Founder, Access Environmental

Known by many as a popular weather presenter with Channel Seven, Rob Gell’s greatest passion is actively campaigning for our environment. He is an environmental and communications consultant in his company, Access Environmental Pty Ltd, which assists business to successfully apply innovative and environmentally sustainable strategies. Rob is widely respected for his approach to sustainable development and has the honour of leading several campaign groups including President of Greening Australia Victoria and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Rob is a coastal geomorphologist by training; he taught Environmental Science and Physical Geography at tertiary level, then for twenty-eight years he has presented television weather. In his professional life he works as an environmental and communications consultant and is Chairman of Access Environmental Pty Ltd. He is also a company director, and a published author and a photographer.

About Rob

He is the President of Greening Australia Victoria, Chairman of the Mornington Peninsula and Westernport Biosphere Reserve Foundation Ltd. and a member of the Victorian Coastal Council. Rob is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and an Inaugural Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand. He is the savewater® ambassador and was Environment Ambassador to the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and has recently been appointed a Life Ambassador for Australia Day for the State of Victoria.

For ten years Rob served as a Victorian Councilor of Australia’s peak national environmental group, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF). In 1998 Rob was invited to become an inaugural Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia. He has served as a Councilor of the City of Doncaster & Templestowe and was Chairman of the Variety Club of Victoria for four years.

Rob Gell is a uniquely qualified individual who has the respect of government, business, environmental groups and the community for his approach to sustainable development. Importantly he is also an excellent communicator who can get the message across.

Rob Gell is well known as a television weather presenter, however his greater interest is in his work as an active campaigner for our environment. He has strong ties with the scientific and conservation communities and can give a rare insight into the thinking and philosophies of the conservation movement. He has involved himself in many environmental issues and has assisted many schools, communities, charities, environment groups, including government authorities, with projects and presentations. He is an active and popular spokesperson on environmental and media issues and consultant to the media and business.

Rob has also worked extensively with industry and NGOs to position clients in the media and with the public; he is an effective advocate. Rob is able to create bridges between government, the public, the scientific community, business and NGOs.

His company Access Environmental Pty Ltd is working to assist companies increase the success of their business through cooperative application of innovative environmentally sustainable business strategies incorporating the principles of the ‘triple bottom line’. 

Television Career

Rob began his television career moving from Melbourne University to work with Eyewitness News at Channel 0 in 1979 where Rob Gell’s Four Day Forecast revolutionised the way weather information was presented on television news services. Moving to the Nine Network in 1988 Rob was innovative as a designer and producer of television weather presentations for 28 years. He currently presents weather information with the Seven Network.

Rob has written two books; It’s Easy Being Green-Everyday Environmental Practices for Australian Homes and Workplaces with Rosslyn Beeby, and Antarctica: Future of a Frozen Wilderness and had success with both networks as a documentary maker. At ATV 10 with Graveyard of Giants, The Dinosaur Puzzle and Antarctica: Who’ll Break the Ice, and at GTV 9 with Urban Wildlife.

Rob has competed in two Sydney-Hobart yacht races and a Melbourne-Hobart “Westcoaster". He is a keen golfer, SCUBA diver and skier and dedicates time to his personal fitness. He has recently expanded his skills as a photographer with exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney. His “Man and the Biosphere" exhibition was recently at Yering Station winery in the Yarra Valley.

Roles

Chairman, Access Environmental Pty. Limited providing a wide range of environmental specialist advice in sustainable development to both the private, community and government sectors

President, Greening Australia Victoria, Vice President Greening Australia Ltd: Australia’s premier advisers on vegetation management, tackling critical issues like salinity, declining water quality, soil degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss through an innovative blend of practical experience, science, community engagement and commitment.

Chairman, Mornington Peninsula and Westernport Biosphere Reserve Foundation: UNESCO Biospheres aim to protect and enhance the environment, to encourage and support economic development that respects the natural environment, social equity and which is financially viable, and to provide logistic support for environmental education, training and research.

Member Victorian Coastal Council: the peak body for the strategic planning and management of the Victorian coast, and to provide advice to the Minister for Environment.

Environment Ambassador Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games savewater!® ambassador for the savewater® alliance Inc. of metropolitan and regional water businesses of Victoria and NSW

Inaugural Fellow Environment Institute of Australia & New Zealand Fellow Royal Geographical Society Life Ambassador for Australia Day: State of Victoria

Ambassador Animis Foundation of the Zoos of Victoria Board

Director, Surfing Victoria Surfing Victoria is the Victorian State Government authorized organising body for surfing competition in Victoria.

Patron Geography Teachers Association of Victoria: committed to excellence in geographical education in Victoria

Patron Sustainability Street brings communities together to learn about ecological sustainability.

Patron Life Education Victoria, which provides school-based drug education to around 1 million Australian primary and high school students each year.

Patron Wildlife Care Network, an organisation dedicated to the rescue, care and rehabilitation of
Australian wildlife

Mentor Environmental Jobs Network a free web site for job seekers and employers to share and find valuable information on environmental jobs throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Presentation Topics Include

• Conference Keynotes: environmental issues and business and systems management
• Conference Workshops and Break-out sessions
• Master of Ceremonies

Testimonials

“Rob was very professional with his delivery & his power point presentation was exceptional.
He also mixed with the delegates over morning tea and was a very friendly & easy person to talk to. All the delegates were very impressed" 
Municipal Works Officers Association

“Rob was very well prepared and the information was presented in a way that was understandable by all of the participants." 
AMCA

Rob was an outstanding speaker for the recent IBM Sustain & Gain Road show. His presentation was not only fascinating but very tailored to the event theme and each city of the road show giving the audience local insight to the environmental issues effecting all. Rob was very professional, flexible and a pleasure to work with and look forward to the opportunity to work with Rob in the future. Our clients at IBM were thrilled with Rob's presentation and the discussion created with their guests from the presentation. 
George P Johnson

“Excellent. Very positive response from our delegates regarding both the content and the presentation style “ 
Australian Funeral Directors Association

“The calibre of Rob’s presentation – the subject matter and the credibility of his delivery was noted by all present at our workshop. Rob gets the climate change message out their with great credibility and conviction – he was motivating and sobering all in one. Fantastic speaker to set the scene for our Climate Change Workshop." 
Goulburn Broken CMA

Rob put in an amazing amount of preparation as an MC for this event. His preparation was extremely detailed and he really helped us to craft the event program and ensure the linkages between each session were clear and obvious. He had us on time all day, and took control of the audience and speakers as required. He put his own slant on the event topic and did a fantastic job at facilitating our panel discussion and managing the interaction between speakers & the audience with Q&A. 
Gener8 

“Rob was an absolute delight to work with. Extremely professional, well organized, engaging and was extremely knowledgebale on the matters that was discussed at the conference, he was much more then just an MC." 
Expotrade

“Excellent Rob was very approachable and easy to work with. His enthusiasim and conviction were inspiring" 
City of Melbourne