Ruth McDonnell

Ruth McDonnell is the Divisional Manager of Place Based Planning & Resilience at Yarra Valley Water. She oversees functions including Integrated Water Management, Aboriginal Partnerships, Land Regeneration, Modelling and Climate Resilience.  

Ruth is a Peter Cullen Trust Fellow and took part in the Women in Water Leadership Program in 2021. She recently presented at the OzWater’22 Conference in Brisbane on Yarra Valley Water’s biodiversity aspirations and pilot projects.  

Ruth enjoys the challenge of bridging the gap between high-level strategy and on-ground works, and she strives to influence positive change in community, environmental and cultural outcomes.  

On a personal level, Ruth is the founder of an environment group in her neighbourhood where she collaborates with community and council to run working bees for revegetation projects.