Helen Gilmour has been teaching for the last 25 years in different parts of Australia and overseas. She is passionate about educating young people and teaching them to look after the planet. She has volunteered with various environmental educational organizations such as Cape Byron Headland Reserve Trust and Coast Care. She facilitated programs such as Kids on the Coast which immerses teenagers in activities that connect them to the ocean.

Helen completed a permaculture course and created permaculture gardens in schools with her students. Helen has engaged in seed saving courses and she volunteered on a permaculture project in Ecuador for a year and ended up staying for three!  Having lived and traveled in different parts of the world created a deepening awareness of the plastics problem that we face and Helen has worked at her current school for the last six years educating her students on the importance of waste management, composting, growing food and healthy eating. Helen received a Bachelor’s Degree in Primary Teaching from The University of Melbourne. She has taught every year level and has taught every subject even Spanish! She currently is a Secretary of Friends of Forest Haven, and two of their objectives are to reverse historical land, water, wildlife and vegetation degradation through strategic on-the-ground, to increase awareness of, and provide training in, ecologically sustainable land and water use and management. Having lived in Byron Bay for over 6 years strengthened Helen’s love of the ocean and her passion for protecting ocean life.

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