Professor Patricia Watson is a clinical psychologist and international leader in disaster mental health, posttraumatic stress, early intervention, self-care and peer support. Patricia has extensive experience in research translation and intervention development for those responding to disasters, and co-developed the principles of post-disaster psychosocial care that remain the foundation of disaster recovery efforts across the globe. She was a U.S. Navy clinical psychologist with a specialty in paediatric psychology prior to working at the US National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (NCPTSD) for 22 years. She serves as a founding board member for the First Responder Center for Excellence in the United States, and the Early Intervention Special Interest Group Chair of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). She has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, as well as manuals, toolkits, guidance documents, and online courses on topics such as disaster mental health, military culture, first responder operational stress, early intervention, treatment of trauma-related conditions, and resilience.
Jane Nursey is Head of Clinical Services at Phoenix Australia and a clinical neuropsychologist. She has worked in public acute and mental health services across Melbourne for more than 20 years, including with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Adult and Aged Care services. She coordinated a treatment service for bushfire survivors following the Victorian bushfires in February 2009, and has since published on the bushfire’s academic and other impacts on children and adolescents. Jane has a strong background in developing and implementing evidence informed service models, training programs and providing policy and service development advice to a range of state and commonwealth government departments, high risk industry, education and community support services.
Janette was Principal at Middle Kinglake Primary School from May 2007 to October 2014 at a time that included the destruction of the school during the Black Saturday fires and its subsequent rebuild. Prior to this Principal appointment she held various teaching positions in North-East Victoria, Melbourne and South Gippsland. Up until the end of the 2021 school year she worked part-time as Literacy and Numeracy Coach at Euroa PS. Janette is currently a member of the Children and Disasters Advisory Committee which provides input and feedback on research being conducted and resources developed by Professor Lisa Gibbs, the Academic Lead, Community Resilience, Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety, University of Melbourne. Janette was a Board member of Smouldering Stump inc. from its inception in November 2013 until it wound up in 2021. The Smouldering Stump was a not-for-profit organisation which focused on supporting children and young people to thrive after experiencing trauma from natural disasters.
Robyn Mansfield is an international humanitarian settlement design, livelihoods, and community consultation specialist. Robyn’s focus is on amplifying the voices of marginalized groups in urban planning processes in communities facing hardship, particularly after disasters or conflict. She has an extensive background in local government and has consulted on a range of international projects in Asia and the Pacific region, Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East. Robyn is a qualified landscape architect and holds master’s degrees in International and Community Development, and Disaster, Design and Development. She has lectured at Monash University, RMIT, and Griffith University in disaster and urban resilience studies. Robyn is due to complete a PhD at Monash University in 2022 focusing on mainstreaming the participation of children in urban planning processes for vulnerable settings.