Doug Coughran

Senior Wildlife Officer, Marine Wildlife Operations, Nature Protection Branch, Department of Environment and Conservation, Western Australia.

Doug joined the WA Department of Fisheries and Wildlife in 1979 and was transferred to the newly formed Department of Conservation and Land Management (now Department of Environment and Conservation) in 1985. Doug specialises in marine wildlife protection and has extensive experience in marine mammal incident management. He is a work place assessor and trainer for risk managing large whale disentanglement operations in WA and trains interstate and international conservation staff to national accreditation level. He is part of an international network of experienced operation team leaders sharing and contributing to the ongoing improvement of the management of marine mammal incidents, particularly large whale entanglements.

Doug is a member of the WA Executive Response Group for marine oil pollution emergency management. He is a graduate of Edith Cowan University in Environmental Management and is a Churchill Fellow 2004, which has provided him with experience working along side large whale disentanglement teams in the North Atlantic, east coast of the USA on several occasions. Doug is a key advisor to the Australian delegation on large whale entanglement management issues who attend the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meetings. The Western Australian Fishing Industry Council awarded Doug a Commendation Environmental Award in 2006 for his efforts and achievements in this field.

John Edwards

Marine Nature Conservation Officer, Department of Environment and Conservation, Swan Coastal District

John started work with the Forests Department in his home town of Dwellingup in 1979. He was transferred to the newly created CALM in 1985 and it was here that he got his first taste of marine management working at a mass stranding of False Killer Whales off Augusta, in 1986. This cemented a passion for marine mammals and the marine environment and in 1990, John was appointed as one of the states first dedicated Marine Rangers and has remained in Marine Management specializing in Marine Operations.

Over the past 23 years of John's involvement with marine mammal management in WA he has gained experience in all aspects of marine fauna management from sensitive euthanasia to repatriation of a wide variety of endemic and exotic species.

In addition to his senior role with the large whale dis-entaglement team John has developed considerable experience in the handling of a number of different Pinniped species having been involved in large scale rescue operations of oiled fur seals off the south coast, and the monitoring of rare Australian Sea lion populations on islands off the west coast.

Peter Lambert

Whale rescue team member and Regional Compliance Coordinator - Department of Environment and Conservation, Kensington Western Australia.

Peter joined the Department of Fisheries and Fauna in 1966 as a Cadet fauna warden based in Perth. During the ensuing years Peter was based in numerous country districts e.g. Lancelin, Geraldton and Jurien as a District Fisheries Officer then as a District Wildlife Officer in Kalgoorlie, Pingelly and Busselton. Whilst based in Busselton as the District Wildlife Officer Peter transferred to the new Department of Conservation and Land Management in 1985 and in 1988 moved to Perth as a Supervising Wildlife Officer. Today, Peter's title is Regional Compliance Coordinator with the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC).

During those forty three years Peter has traveled extensively throughout the State, from deserts to coasts, gaining expertise in many fields of nature conservation including nature reserves, island fauna management, research and specializing in marine animal (mammal and reptiles) studies and rescues.

In the year 2000 Peter was selected to be part of a research team based on the Sub-Antarctic Heard Island where he was engaged in the collection and documentation of marine debris and a population census of the Southern Elephant Seal, returning to Australia via Mawson and Davis Antarctic bases.

Peter holds a Master Class 5 skipper's certificate and Master Class 4 (wheel house) marine operators qualifications and is part of DEC's nature conservation patrol boat team. He is a Dive Supervisor and has an Associate Diploma in Applied Science with the Fremantle Maritime College.

Rick Dawson

Senior Investigator

Rick Dawson is Senior Investigator for the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) Parks and Conservation Services a position he has held for 12 years. This role requires him to conduct complex investigations and manage targeted operations relating to flora and fauna in the terrestrial and marine environments throughout the State. He is also responsible for regulating the harvesting of the high value aromatic sandalwood industry on all private property. Rick specializes in managing the threatened Black Cockatoos, which involves monitoring wild populations and particularly nesting sites, utilizing "DNA fingerprinting" and micro-chipping as part of research and regulatory programs, supervising the rehabilitation of sick and injured cockatoos to maximize the return of cockatoos to the wild and overseeing the captive breeding program. Rick also has a strong marine background having spent many years in the navy. He has considerable operational experience in marine mammal incident management and is a senior member of the large whale disentanglement team.