Sustainability Leadership category

Rachael Miller, Sustainability Coordinator (Biodiversity & Water) from the University of Melbourne, is leading transformative change in biodiversity management through innovation, systems thinking, and strategic collaborations. Her flagship initiative, the Biodiversity Baseline Data Project (BBDP), is an adaptable, scalable framework used to track organisational performance, inform institutional planning, enhance student learning and facilitate sector-wide benchmarking. Rachael’s leadership extends across institutions, sectors and borders, accelerating society’s response to the global biodiversity crisis.

Finalist – Rachael Miller

Rachael leading a Biodiversity Tour on campus

Impacts and Benefits

  • Mentored over 60 students through internships and capstone projects, helping them develop real-world skills and secure meaningful employment.
  • The BBDP informed the University’s Sustainability Plan 2030, secured ~$50,000 in annual operational funding, and catalysed nearly $1 million in biodiversity investment over three years.
  • Created public dashboards, such as the Canopy Cover and Plantable Area Dashboards, to transparently communicate progress and incentivise sector-wide knowledge-sharing.

Leadership and Engagement

  • Founder and chair of the ACTS Biodiversity Working Group, working with other tertiary institutions to develop standardised biodiversity metrics.
  • Regularly presents at conferences including ACTS, TEFMA and the Ecological Society of Australia, and has been featured in the Nature Positive Universities webinar series.
  • Actively seeks opportunities to share knowledge through participation in national and international communities of practice.

Wider Societal Impact

  • Developed the Faungi Finder Tool, which automatically analyses data from the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) and transforms in into clear, actionable insights designed to support landowners to better understand the biodiversity on their land.
  • Advocates for metric standardisation to prevent greenwashing and drive transparent, comparable, and meaningful biodiversity outcomes across the tertiary sector and beyond.
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Past Winners

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Sustainability Leadership category

Rachael Miller, Sustainability Coordinator (Biodiversity & Water) from the University of Melbourne, is leading transformative change in biodiversity management through innovation, systems thinking, and strategic collaborations. Her flagship initiative, the Biodiversity Baseline Data Project (BBDP), is an adaptable, scalable framework used to track organisational performance, inform institutional planning, enhance student learning and facilitate sector-wide benchmarking. Rachael’s leadership extends across institutions, sectors and borders, accelerating society’s response to the global biodiversity crisis.

Finalist – Rachael Miller

Rachael leading a Biodiversity Tour on campus

Impacts and Benefits

  • Mentored over 60 students through internships and capstone projects, helping them develop real-world skills and secure meaningful employment.
  • The BBDP informed the University’s Sustainability Plan 2030, secured ~$50,000 in annual operational funding, and catalysed nearly $1 million in biodiversity investment over three years.
  • Created public dashboards, such as the Canopy Cover and Plantable Area Dashboards, to transparently communicate progress and incentivise sector-wide knowledge-sharing.

Leadership and Engagement

  • Founder and chair of the ACTS Biodiversity Working Group, working with other tertiary institutions to develop standardised biodiversity metrics.
  • Regularly presents at conferences including ACTS, TEFMA and the Ecological Society of Australia, and has been featured in the Nature Positive Universities webinar series.
  • Actively seeks opportunities to share knowledge through participation in national and international communities of practice.

Wider Societal Impact

  • Developed the Faungi Finder Tool, which automatically analyses data from the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) and transforms in into clear, actionable insights designed to support landowners to better understand the biodiversity on their land.
  • Advocates for metric standardisation to prevent greenwashing and drive transparent, comparable, and meaningful biodiversity outcomes across the tertiary sector and beyond.

Supported by

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Related finalists

Other finalists