Karleah Berris

I am a Conservation Biologist working in the Natural Resource Management sector and have a research interest in improving conservation outcomes in human-modified landscapes. I fell in love with our unique native wildlife as a child, when I spent school holidays birdwatching at my grandparent’s property on the Murray River. As an adult, I feel a deep sense of responsibility to advocate for our threatened species, who’s continued survival depends on the choices we make today.

I am the Team Leader for the Biodiversity Unit at the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board and have worked on the glossy black cockatoo Recovery Program for twelve years. A defining moment for me was during the Australian Black Summer bushfires when the Kangaroo Island glossy black-cockatoo went from a conservation success story to at risk of extinction within weeks. I realised how truly vulnerable our native wildlife is. Post-fire projects that I led also demonstrated the extraordinary impact that can be achieved when a rural community works together at scale to help a species.

I have a PhD in Conservation Biology, complemented by undergraduate studies in both ecology and agricultural science. After almost two decades of living and working in a rural farming community, I have become increasingly interested in how the conservation sector could collaborate more closely with farmers to achieve landscape-scale outcomes for threatened wildlife.

Through my Churchill Fellowship, I hope to learn from overseas conservation practitioners and farmers who have achieved remarkable recoveries of wildlife in intensively farmed regions. My goal is to bring home practical approaches to conservation project design that strengthen connections between the agriculture and conservation sectors. I want to help shape a future Australia where conservation co-exists with modern agriculture, and threatened wildlife is a valued part of our landscapes.