Meet some of our principals specialising in ecological assessments.<
Garry Bennison – Manager Ecology (Queensland)
Garry Bennison has over 25 years experience in environmental research, assessment, monitoring and management of freshwater, estuarine and groundwater systems in Australia.
With considerable experience in the design and management of complex, multidisciplinary environmental projects, Garry's portfolio includes clients from both public and private sector across Australia. He has held senior scientific and managerial positions with the Rural Water Corporation of Victoria; Melbourne Water Corporation; WATER ECOscience; and Australian Water Technologies (Victoria and Queensland) before joining ALS in 2001.
Garry currently project manages large environmental monitoring programs for clients such as the Sydney Catchment Authority, Toowoomba City Council, Brisbane City Design, BHP-Billiton and Cairns City Council. He also has a particular interest in groundwater ecosystems, and has been instrumental in the growth of the ALS Water Sciences Group as one of the leading service providers in that field.
Dan Vertessy – Manager Ecology (Victoria)
Dan Vertessy has more than 15 years experience in Aquatic Ecology, and manages the large ALS Water Sciences Group Ecology team based in Melbourne.
Dan has designed, managed and reviewed many riverine biomonitoring studies in South Eastern Australia, with an emphasis on environmental impact assessment and catchment management. Dan has also led species identification of macroinvertebrates from catchments throughout South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales.
Major clients have included Melbourne Water, Environment Protection Authority, Adelaide and Mt. Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board and Department of Natural Resources, New South Wales.
Dan is currently the Principal Bio-Statistician of the Water Sciences Group, and has conducted univariate and multivariate analyses of macroinvertebrate and water quality data sets from numerous wetland, riverine and catchment wide monitoring programs.
Dan manages The Water Sciences Group's macroinvertebrate database and produces customised data output for import to statistical packages and client databases. He is also a NATA signatory for macroinvertebrate species identification and enumeration, and performs internal and external QA/QC procedures.
Dr Nimal Chandrasena – Principal Ecologist (Vegetation)
Dr Nimal Chandrasena has advanced qualifications in Plant Ecology (specialising in Weed Science), with more than 25 years of consulting and research experience garnered both nationally and abroad.
Nimal's work as a Weed Scientist and Natural Asset Manager has included assessments and management of catchments and waterways, with particular emphasis on managing in-stream vegetation and riparian zones.
He has played major roles in strategising and developing management plans for various natural assets. His specialties include management of aquatic and terrestrial weeds, wetland, and water quality management – in particularly nutrient management and blue-green algal management.
He has led many projects on improving catchments through rehabilitation of waterways, wetlands and damaged riparian zones through revegetation. He has also developed guidelines for riparian zone rehabilitation.
Nimal is also credited with the restoration of two important Wetlands in Sydney –Botany Wetlands and Eve Street Wetlands. These wetlands are listed in Australia's Wetlands of National Significance. The Restoration of Botany Wetlands, Sydney, a project Nimal led for 10 years (1996-2005), won the NSW Premier's Environment Award in 2003, in recognition of highly successful integration of ecological theory with practice.
Patrick Maiden - Principal
Patrick Maiden is an ecologist with experience in the aquatic sciences gathered through conducting biological condition reports, impacts assessments and ecological research for the water industry. Patrick is a passionate about developing ecological sustainability into economically and socially responsible management of water and natural resources.
Patrick commenced his career in aquatic ecology within the CRC for Freshwater Ecology, working on projects investigating the ecological effects of river flow regulation, and a benchmarking river condition assessment of Melbourne's iconic Yarra River. Patrick subsequently commenced conducting ecological assessments for numerous government agencies, water authorities and private organisations.
He has considerable experience with freshwater ecosystems using macroinvertebrate indicators. Patrick was NATA signatory for species level identification of macroinvertebrates, and has experience working on biological samples collected from Victoria, South Australia, NSW and Tasmania. Patrick was among the first consultants accredited for AUSRIVAS, and was involved with the development and first accreditation of the Rapid Bioassessment accreditation program by the EPA Victoria.
Patrick managed the design, analysis and delivery of broader ecosystem monitoring and research programs that involved fish, algae, aquatic plants, geomorphology and water chemistry. In 2006, Patrick commenced ARC funded research at the University of Adelaide to investigate salinity and nutrient thresholds for diatoms in arid and semi-arid Australia.
Patrick has designed and managed several applied research projects for the water industry, and provides specialist expertise in the tolerance of aquatic ecosystems to water quality pollutants, especially salinity stress. Patrick retains a strong relationship with technical and scientific community, and now helps lead the Research and Development program for ALS - developing real world solutions with rigorous scientific review.