Bill (pictured left above) is one of our dedicated volunteers working for the Roots and Shoots Program. Roots & Shoots is a global, youth led program supporting local conservation projects.
Bill has a dual role being both the National Coordinator for the Roots & Shoots Program and the State Coordinator for Western Australia. He is based in Perth and has built up a fantastic team of 10 volunteers who assist him.
Bill’s interest in Great Apes started as a volunteer with The Orangutan Project. During the 2006 Jane Tour, he was asked by JGIA to be Dr Jane’s driver around Perth for the week of that tour. It was during one of those drives that Dr. Jane asked Bill to get involved with Roots and Shoots Program; not only did Bill’s affiliation with JGIA start, he started a close personal friendship with Dr. Jane as well.
Bill’s journey started with just one Primary School, one public High School and one private Girls College and from there the team has grown to 22 active school groups involved in Roots & Shoots programs today.
“My success has been because of the wonderful team of volunteers I work with, many of whom have been with the R&S Program for 5 years or more”, Bill said. “The glue that keeps us all together is personal dedication and a belief in Dr Jane’s fundamental philosophy of “young people making a difference” and encouraging young people to develop projects affecting their local areas. Dr Jane has also shown a special interest in a number of our projects, particularly projects involving our indigenous groups, of which we are very proud”.
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