Staff Feature: Karen Carter

Our staff feature for the month of August is Karen Carter.

Karen has been a project delivery officer with the Healthy Environments team here at Wheatbelt NRM since January 2023.

With a passion for conservation and the natural world as well as a love of helping others learn about the positive impact they can make with simple actions, Karen said the position is a perfect fit.

Having lived in Northam for the past 20 years, Karen balances her role at Wheatbelt NRM with a busy home life.

There is no such thing as a “typical” day for Karen with work varying from day to day and season to season.

“Some days we are out in the field looking in Carnaby Black Cockatoo hollows for signs of breeding, monitoring weeds and animals, assessing the condition of remnant bushland or meeting with our landholder partners to chat about how we can help them reach their conservation goals,” Karen said.

“Other days we are in the office creating maps, planning revegetation, helping landholders obtain their 1080 licence, planning community events and doing all the paperwork that comes with the work we do.”

One of her most memorable moments to date has been during Karen’s first ‘in the field’ expedition.

“I wore my trusty steel cap boots and after about half an hour of walking in the field my perfect looking boots began to feel strange,” Karen said.

“I thought perhaps a rock was stuck in the tread, no it turns out that keeping boots in a box unused for 10 years doesn’t stop them from wearing out!

“By the time we’d finished I was carrying the soles of my boots in my hands and walking in soggy socks, I couldn’t stop laughing.”

In addition to juggling family life and her role at Wheatbelt NRM, Karen also is a self-confessed sucker for a stray cat.

“In my life so far I have taken in or rehomed 19 stray cats, three in Perth, two from Wiluna and 14 just from my garden in Northam,” Karen said.

“Apart from the happiness my pets bring me, I feel like I’m also making a difference by removing these introduced predators from the wild, having them sterilised and keeping them indoors.

“I shudder to think how many more kittens would have been born and how many native animals would have been killed just from those 19 cats.

“Ironically, I am allergic to cats so thank goodness for antihistamines.”

Karen’s work philosophy is to always do her best while staying open, honest, and respectful.

She believes in working hard and putting care into what she does but never at the expense of wellbeing, whether her own or others.

“I value collaboration, continuous learning, and being approachable and supportive,” Karen said.

“I'm passionate about conserving and enhancing the natural environment, and I try to bring that same care and commitment into everything I do.”

Karen said working at Wheatbelt NRM was very rewarding as everyone involved was passionate and invested in improving the natural environment of the Avon River Basin.

When not at work Karen loves to make time to craft, potter in the garden, read, watch shows and movies, sing and spend time with her family, friends and pets.

Her go-to snack when working or taking a break is a nice cup of tea and a TimTam for a pick me up.

“Even better when combined into a ‘TimTam’ slam,” Karen said.

The one superpower Karen needs to make your job easier is teleportation.

“It would be amazing to zip all over the countryside, catch up with some landholders, watch the sun set in Broome, pop home for dinner then pop to some more places the next day,” Karen said.

“I have been known to become ever so slightly lost on larger properties so it would also be super helpful to be able to just look at a place on a map, blink and be there.”

The motto Karen likes to live by is “If not you, who?”.

She said this is a reminder that each of us has the power to make a difference, no matter how small the action may seem.

Whether it’s making more sustainable choices, sharing knowledge, or supporting others, real change starts with individual action.

“We don’t have to be perfect—but we do have to care and take that first step,” Karen said.

Subscribe to our e-newsletter and keep up to date on current events, partnership opportunities, and NRM in the Wheatbelt.
Published eNews #405, August 2025