About WDA-A
The Australasian Section of the Wildlife Disease Association was established in 1973 and was the first geographic WDA section. The mission of the WDA-A is to to acquire, disseminate and apply knowledge of the diseases of wild animals in relation to their biology, ecology, and conservation. The section consists of enthusiastic members including parasitologists, researchers, zoo vets, private practitioners, zoologists, pathologists, biochemists and students, with expertise across a broad range of disciplines and species.
Management of policies and activities of the WDA-A section is through an Executive Committee that includes representation from each region. See details below.
WDA-A Executive Committee 2025
WDA-A Executive Committee 2026 | Name | Email address |
|---|---|---|
Chairperson | Jasmin Hufschmid | huj@unimelb.edu.au |
Past Chairperson | Laura Grogan | l.grogan@uq.edu.au |
Secretary | Chloe Steventon | chloeasteventon@gmail.com |
Treasurer | Nicholas Doidge | nicholas.doidge@unimelb.edu.au |
Executive Member | Brett Gartrell | B.Gartrell@massey.ac.nz |
Student Rep | Bianca Barnett Naszek | wdaastudent@gmail.com |
International Representative | Pam Whiteley | pamw@unimelb.edu.au |
Member at Large (New Zealand) | Chris Niebuhr | niebuhrc@landcareresearch.co.nz |
Communications Officer | Heather Fenton | hfenton@zoo.nsw.gov.au |
Office Bearers of the Australasian (WDA-A) Student Chapter can be found here.
WDA-A Regional Representatives 2025
Region | Name | Email |
|---|---|---|
New Zealand | Janelle Ward (JW) | jward@wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au |
Papua New Guinea | Tania Areori (TA) | tania.areori@lls.nsw.gov.au |
ACT | Arianne Lowe (AL) | lowearianne@gmail.com |
NSW | Aditi Sriram (AS) | aditi.sriram@environment.nsw.gov.au |
NT | Rebecca Webster (RW) | rkewebster@gmail.com |
QLD | Viviana Gonzalez-Astudillo (VGA) | v.gonzalez@uq.edu.au |
SA | Jenny McLelland (JM) | jen.mclelland@gmail.com |
TAS | Sarah Michael (SM) | Sarah.Michael@nre.tas.gov.au |
VIC | Catherine Binns (CB) | c.binns@unimelb.edu.au |
WA | Simone Vitali (SV) | svitali@wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au |
WDA-A Subcommittee Representatives 2025
Position | Name | Email |
|---|---|---|
History Subcommittee Rep | Jenny McLelland | jen.mclelland@gmail.com |
Website Subcommittee Rep | Anna Langguth | a.langguth@unimelb.edu.au |
Social Media Subcommittee Rep | Daniel Hutchinson | danielhutchy@outlook.com |
Climate Emergency Subcommittee Rep | Sarah Alexander | sarahabvms@hotmail.com |
