Inspiring people to live life is my motto, and I try to live according to this principle every day.
Working at the SAWC is one of the most rewarding aspects of my life. I get to work with an amazing, dynamic, enthusiastic, and passionate team, not scared of hard work and testing new ideas. The SAWC ethos allows for people to ‘learn-by-doing’ and this approach to life allows one never to stop learning or get bored of where they are in life.
Before joining the College, Theresa started her career in the Northern Plains Project in the Kruger National Park as a logistics field co-ordinator while conducting a field-based Masters through the University of the Witwatersrand, after which she spent a year working at the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve. She joined the College in 2002 as the Resource Centre Facilitator and shortly thereafter was asked to present the SAWC course/module, Landscape Management. This channelled her career path and in 2006 she was appointed as Executive Manager: Training. With well over 20 years of experience working across various departments including the Natural Resource Management department, Theresa brings a wealth of experience to bear and was appointed as the CEO in 2011.
Drawing on her experience, Theresa has helped drive the SAWC’s applied learning approach and its approach to holistic and responsible resource management. In this way providing sound thought leadership. With her academic background, and with her husband being a regional ranger in the Kruger National Park where she lives, she also brings further insight into protected area integrity aspects and training.
During her tenure as CEO, Theresa has been instrumental in
Theresa has also played an integral part in the development of the SAWC’s aerial support and canine support projects, which form part of the College’s very successful four-tiered approach to counter-poaching. Furthermore, in response to requests from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), SAWC Alumni as well as from national and international conservation organisations, Theresa has been closely involved in developing a recognised qualification that meets the needs of conservation professionals. As a result, the SAWC has submitted a ground-breaking new three-year Diploma in Applied Natural Resource Management, to the Council on Higher Education for accreditation.
Theresa is a qualified LSA Pilot and volunteers a substantial amount of her time to patrol flights aimed at gathering data for better area integrity and rhino protection. This includes regular distribution mapping and monitoring of rhino movements via VHF telemetry and grid-based distribution flights. Together with the SAWC’s chief pilot, this has resulted in the most comprehensive set of rhino distribution data in the areas where the SAWC pilots fly, namely parts of the greater Kruger National Park, including the associated private nature reserves.