Alison Collins is an urban planner with extensive experience leading multi-disciplinary and cross-organisational project teams in a range of State Government, council, and private-sector roles. She has a particular passion and expertise in work that enables liveable, greener, biodiverse and water sensitive neighbourhoods. For example, she recently prepared the Urban Greening Strategy for Metro Adelaide (2025) where building nature into Adelaide’s urban fabric through Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design is a central goal. Since 2022 she has worked closely with RMIT’s ICON Science Team to identify and drive opportunities to embed BSUD into SA’s policy, guidance, and land-use planning instruments. This includes the Greater Adelaide Regional Plan (2025). Previously she led the development of the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide (2017 Update) and also has extensive experience in strengthening green infrastructure outcomes through other planning system tools. Recently she seconded from her Green Adelaide role to the Department for Infrastructure and Transport to drive the implementation of green infrastructure (including BSUD) across major transport infrastructure projects in SA. Alison is a member of the Stormwater Management Authority Board and the Water Sensitive SA steering group. She holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning and a Bachelor of Environmental Management.

Dr. Holly Kirk is a senior research fellow at Curtin University, WA, working across disciplines in both the Schools of Molecular and Life Sciences, and Design and Built Environment. Holly gained her DPhil in Zoology at Oxford University and uses her expertise in behavioural ecology, animal movement, and spatial modelling to plan cities that support and enhance urban biodiversity. Her applied research on Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design (BSUD) has informed policy and on-ground action in a range of urban developments, from inner city renewals to greenfield communities. Holly’s work on ecological connectivity has been used to create biodiversity plans for a range of urban areas, including Melbourne and the Australian Capital Territory. Holly is passionate about translating scientific theory into positive on-ground action for people and nature, funded by an ARC Industry Fellowship.

Katherine Robertson is a current PhD candidate in the ICON Science Research Group at RMIT University. Her research focuses on mitigating disease risk in urban environments by promoting healthy, functional ecosystems.

I am a Honours student at the University of Sydney, under my supervisors Dieter Hochuli and Kurt Iveson. My interests include urban ecology, informal/spontaneous green spaces, and integrating green spaces into urban environments.

I am a PhD candidate at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, investigating the impacts of anthropogenic roosting and urbanisation on insectivorous bat fitness and physiology by comparing stress and fitness measures at the roost level. I’m particularly interested in wildlife-human interactions and the ecology of synanthropic species in the rapidly urbanising Australian landscape.

Katherine is an urban ecologist and horticulturalist with a passion for greening cities and enhancing biodiversity in urban areas. She is investigating new uses for waste subsoils and recycled construction wastes, and methods to return flora from critically endangered plant communities to urban landscapes in the context of native wildflower meadows. Her recent work has returned species from critically endangered natural temperate grasslands and grassy woodlands of southern Victoria to a range of sites in Melbourne, Australia.