The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has five members: a full-time Chair, a part-time Deputy Chair and three part-time members.
Prof. Matthew Tonts
Chair 18 January 2021 to 17 January 2026
Prof. Tonts has extensive national and international professional experience spanning environmental, regional development and research sectors. Prior to commencing with the EPA, he held senior leadership positions at The University of Western Australia as Pro Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean, and was also Head of the School of Earth and Environment. He has held board positions across diverse sectors, including environmental management, business, international education and regional development.
Matthew’s areas of expertise relate to environmental geography, land management, regional development and spatial planning. He has worked closely with Commonwealth, State and local government, as well as not for profits and the private sector on issues related to regional development, land use assessment, urban development and environmental management. He has also worked on a range of projects in collaboration with partners in Africa, North America, Europe and South East Asia.
Matthew has a Doctor of Philosophy (Geography) from Curtin University and a Bachelor of Arts (Geography & Environmental Management) (first class honours) from Edith Cowan University. In 2020, he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
Ms Lee McIntosh
Deputy Chair 18 November 2020 to 17 November 2025
Ms McIntosh has more than 20 years’ experience practicing as an environmental lawyer. She has extensive experience in corporate, government and community sectors, been active in several environmental law policy and reform initiatives, lectured and tutored in environmental law and worked across all areas of environmental law assessment and approvals.
Ms McIntosh has also held roles on several government and community boards and provided advice on the environmental approval and social licence issues associated with some of Western Australia’s most significant projects.
Ms McIntosh has a Masters degree in Environmental Law from the University of Calgary, Canada, and a Bachelor of Laws (first class honours) and Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science) from Murdoch University.
Prof. Fiona Haslam McKenzie
Member from 11 October 2019 until 10 October 2024
Prof. Fiona Haslam McKenzie is co-director and senior principal research fellow at The University of Western Australia’s Centre for Regional Development. Her current work examines the socio-economic impact of the Australian staple economies, particularly the resources sector, while her international work is focused on mining activities in Canada, Chile and South Africa and through a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade teaching program across nine African nations.
She has a diverse academic background, including a PhD in Political Geography from The University of Western Australia (UWA), as well as a Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Philosophy from UWA. She has served on several government and private sector boards, including as chief investigator leading the Regional Economies – Enduring Community Value from Mining division of the Remote Economic Participation Co-operative Research Centre and as Director for the Housing and Urban Research Institute Western Australia.
Prof. Haslam McKenzie has extensive experience in population and socio-economic change, mining and the oil and gas industries, housing, regional economic development and the analysis of remote, regional and urban socio-economic indicators.
Mr Hamish Beck
Member from 6 February 2023 to 5 February 2028
Mr Beck has extensive strategic experience in planning, development and conservation. He has been Chair of the Swan River Trust since 2014, Chair of the Rottnest Island Authority since 2021 and recently retired from the Cockburn Sound Management Council.
With experience in marine, terrestrial and environmental management, Mr Beck brings a diverse knowledge in complex environmental matters to the Board. Mr Beck has also held senior roles within Western Australia’s development and construction industry, and has been involved with a broad range of committees, boards, trusts, development groups, foundations and not-for-profits.
Dr Jenny Pope
Member from 5 November 2018 until 4 November 2023
Dr Pope has more than 30 years’ experience in environmental management and sustainability in WA and internationally. Dr Pope began her career as an environmental process engineer in the water and the oil and gas industries, before establishing a consultancy in Perth which has been operating for more than 20 years. Dr Pope currently holds two international academic positions: Extraordinary Associate Professor in Environmental Management at North-West University in South Africa, and Fellow of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership in the UK.
Dr Pope holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) with first class honours; a Graduate Diploma in Science (Biotechnology); a Postgraduate Certificate in Policy Studies (Ecologically Sustainable Development), and a PhD in Sustainability and Technology Policy. She is both a practitioner and an internationally-recognised scholar of impact assessment, with more than 50 publications in the field. She is an active member of the International Association for Impact Assessment, the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand and the Environmental Consultants’ Association of WA.
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