Our Board
Bursting with experience and passionate about our beautiful city, our board drives the strategic direction of our work.
Board meetings are held monthly. If members of the public wish to attend a meeting they can contact the Executive Officer on dew.greenadelaide@sa.gov.au, or call us on 7424 5760.
The next board meeting is on 18 April, 2024. View the agenda.
Get to know our board members:
Professor Chris Daniels
Presiding Member
Chris is the Chief Strategic Adviser to Cleland Wildlife Park. He was the Presiding Member of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board from 2011 to 2018, and Chair of the Board of Nature Play SA from 2016 to 2018. Chris is also Adjunct Professor of Biology at UniSA and Adjunct Professor of Zoology at Adelaide University. He has published 9 books, one DVD and more than 250 scientific and community publications.
Claire Boan
Board Member
Claire is the Mayor of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, elected in 2018. She was previously the Deputy Mayor as well as a Ward Councillor for 8 years. Claire is a leader with a strong background in education through her teaching and leadership roles. She is committed to providing responsible governance, and enhancing relationships and environmental sustainability whilst generating and influencing programs to connect individuals and community groups with one another.
Adrian Skull
Board Member
Adrian was the CEO of the City of Marion and was previously CEO of the Yankalilla Council. He served six years in the Australian Army before becoming Academic Dean of a hotel management college in Switzerland. Returning to Australia, Adrian ran his own training business before joining BAE Systems as People Development Manager. Following HR roles with the cities of Charles Sturt and Adelaide, Adrian ran his own leadership consultancy for eight years. Adrian is a Council member of the Institute of Company Directors and a member of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Selection Committee.
Trixie Smith
Board Member
Trixie brings broad experience from 20 years at senior levels of government and the private sector, including roles with the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Land Management Corporation and Austrade. In recent years Trixie has consulted in the fields of environment and renewable energy. She has also worked in private roles for UniSA, WINNER (Western and Inner Northern Network for Economic Recovery), Rollerchair and the Business Enterprise Centre network. Now retired, Trixie engages in various volunteering roles in the aged care sector.
Dena Vassallo
Board Member
Dena is the Founder and Managing Director of Adelaide-based national marketing communications agency, SOCIETY. An experienced marketing professional, Dena has 20 years of international marketing communications and operational experience. She has worked with household brands such as Woolworths, Kraft Heinz, Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive, as well as the City of Melbourne, the South Australian Tourism Commission, Australia Post and many more. Awarded the Telstra Business Winner for Emerging and Energised in SA for 2019, Dena is also a 2020 Small Business finalist for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards.
Tobias Turner
Board Member
Tobias is a proud Kaurna man from the southern suburbs of Tarndanya (Adelaide). He is the Cultural Director of Southern Cultural Immersion, the Kaurna owned tourism business managing the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre at Warriparinga, and an Executive Director of Aboriginal Urban Design, a Kaurna owned business that facilitate Aboriginal design integration into infrastructure projects. Before joining the Green Adelaide Board, he was Chair of Warpulai Kumangka Aboriginal Advisory Group. In 2019 he began studying to be a doctor at the University of Adelaide with an interest in Aboriginal health and traditional medicine. He is a critical thinker, creative problem solver and ethical decision-maker.
Melanie Ford
Board Member
Melanie is a Senior Architect at the Office for Design and Architecture South Australia, Department for Trade and Investment. She has been in the public sector for the last 3 of her 30 years working as an architect in Adelaide and Darwin. Melanie is passionate about creating strong connections between inside and outside spaces for all to enjoy, which celebrate and assist in the regeneration of our unique environment. She advocates for our natural environment to be valued equally with our built environment. She is currently a member of the SA Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects Regenerative Design Committee. Melanie loves exploring and camping in our regional and remote places, including at her property in the Murraylands.
Sarah Sutter
Board Member
Sarah has broad experience across the corporate, elite sporting and not-for-profit sectors, in roles ranging from CEO, Business Development and Leader of Change, to Sponsorship and Funding, Sales, and Coach and Mentor. Sarah is highly regarded for her leadership and strategic skills, and has been instrumental in setting up Nature Play SA, a not-for-profit organisation for children and families in South Australia. Alongside her professional, corporate achievements, Sarah has also excelled in the sporting world – Commonwealth Games Gold Medal winner, dual World Champion, inaugural Adelaide Thunderbirds player and Vice Captain of consecutive Championship winning teams are just some of her netball accomplishments. Sarah is also an accredited Be Well Trainer at Be Well Co, an entity of SAHMRI.
Natasha Davis
Board Member
Natasha Davis has been CEO of Trees For Life since 2015. She is passionate about the vital role of nature in supporting a resilient and healthy environment, as well as underpinning our personal and community wellbeing. Natasha grew up in Adelaide and has worked for nearly 30 years in the environmental sector in South Australia and the ACT in many different roles encompassing strategy, activating communities and leading and evaluating change. She is committed to using her skills and networks to create good outcomes for people and our planet. Natasha spends as much time in nature as possible and loves bushwalking and cycling to work along the Linear Park.
Tiahni Adamson
Board Member
Tiahni is the Lead Community Engagement Officer for CH4 Global, which fosters sustainable seaweed aquaculture with a goal of zero methane agriculture. As a Torres Strait Islander woman, descended from the Kaurareg Nations of Thursday Island, and a Wildlife Conservation Biologist, Tiahni works diligently on projects to nurture Country, find solutions to our climate crisis and advocate for First Nations justice and land rights. She is also a guest lecturer at UniSA, embedding First Nations knowledges into STEM careers, an Uluru Statement from the Heart Youth Leader, and is the state coordinator for Seed – a First Nations only-run climate youth activism group. In 2019, Tiahni was trained by Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader, and has spoken to thousands of people at events all over the country. She was recently awarded the Distinguished Alumni Tirkapena Indigenous Award and featured in InDaily's 2023 '40 Under 40' Awards.