Jock Conlon

City of ONKAPARINGA

I grew up in the southern region of Adelaide and spent most of my childhood at the beach or playing in local creeks where I developed a passion for the environment. This passion helped me to understand our connection to the environment and how important it is to conserve it. It inspired me to study marine biology and seek a career in conservation.

After a variety of jobs in the conservation industry, I am now fortunate to work at the City of Onkaparinga. Part of my role in taking climate change action is to conserve the vegetation along Council’s coastline and southern creeks through monitoring the health of these natural areas, identifying threats and impacts and taking action.

Working in local government allows me to get involved in connecting the community to their local environment through meeting residents, students and community groups. During these meetings I try to inspire people and raise awareness of conservation values and the actions we need to take to protect this fragile environment.

As a parent I try to instil the values held within this local natural environment to my son. Living on the coast and adjacent to a conservation park makes for many interesting discussions on what we see. Linking different habitats with different animals is always fun to discuss on our adventures. I hope he continues to share this information with future generations.