Sarah Lance

Bachelor of Natural Resources Management (Honors Environmental Science), Class of 1994–97

Since graduating Roseworthy College, Sarah has worked the length of the Murray-Darling Basin!
“I started in Swan Hill, before venturing upstream and across state borders to Denilquin, Roma and Charleville. Now I have returned to South Australia to make my home at Murray Bridge, right on the banks of the River Murray.”

By travelling the Murray Basin, Sarah has made many good friends and valued connections. “All of the networking has come in handy too, as over the years I have taken various tours up and down the river to get irrigators, farmers, NRM Board members, councillors, staff and so forth meeting each other!”

Sarah is now a District Manager for the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) based in Murray Bridge. Her role is to promote natural resource management in her community and enable land managers to take action. Sarah is proud and passionate to lead a team of dedicated District Officers and Rangers who are protecting, conserving and improving the Murrayland landscapes. Sarah and her team work alongside farmers, land managers, community groups, industry and local government, as well as managing conservation parks across the Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges.

On a daily basis, Sarah’s work contains a huge amount of variety. For example working in native vegetation management, releasing the Calici virus for rabbit control, promoting native pasture management, supporting nature based recreation events and tourism activities to preparing the bushfire season, and being part of the DEWNR fire crew.

What is Sarah’s fondest memory while studying at Roseworthy?
“Field Studies with the fabulous Keith Cowley, the Middleback Ranges, Mount Scott Conservation Park, Para Wirra and many more! I loved field studies so much that during my third year of my Degree and Honours year I worked as an assistant trainer for the courses just so I could keep going...oh and for the social occasion as well! We always had such great times and saw amazing things. One of my most memorable moments was driving into Whyalla and running over a small thing crossing the road. A Dunnart, now flat tailed, I was sure. The rest of the car load thought it was a mouse! The argument ensued and so on our way home we hunted it down and sure enough it was a Fat Tailed Dunnart. In the following days of pit fall trapping we found many Fat Tailed Dunnarts, Ningaui's, Thorny Devils and Silky mice, such amazing survivors in an arid landscape, and animals that not many people get to see let alone handle.”