business Mapping Solutions – a bespoke governance and accounting practice focusing on supporting Indigenous corporations, not for profits and entrepreneurial ventures. In addition, I serve as the CFO of Miwatj Employment and Participation Ltd, two large Indigenous Organisations with turnovers of $26M and $10M. Finally, I hold a Bachelor of Economics from ANU, I am a Certified Practising Accountant and a Graduate of AICD’s Company Directors Course. I have also been awarded the NFP Accountant of the Year 2020 by the Australian Accounting Awards.

On a personal note, I believe people are important. I have a small team supporting me - half have been with me for over 10 years! I really enjoy facilitating in my spheres of expertise - and if the evaluations are right (not written by me!) then I am pretty good at getting difficult ideas and concepts to wide and diverse audiences.

Sam Fryer

Sam lives just outside of Hughenden, with his wife, Emily and their three children. Together they manage a cattle operation and are both extremely passionate and active members within their rural community.

It is his deeply ingrained passion in the beef industry and the region that led to him being awarded the Queensland Agribusiness Rising Champion in 2021 and sitting on the board for Southern Gulf Natural Resource Management as well as the Northern Council and Young Producers Council for Agforce Queensland.

Interestingly, Sam also hosts the, A Place to Call Home Podcast, which focuses on bringing the next generation into the agricultural industry. All while balancing a full-time professional career.

Empowering our community to sustainably manage our natural asset for current and future generations

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Southern Gulf NRM is a not-for-profit community-based organisation working through partnerships to implement strategic planning and investment activities that care for our region’s natural and cultural assets.

For more information on donations, please contact admin@southerngulf.com.au

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We pay our respects to Aboriginal elders past and present, recognise their continuing contribution to caring for country, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.