Cleaning Up the Canning Coordinator
Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours (1998), Murdoch University
Roweena has strong personal connections to the Canning River (Djarlgarro Beelier) having grown up exploring the banks, kayaking the waters and being inspired by the plants and animals that call Djarlgarro Beelier home.
This strong sense of connection and desire to have a positive, purposeful impact have been key motivators throughout Roweena’s life. After completing a Bachelor of Science Degree with First Class Honours at Murdoch University in 1997, Roweena volunteered on numerous research and conservation projects with the University and CALM and became an active volunteer of the Wilson’s Wetland Action Group during its early years of formation.
Roweena was then fortunate to join the Swan River Trust and, over the next 9 years, filled various catchment management and foreshore protection roles where she had the opportunity to work closely with the Swan Catchment Centre, then Perth NRM, community members, ‘friend’s groups’, subregional Catchment Management groups government agencies and local government to protect and enhance the Swan Canning system. Roweena also spent a year in the Pilbara as a Rangelands NRM River Care officer, working on weed mapping along the Fortescue River and digitising a decade’s worth of data.
While taking time off to care for a young family, she travelled around Australia and homeschooled her two children for four of those years. On her return to Perth, she studied Digital Media Technologies at TAFE and was fortunate to have the opportunity to work as an interpretive officer with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) in the Parks and Visitors Services Branch.
While the government departments and NRM delivery have changed greatly over the decade spent caring for her young family, her values and desire to make a positive difference stayed the same. It is, therefore, not surprising that Roweena jumped at the opportunity to fill the Cleaning Up the Canning Coordinator role at SERCUL and has relished the return to her roots.
Roweena is excited to be able to work closely with the (DBCA), the Cities of Canning, Gosnells, and Armadale, the Armadale Gosnells Landcare Group (AGLG), the Whadjuk Aboriginal Corporation and the community to support the delivery of Cleaning Up the Canning restoration and drainage retrofit projects commencing in the 2024/25 financial year with funding from the Australian Government’s Urban Rivers and Catchments Program.
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