Monina Gilbey: Environmental Management in Turf

In this video, Syngenta interviews Monina Gilbey, the Biodiversity Manager at Glenelg Golf Club, learning how she got her position; and finding out why she works so well together with Tim Warren, the Course Superintendent.

Monina is a garden designer, an educator, and the Biodiversity Manager at Glenelg Golf Club. Monina is passionate about Adelaide’s local flora and fauna and the contribution that golf courses make to urban biodiversity. Working with the Glenelg Golf team, Monina, a relative newcomer to golf, has helped to raise the national environmental profile of the club and won multiple awards. 

In 2022, Monina was co-winner of the Claude Crockford Environment and Sustainability Award – the second woman to win the award in 24 years. Monina was instrumental in the club becoming finalists in the biodiversity category of the 2023 National Banksia Sustainability Awards.

ASTMA's Women in Turf Strategy

The numbers are stark. Just 1.4% of qualified trade workers in the sports turf management industry in Australia are female. In a golf industry first, the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association (ASTMA) launched a Women in Turf strategy in 2022 in a bid to address the imbalance of women working in the turf industry.

The strategy seeks to increase the appeal of turf management in a bid to raise the female population; facilitate change to remove cultural and societal barriers and support women’s learning to increase vocational and development opportunities.

As part of this strategy, Syngenta is proud to highlight Monina as a female turf leader within the industry.