Water Sciences Group

Ecological Assessments

Principal Consultants

Meet some of our principal consultants 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 Ecowise 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 Ecowise as one of the leading service providers in that field.

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Dan Vertessy – Manager Ecology (Victoria)

Dan Vertessy has more than 15 years' experience in Aquatic Ecology, and manages the large Ecowise 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 at Ecowise, 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 Ecowise'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.

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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.

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Stephan Gabas – Principal Consultant in Aquatic Sciences

Stephan Gabas is a Principal Aquatic Scientist specialising in the ecology of freshwater, estuarine and marine systems. Stephan has over 14 years of experience in aquatic ecology, ranging from academic research to consultancy to public and private sector. As a former academic, he presented lectures in fish ecology and biology and genetics of aquatic organisms at several Universities in Europe and Australia.

In 2002, Stephan was appointed by the Hon. Candy Broad as a Scientific Advisor to The Victorian Minister of Agriculture (Fisheries Division) and has since been re-appointed twice. His role was to provide scientific recommendations for the sustainability of both recreational and commercial inland fisheries. He participated in the technical review of most Regional Catchment Strategies and River Health Strategies since 2002. He was also actively involved in the production of Fishery Management Plans and Fisheries Reserve Management Plans.

He conducted many stream monitoring programs and impact studies using macroinvertebrate and fish communities as bioindicators, elaborated biomonitoring programs and developed water quality management plans. He is an experienced macroinvertebrates’ taxonomist and routinely uses different indices to assess river health (SIGNAL, AUSRIVAS, EPT, ISC). He was also a NATA signatory for the identification and enumeration of Microalgae and Cyanobacteria to species level.

Stephan joined Ecowise in 2009 as a Principal Scientist in the Water Sciences Group and brings to Ecowise speciality skills in fisheries and fishway design, river health monitoring and environmental impact assessment (inland, coastal and marine waters).