Meet our people

Our people are working towards bringing our legacy to life, creating a prosperous future for Queenslanders.

Meet some of our talented, down-to-earth and resilient people, and find out why they love working with us.

Brianna and Matthew are overcoming sustainability challenges

Find out how Brianna and Matthew are helping manage the sustainability of Queensland’s forestry resources.

  • Video transcript

    Well, wood is a very important resource in Australia, and we need it for building houses, our power poles, our paper, and I like knowing that we're doing it the right way.

    It's good to know that it's coming from a sustainable source.

    As Forest Ranger, there's a lot of bushwalking and getting outside, communicating with stakeholders, monitoring our harvesting systems.

    Our role, I think it's pretty critical that we support ongoing industry.

    I started out in 2005 as a General Forest Worker, planting trees and spraying weeds.

    Now, everything is done on a tablet. A day at work for me currently is getting to work, receiving a lot of phone calls and helping out staff members, day-to-day issues with anything from a tablet to computer system or general operational stuff.

    Because you overcome one challenge and there's another one waiting right around the corner.

    So, you're always learning something new. That's probably why I like the role so much.

    My day can vary quite a lot throughout the week. Some days, I'm in the office all day. Other days, I'm collaborating with my peers, might do some training.

    We can be flying drones or we can be monitoring the silo area. We can spend days in the bush, we can spend a whole week in the bush and often, we can be camping as well. That's a really cool, team-bonding kind of moment.

    You're just always working with a great bunch of people, who really makes the work life really, really enjoyable.

    I've got to see a lot of Queensland that I wouldn't have normally seen. Not many people get to experience that kind of stuff.

    It's really important to me that when we are harvesting, we're doing it properly and we're doing it sustainably and that we're not damaging the environment, we're managing it and we're helping it regenerate, so we can come back and we can have these forests in the next 50, 100, 200 years.

Graham is achieving outcomes

Learn how Graham has spent 40 years making a difference for agriculture in Queensland.

  • Video transcript

    I was the eldest child of eight, so I had six brothers and one sister. She was lucky she had seven brothers. She probably didn't think that, but anyway... we were mixed croppers.

    With the large number of children in our family, it really wasn't going to be possible for all of us to go onto the land, so I had to look at another way of staying in agriculture because it's what I enjoy doing.

    What matters most to me is to really work with the communities in which we live, and to ensure that the communities remain viable.

    Where there are challenges there are also opportunities. What we do is really work with industry to improve the productivity of what we do, but also the sustainability.

    We support growers to deal with the day-to-day operations to maintain their resilience in the face of many changes.

    We work with them so that they can have a viable business in the face of a range of factors, which are impacting their productivity and their profitability.

    It's about really making a difference in people's lives and in their businesses.

    We're really about working together to achieve outcomes for our clients and our customers and, I guess, for the state of Queensland.

    I think that one of the great opportunities within the department is the professional development that you can actually get.

    I undertook a diploma in agricultural economics, followed by a master’s in economics, which is completely supported by the department financially, they really assisted me in that space.

    They also assisted me in a Certificate in Irrigation.

    We have a very vibrant and strong agricultural sector. We are very important to the economy; we are continuing to grow the industry and that's actually bringing opportunities to Queensland.

    We produce healthy fruit, vegetables, grain and meat and that's all important to our local communities, as well as to the economy.

Cherelle is making a difference

Find out how Cherelle is helping maintain sustainable fishing resources for all Queenslanders.

  • Video transcript

    I've always been a big believer in making sure that I make a difference. My role as a Fisheries Manager is making the rules as to what people can and cannot do when they go fishing.

    Looking at how the rules are made, why the rules are made and implementing that.

    Making sure we have sustainable fisheries, economic fisheries moving forward into the future.

    I feel that being heavily involved in determining and implementing fisheries legislation in Queensland, I can make a difference.

    When I look back over those 20 years, I've stayed because I'm passionate about what I do.

    No two days are the same. So, I have been absolutely blessed.

    I've seen some things, done some things, that people could only dream of doing and I was getting paid to do those things.

    We were about 170 miles out to sea; water depth was about 200 metres. It was an absolute glass-out. Not a ripple on the surface and it just looked like a mirror. It was absolutely magic watching that sun come up over the water.

    I want to make sure that I've given it my all and that I've made a difference. I've been here for 20 years, I'm keen to see what the next 20 brings.

Carla is ticking all the boxes

Learn how Carla has found purpose in preserving and protecting Queensland’s biosecurity.

  • Video transcript

    So, I guess I've always had an outdoor office. I was a little bush kid. Always out in nature and having fun and playing in creeks and finding adventures.

    I initially started out with the Asian Honeybee Eradication Program, within the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

    And from there, I got a role within the Electric Ant Eradication Program.

    Left unchecked, they can cause really bad damage in the environment and to all our native animals and pets alike.

    Being that there is a program in place to get rid of it and I can be a part of it, yeah, that's pretty important to me.

    These dogs are trained to find electric ants. Each day, I'll pick the dogs up, go to site, make sure they're all happy and healthy and ready to roll.

    We'll sort of break up the site into workable sections to make sure that the treatment's been effective.

    It's like a big game of hide and seek. When they find the ants, they get to have a little play. If they put in a good day's work, yeah, they can get a reward and go for a swim.

    To look after the environment and to do my part runs deep with me. Working with animals and being in the outdoors, it's where I'm comfortable and yeah, ticks all the boxes for me.