MESAC Committee
Ray Lewis, OAM, President is the founder of MESAC and ex-President of Marine Care Ricketts Point at the Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, which was established in 2003. He is an ex RAAF navigator, high tech entrepreneur and public company chairman. His interests include DIY, marine science & wildlife care, diving, writing, environmental photography, educational video making, aged sector advocacy, disabilities sector support and business. Ray has lived in Beaumaris for decades, has worked tirelessly for the community, and cares and protects this beautiful place for future generations. He was the Victorian Senior Achiever of the year in 2007, was awarded a Coastal Heroes Medal in 2008 (marine environment sector advocacy) and an OAM in 2009. In 2014 he was appointed Bayside Council’s Environmentalist of the Year. E: ray@lewisfamily.com.au; mobile: 0408 308 768
Professor John Buckeridge, PhD, FGS lives 300 metres from Ricketts Point, Beaumaris with his wife, June. He is Professor and palaeobiologist at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Past President of the International Union of Biological Sciences (Paris); President Emeritus of the International Society of Zoological Science (Beijing); past member of the Executive Board of the International Council for Science (Paris) and Honorarprofessor at Wismar University (Germany). E: john.buckeridge@rmit.edu.au
Dr Toni Roberts, PhD is a designer, researcher, educator and artist whose work focuses on shaping experiential, spatial and material environments that communicate ideas and values to audiences. Toni is a Bayside resident and loves to spend her free time below the surface exploring the beautiful aquatic environments around Melbourne, and also creates wonderful pieces of art often with a marine theme. Toni is the Editor of our new MESAC Marine Coastal Connections newsletter, as well as other educational and communications materials. She is also a Dive Leader in the beautiful Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary. To submit any worthy marine articles please email Toni: tonihatchling@gmail.com
Murray Orr, President of BESS, welcomes people from all over Melbourne to experience and learn all about local fossils. He educates to increase awareness about the unique fossil heritage area around Beaumaris Bay and Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary. Beaumaris Bay Geology/Fossils provides a common voice through citizen science, determined to have the valuable geological/fossil resource at Beaumaris sustained for current and future generations to access, study and interpret. E: pvaptyltd@bigpond.com
Claire Bowles, MSc (i2C) is a passionate regenerative practitioner who sees the world through an ecological lens believing we are all connected in a web of life and all have a role to play in ensuring a healthy living future for all. Claire works as Sustainability lead for i2C Architects and has worked to establish their core sustainability principles around People, Place and Nature and builds capacity across the teams to care for, respect and learn from our natural environments. Claire is a keen advocate for Living Buildings, Biophilic design and place based design.
Joe Mumford, BSc has a strong interest in Victoria’s marine environment, marine protected areas and public land management. Joe has years of experience as part of multi-functional teams in environmental and park planning, sustainability planning, project management and community engagement in a number of roles with Parks Victoria.
Virginia Mosk, MSc – Secretary, Administrator & Event Coordinator – passions are marine environments, sustainability in natural and urban environments, marine ecosystems, community engagement and education leading to behaviour change. Marine Biologist graduated from the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia, Virginia also has wide-ranging experience running her own businesses, and providing high level project management, research, event organisation and administration skills to many organisations; industry, NFPs, government. An all year swimmer, snorkeler and local resident of Bayside, she has served for many years in volunteer roles for many environmental organisations. E: MESACoffice@gmail.com; mobile: 0408 800 685