Romanian Environmental Champion in Queensland Paving the Way for a Greener Future

by AURELIAN NORAN

During my childhood in the communist Romania, in spite of hardship and difficult economic situation, I earned a place at BP Hasdeu National College in the math-physics cohort of 1983 students, which paved the way to a successful admission at Facultatea de Inginerie Mecanică și Mecatronică-Universitatea Politehnica din Bucuresti (upb.ro). I am proud to have travelled the rocky road from this humble beginning to being one of the 4 female engineers in the State of Queensland awarded as Fellow of Engineers Australia in 2014 as described on the website “The Queensland Division congratulates those members who have been recognised as Fellows of Engineers Australia in 2014 and 4 outstanding engineers were inducted into the Queensland Engineering Hall of Fame at the Queensland Annual Division Meeting on 5th November 2014. The grade of Fellow is one of the highest accolades that members of Engineers Australia can receive. Members who achieve this grade have demonstrated sustained major responsibility and experience in their field.”

As an Engineer and Project Manager I contributed to major infrastructure landmark projects such as Project Manager in the team building major tunnels, roads and highways such as the AIRPORT LINK AND NORTHERN BUSWAY -Ministerial Media Statements, Project Officer for Queensland Government’ office delivering the $4.2billion Queens’ Wharf Development, which changed the shores of Brisbane River forever. Contract Manager in the team building the gold and black Brisbane’s resilient new ferry terminals -Roads & Infrastructure Magazine (roadsonline.com.au).

MBA and Business Owner

From a humble girl dreamer from Buzau, School #15 Crang, to a Master of Business Administration (MBA) completed in 2003 at Griffith University After 10 years in Australia, I was a senior engineer with a good technical background and experience but I had many challenges in understanding the society around me. My education and upbringing had been the product of a communist regime where democracy, business, competition, free market, finance, economics, marketing were never taught in school. I started the MBA to learn as much as possible about this society and find my place in it. The first real challenge was learning the English language to a level where my essays and exams would be of a good standard. The MBA offered me an exhilarating ride into so many areas of knowledge and societal understanding. I was so happy to finish with an overall Distinction, although I had started the journey well below the pass mark, in a foreign language. I completed the MBA while working full time and reading as much as possible to polish my English language knowledge. The MBA gave me a wonderful opportunity to start a career in project management and run my own consultancy business providing project and business management services from 2006 onwards. Amongst my clients have been Queensland Government, NSW Government, Australian Government, South Australian Government, Brisbane City Council, GHD, KPMG, and many tier 1 companies as well as some venture capital investors and smaller organisations. I have been privileged to take part in some many great projects and initiatives, while building a fantastic reputation as a trusted and resilient professional.

GAICD, FIEAust, MBA, MAIPM, BE (mech) Landowner and Conservationist

From a single flower pot in our one bedroom apartment in East Brisbane in 1994 to a co-landowner, together with my husband, of a 40 acres Koala Nature Refuge conservation area on the scenic route of Mt Mee in the D’Aguilar ranges.
Always a nature lover, we went in search of our own paradise. When we purchased in 2003 our plot of land on Mt Mee, the place was an environmental disaster with major infestations of weeds and pest animals. We invested over 10 years and major resources into gradually transforming this property into a Land for Wildlife, then a Nature Refuge and now in Dahmongah Koala Nature Refuge, which is protected by legislation to ensure that the wildlife and mountain creatures have a home in the future. We planted and nurtured thousands of native trees and vegetation and now have a significantly improved environment for the native fauna of the mountain. Dahmongah means “flying squirrel” in Wacca language and sure enough we have many sugar gliders, wallabies, Koalas, bandicoots and all the wonderful wildlife that the mountain hosts. We also have recorded over 70 species of birds and many butterflies, inspects and frogs. And above all, we have the satisfaction that we will leave a better place behind us which we hope will entice our daughter to continue with her passion for bird photography.

GAICD, FIEAust, MBA, MAIPM, BE (mech) Hydrogen Champion

From a humble arrival in Brisbane in 1994, together with my husband, with just one suitcase each, to the first Romanian born Australian ever appointed as a Director of Gladstone Area Water Board, a Category 1 government owned Water Authority described in the Renewal flows on Gladstone Area Water Board -Ministerial Media Statements “The Palaszczuk Government has appointed former Deputy Mayor Maxine Brushe, mechanical engineer Aurelia Noran and academic Professor Poh-Ling Tan to the Gladstone Area Water Board. Member for Gladstone Glenn Butcher said the appointees, with their mix of local knowledge, business experience and water management expertise, would further enhance GAWB’s role to deliver safe, reliable and efficient water services to the Gladstone region. “GAWB owns and operates Awoonga Dam on the Boyne River. Along with a network of delivery pipelines and watertreatment plants, these are critical pieces of infrastructure helping to drive the region’s economy,’’ Mr Butcher said. Excerpt from Ministerial Media Statement “Renewal Flows on Gladstone Area Water Board published Wed, 28 August 2019 In addition to the role of the Board Member, I also was a Chair of GAWB’s Audit and Risk Committee, and a Chair of Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline Committee leading the development of a project with a capital value of 1 billion AU$. Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline -Gladstone Area Water Board (gawb.qld.gov.au). Amongst other major achievement during my term as a director included: The construction and establishment of a Aquaculture Centre and Industry in Gladstone based at GAWB’s Awoonga Dam as well as the Major development of public amenities and facilities around the Awoonga Dam to allow safe public access and enjoyment of the beauty of the lake.

Environmental champion

In 2021 I had the opportunity to take on the challenge to help the local Pine Rivers Catchment Association (PRCA) Inc to improve its governance and operations to move towards a more sustainable organisational position. PRCA is a community based, not-for-profit environmental organisation that aims to improve the health of the catchment’s environment. The Management Committee offered me the General Manager role and we started on a thrilling ride of building the aeroplane while flying it. In addition to the paid role I contributed over 500 volunteer hours to ensure that I transfer maximum knowledge and skill to the PRCA team and set them up for success. In just under 18 months the organisation grew from 2 to 5 staff and from a very inefficient delivery of operations to a high performance of delivery of 3 times as many projects and activities with a revenue in 2022-2023 of over $1 Million. I led the transformation of the governance and established full suite of policies, systems and procedures along with a professional project management office. We planted over 6,000 stems across multiple revegetation sites to improve the health of the riparian of North and South Pine Rivers. We established a program of community action called Catchment Care to ensure the maintenance of key riverways. We obtained a grant from the Australian Government and commenced the establishment of Koala transit corridors along the waterways and gullies. The PRCA team is now well set-up to consolidate the progress made over the last 20 months and continue on a sustainable path.

Romanian Community

As a proud Romanian -Australian citizen, I maintain strong links with my communities and participate and help wherever possible the multicultural perspective of our society. In 2021 I also found my spiritual home in the Orthodox Church of SfantulApostol Filip. I have been helping out as a volunteer with what I know how to do best, namely organising and MC’
events, applying for grants and developing an approach that could see the Church develop a more sustainable financial and organisational position. The inaugural IA Festival held on 10 June 2023 on the Broadwater Park, Gold Coast, was a great success with over 500 guests partaking into the wonderful community celebration of Romanian traditions. I had the privilege of organising and being the Master of Ceremonies for the artistic program which featured Romanian invited artists and singers, dancers and a parade of Traditional Costumes. The Church is planning a strong fundraising campaign to fund the acquisition of a worship place and I am committed to help with this fantastic initiative that will contribute towards strengthening the Romanian community around the orthodox tradition and spirituality.

The Dream

I have grown up in a loving family in Buzau, a small city of about 100,000 people. The communism was tough on our family. We were really poor through the 80’s and 90’s, when I grew up. My father was an engineer and my mother an office worker. In spite of them working full time, we barely made ends meet. I will never forget the many years of school spent in our small apartment in the city of Buzau when we only had 2 hours of electricity during the day and 2 at night. All of this while there was almost NOTHING in the shops to eat. No meat, no milk, no eggs, bread on ratio, etc… No shoes, no cloths, just empty shelves everywhere. Lucky we hade tight ties to my grandparents and relatives in the Sub-Carpathian region of Buzau. I was able to spend my holidays care free in the country side. At the time, I was not worried about convenience and
working hard was just part of the fun. I loved every moment of it, including gathering vegies from the garden, eggs from the chickens, milk from the cows. We were rich enough to be able to put the food on the table, have clean water from the wells and wood in the cooking oven. I am indebted to my past that gave me the optic to treasure everything, that current life and the modern technology has to offer, while never forgetting to keep a lid to unnecessary excess because we can always go back to basics. Unfortunately I lost both my parents during the COVID years, my Father in March 2020 and my Mother in April 2021. My pain is still raw for not being able to travel to Romania during those dreadful times and help with
whatever I could. My husband, Ovidiu and my daughter Aida, have been my rocks and my treasures. I feel that my challenge is to keep them close, while supporting them with their dreams to the best of my abilities.

My own dream is now to be able to share my experience and expertise to contribute to the world’s transformation towards reducing emissions and restoring the wildlife habitats that we have been destroying in our continuous quest for more and more economic advantages. We all can do more with less resources from our Mother Earth while enriching our humanity’s spirituality and compassion for all living creatures. My dream is to be part of the daring leaders carrying the flag of this GREEN TRANSFORMATION.