Environmental champion recognised

“I see it as recognition by the wider world of the important work done quietly, without fanfare, in farming communities,” she said.

Ms Teese was raised on a dairy farm in Gippsland before studying agricultural science at university and taking up a career teaching agriculture initially in schools and then at agricultural college.

It was her early life that helped shape her love of the land and her interest in the natural sciences.

“I saw the last remnants of subtropical forests in Gippsland; gullies fed by natural springs full of tree ferns,” she said.

She moved to Carisbrook in 1979 after marrying John Williamson, and started farming with him on the Williamson family mixed farm.

She joined the local branch of the Victorian Farmers Federation, where she said met some great local farmers who were deeply interested in land management and conservation.

She also joined another group of farmers, who were involved in a group tackling salinity in the area.

The group launched Project Branchout, a community revegetation scheme that was the forerunner of landcare groups.

In 1989 Ms Teese became the convenor and one of the founding members of the Moolort Landcare Group, and has remained a member ever since.

The group helped survey the soils of the Moolort Plains and helped farmers and the wider community appreciate the value of the Moolort wetlands.

One of the big changes she has seen in the past 35 years has been a recognition that conservation works done on farms benefit the wider community and that farmers needed to be assisted to do this.

Creating a bird habitat or conserving native trees had benefits beyond the farm, while salinity in one place could have its origins in another, she said.

Ms Teese remains deeply committed to conservation and managing the land for the future.

Her latest project is as chair of the Bjarne K Dahl Trust – an organisation set up with a $6 million bequest from a Norwegian forester to help preserve eucalyptus trees.

It has already distributed more than $1 million, ranging from a couple of hundreds dollars for a primary school tree-planting project to $150,000 to an organisation replanting trees in northern Australia.

“That’s very satisfying; that’s what motivates me,” she said

She is also concerned about the impact of changing climate and the challenges that creates for land managers.

Ms Teese paid tribute to the local Carisbrook community that had provided her with the opportunities that had led to her extensive involvement at higher levels in conservation and government organisations.

“This has been a great community to live in,” she said.

“I’ve been inspired by their commitment to production agriculture in balance with managing the land for the future.”

Ms Teese has served on the boards and management committees of numerous organisations, including the Victorian Catchment Management Council, the Australian Landcare Council, the National Heritage Trust, the Victorian Land Conservation Council, Rural Ambulance Victoria, Central Highlands Water and the North Central Catchment Management Authority.