Deborah Tabart is an Australian

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

. She is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

Australian Koala Foundation The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) is registered Australian charity created in 1986, dedicated to the effective management and conservation of the koala and its habitat. It is the principal non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicate ...

(AKF). She has worked with this organisation since 1988 and is known internationally as the Koala Woman.

Career and achievements

In 1988, Tabart was asked by the Australian Koala Foundation Board of Directors to “raise funds to save the koala”.

Publications

* D. Tabart (2004) ''Protecting the Koala: A Species of National Significance – A Consultation paper proposing Commonwealth legislative and policy initiatives that will protect the Koala and its habitat throughout Australia''.

Awards

In 1998 Tabart received a Computersworld Smithsonian Award on behalf of the AKF. In 2011 she received the

International Association of Business Communicators The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is a non-profit. It is a professional association for communications professionals. It was formed in 1970 when the American Association of Industrial Editors re-merged with the Intern ...

EXCEL Award. In January 2008, Tabart was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

(OAM) in acknowledgement of her contributions to the protection and management koalas and their habitat, and her service to Australia and humanity.

Private life

Tabart now resides in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. Besides her day job at the AKF, she also practices

permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using Systems theory, whole-systems thinking. It applies t ...

and grows her own vegetables.

References

Australian environmentalists Australian women environmentalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia {{environmentalist-stub