We are fortunate to have the assistance, advice and input from a range of contributors on environmental, horticultural and animal-related information.

Find out more about:

• Flora: Frank Hemmings
• Birds: Trevor Waller
• Photography: Chris Gleisner

Frank Hemmings

Frank Hemmings is a local who lives in Queens Park but grew up in North Ryde in Sydney’s northern suburbs. His interest in natural history was fostered from a young age by his father who frequently took him on walks in local bushland and other places, pointing out plants and animals. His interest in gardening also started early and he comes from an entire family of keen gardeners.

It was the latter hobby which saw him enrolling in Urban Horticulture at UTS in 1990, graduating with a BSc in 1994. He then worked at Macquarie University in the School of Biological Sciences as a Technical Officer, predominantly providing technical support for undergraduate teaching classes and assisting in the university’s herbarium. It was here that his strong plant identification skills and botany background came to the fore.

Frank started work as a Technical Officer at the University of New South Wales in 1998, setting up lab classes, collecting specimens and spending more time also in the John T. Waterhouse Herbarium at the university. 

In late 2001 he took over as herbarium curator (half time) in 2001. He is responsible for maintaining the herbarium’s collection of approximately 48,000 specimens of plants, algae and fungi, and spends considerable time in plant identification.

Frank is still a keen gardener, and has been a keen birder since his teenage years. He regularly goes on birding walks through the park and other areas, and leads bird surveys on field trips for several courses at UNSW.

Trevor Waller

Trevor Waller was born in Germiston, Johannesburg in South Africa. As a schoolboy many of his holidays were spent with his family in the Kruger National Park, where he developed a skill for spotting animals in the bush. At that stage his passion for birds was undiscovered, but he could spot a Cheetah in the grass way off in the distance!

His ambition was to become a game ranger and work with the animals in the Kruger Park.

After finishing school Trevor served two years of compulsory national service in the Military Police, rising to the rank of corporal  After his national service  he worked as a Lighting Electrician on the production of two movies.

In 1989 he immigrated to Australia and started bird watching in 1994. He said it was a Noisy Miner that got him started, and after that he spent every available moment in the bush learning the necessary field skills required.

Trevor attended many different courses in bird identification, migration, anatomy and anything else he could find to learn about birds. Bird photography also became an integral part of his birding adventure. Eventually he started leading birding tours around Sydney and elsewhere around Australia.

He has travelled extensively throughout Australia in search of birds and participated in many birding tours around the world. 

Trevor also has an interest in butterflies, and in particular photographing them. While they are a nice distraction, for Trevor birds will always come first.

Chris Gleisner

Chris Gleisner is a Sydney-based freelance photographer and photography teacher. She has been a regular photographer for Centennial Parklands for a number of years now, and has taught both adult and kids’ workshops for the Parklands educational programs, and many of the images on this website and in Parklands publications are Chris' work.

In addition to her work for the Parklands, Chris has a wide range of commercial and private clients. Her work varies from commissioned landscapes and corporate events to weddings and portraiture.

As an educator, Chris teaches regular photography classes at SCEGGS in Darlinghurst. She has also taught for Mission Australia’s Creative Youth Initiatives, Boystown, Wanaka Autumn Art School (NZ), Sydney Community College, as well as private workshops for individuals and camera clubs. 

Chris is also an organiser for the upcoming Head On Photo Festival to be held in Sydney from late April to early July.
In her spare time, she pursues her passion as an art photographer.

She has exhibited her work at the Museum of Sydney and the State Library of NSW. Her work has been included in Art & About, Head On Portrait Prize, Coogee Arts Festival, Cross Projections, and numerous other group shows. She has had two solo shows at Gallery East in Clovelly.

To view a portfolio of Chris Gleisner’s work, please go to her website, www.chrisgleisner.com.