Community Environmental Monitoring (CEM) is a grassroots association of activist makers, scientists, journalists, academics, artists, designers and much more, brought together by our refusal to accept harmful government and industrial practices polluting the places where we live. Our members come from a range of backgrounds including activism, science, data analysis, art and environmental journalism.
Chris Nash, Chairperson
Chris is a journalist and academic. He has worked for ABC radio and television, where he won a Walkley Award, and as an award-winning independent documentary maker. He was previously the Director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney, and Professor of Journalism at Monash University.
Charlie Pierce, Research Coordinator
Charlie is an environmental chemist who has worked in environmental consulting and analytical chemistry for over 45 years.
He has a Masters of Science in Acquatic Ecology and has extensive experience across public and private sectors in the United States and Australia. He has worked as senior chemist and technical manager across several government departments in NSW including the NSW EPA, Sydney Water and NSW Agriculture. He continues to practice as an Environmental and Laboratory Professional Contractor and has been a technical assessor for the National Association of Testing Authorities between 1993 and the present.
Over his career, Charlie has witnessed instances where people suffered loss of amenity and compromised health due to poorly executed developments, uncontrolled industrial emissions and weak enforcement of environmental regulations. Charlie joined Community Environmental Monitoring (CEM) because it was formed to address the inequality between communities and polluters. He has applied his specialist landfill knowledge and in situ monitoring expertise in support of CEM projects.
George Harris, Technical Researcher
Kobra Sayyadi, Blog Producer
Kobra is a writer, theatre-maker and community advocate from Campbelltown. She has a passion for telling stories and initiating programs that bring about positive social and systemic changes in Western Sydney and greater accessibility to the arts for working class and migrant communities. Kobra is a project assistant at Western Sydney Community Forum and works with PYT and Monkey Baa Theatre Company as an emerging playwright representing diverse stories on stage. She is currently the president of Saba group, a non-for-profit youth organisation dedicated to improving and empowering the Hazara community in Sydney.
Paul Jeffrey, Secretary
Paul has a background in manufacturing, lighting consultancy and small business.
Wendy Bacon, Editor
Wendy is a journalist, researcher and non-practising lawyer who has been involved in urban environmental issues for many years. She was previously the Professor of Journalism at UTS where she taught investigative and environmental journalism. During the community campaign against Westconnex, she developed an interest in air quality and helped developed the People’s Environmental Impacts Statement to enable community members to participate more easily in responding to complicated and cumbersome environmental impact reviews.
Kim Vernon, Member
Luke Bacon, Communications Officer
Luke is an Associate Director for Research, Learning & Impact at the global social impact agency, Purpose. This work builds on a Masters by Research at UTS Design School, exploring how community legal centre teams collaborate and get things done by incorporating an array of information and technologies. Luke was previously the Design and Technology Lead at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility and a civic hacker at the OpenAustralia Foundation, building open source tools to give people new ways to participate in our democracy.