Since 1982 I've been involved in ecological restoration practice - working on the ground plus planning, teaching, writing, researching, consulting and journal editing. One ongoing project is lead-editing the 'National Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration in Australia (Edition 2.2)' and co-authoring its adaptation for international application by the Society for Ecological Restoration Edition 2 (SER). My main current roles include Convenor of the Restoration Decade Alliance - a consortium of key Australian Restoration non-profits banding together to accelerate actions across Australia to advance the goals of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration - and Chair of the international SER-Natural Regeneration Network (a sub-committee of the Society for Ecological Restoration). I'm keen to pass on any wisdoms I can to younger people and am transitioning away from editing, consulting and committee work to spend more time engaging in the art of restoring degraded sites to a healthy condition and documenting that through the visual arts. I remain particularly involved, however, in networking internationally with groups and individuals working to assist the natural regeneration of ecosystems and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and in urging society to living within natural resilience limits and cease our destruction of ecosystems and nature-based cultures. BACKGROUNDMy first training is in the visual arts (1970-73) from which I transitioned to working in conservation and social justice direct action until undertaking TAFE training in horticulture in 1978-9. My professional involvement in ecological restoration began in 1982 as a bush regeneration practitioner, training with the National Trust in Sydney, Australia. After a few years experience coordinating restoration projects in the Lismore area, NSW, I moved to a 4-year position as Bush Regeneration officer with Ku-ring-gai Council, Sydney. I learned an enormous amount from working in the bush regeneration industry and community during those decades, which encouraged me to undertake a Grad Dip. in Env Studs at Macquarie Univ in 2001-2 followed by a PhD through the Univ Western Sydney (awarded in 1996). My research focused on studying the mechanisms of nature's own capacity to recover and how we can harness that in ecological restoration practice - a subject in which I remain vitally interested and continue to write on (along with my art practice and other activities in support of conserving nature and culture).