Read about each speaker below - find out about what they are speaking about by clicking the button above!
Lisa Day
Business manager the Paperbark Co - farm walk
The Paperbark Co. was established by John and Peta Day in 1997 with the purchase of land at Harvey, south of Perth in Western Australia. Commencing with the planting of Tea Tree seedlings, it rapidly developed into an Australian essential oils plantation, with additional plantings of Rosalina, Honey Myrtle and our unique Fragonia (Agonis fragrans). The distillation plant was designed and built by John in the early 2000’s, with its primary use at this time being for the distillation of our essential oil plantation; however, further developments lead to the sourcing of Australian grown Sandalwood chip for distillation as well. The Paperbark Co. was the first to use the process of steam distillation to produce sandalwood oil in Australia. We continue to distil sandalwood and primarily focus on the production of our High Grade Australian Sandalwood Oil, which has an alpha santanol of greater than 25%, a better quality oil than the ISO specification of 15-25%.
Today we are truly a family business, with Peta and John focusing on the farming and distilling of our oils, daughter Lisa managing the business and son Christopher managing the warehouse.
Vivienne Campbell
herbalist - presenter & workshop
Vivienne Campbell qualified as an herbalist in 2003. She teaches classes on herbal medicine, wild food foraging and natural cosmetic-making in Ireland & the UK. She teaches worldwide via her online courses. She runs classes from complete beginners’ level to specialist training for professionals.
She has appeared on Irish television many times. She is a popular guest speaker and has given lectures, talks and herb walks at various events including the Botanica conferences, Formula
Botanica, health shows, heritage events, organic gardens etc. She was interviewed for the upcoming aromatherapy documentary ‘Uncommon Scents: The Movie.’
Vivienne loves teaching people how to use herbs simply, effectively and joyfully. She believes it is everyone’s birth-right to know how to use common local plants as nutritious wild foods and health-
enhancing natural remedies. She loves to empower people to take more control of their health by sharing this knowledge and teaching these skills. She is currently writing several books.
Rebecca Dyson Tichbon
aromatherapist & medical scientist - presenter
Rebecca Dyson Tichbon resides in the beautiful south west corner of Western Australia along with her family. Beck, as she prefers to be called, is a qualified Medical Scientist, educator and facilitator,
and Aromatherapist. She combines her passion for health education, dance and essential oils to help others on their wellbeing journey in her wellness business, Titch Haven.
Beck is also a woman who has survived a great deal of tragedy, trial and loss. In her book, Using Essential Oils for Emotional Management, she reveals the story of her journey to Aromatherapy and how she recovered her sense of wellbeing through the use of essential oils. Along the way, she shares the techniques she has developed for her own successful therapy and that of her clients.
Gergely Hollódi
phytotherapist & aromatherapist - presenter
Gergely is a graduate of the Cortiva Institute Seattle School of Massage. He completed the Masters Apprenticeship program with The School for Aromatic Studies founded by Jade Shutes. He is a professional member of the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists.
He lives in Budapest, Hungary where he practices massage as a certified therapeutic massage therapist. He is a certified phytotherapist and offers aromatherapy courses to the public as the lead instructor in Hungary for The School for Aromatic Studies.
He has been the initiator, founder and first President of the association of Hungarian Aromatherapists (2015). Organized DROPS, the Hungarian Aromatherapy Conference (2017 & 2019). Gergely has founded, and is the editor in chief of, Aromatika, the Hungarian aromatherapy quarterly e-journal on essential oils, herbs, traditions and applications (published in English from 2020). With Elizabeth Ashley aka The Secret Healer, he is the co-author of the Tongue of The Trees aromatherapy cards.
Fiona Carr & Elizabeth Rea
tactile & clinical aromatherapists - workshop
Fiona Carr & Elizabeth Rea are qualified tactile and Clinical Aromatherapists with many years’ experience in clinical practice and education.
Their passion for all things aromatherapy has led them to develop a hands-on style of education allowing them to share their journey and encourage their students. They believe that understanding
the client’s needs is paramount to a successful treatment. As tactile therapists they credit touch, communication and aromas to be the solid foundations that initiate holistic healing.
They were interviewed for the upcoming documentary, ‘Uncommon Scents: The Movie’ and have participated in podcasts with LabAroma. They believe that ‘Learn with Laughter’ is their key and look forward to joining you in their workshop at Aromatica Australia 2021.
Elizabeth Ashley
aromatherapist - presenter
Elizabeth Ashley began using essential oils at the age of eight when she was introduced to them by her mother who was one of the founder members of the International Federation of Aromatherapists and one of the first aromatherapist in the UK.
Since then Elizabeth has gone on to write over twenty essential oil manuals and several courses including twelve Amazon category number one best sellers. She is the co-creator of the Tongue of The Trees Oracle Cards and the associated video training packages, the Knowledge Base and The Recipe Hub.
Her books trade herbal medicines from their first mentions in prehistory right through to the most current research in the laboratories.
Unlike other authorities in the essential oil field, Elizabeth has a uniquely balanced approach with one foot firmly in the scientific camp and the other in the land of myths and legends.
Lise Racine
herbalist - farm walk
Originally from Canada, Lise completed a degree in nursing from University Laval, afterwards working in a paediatric hospital (Montreal Children’s Hospital) followed by research work at the Community Health Department of Montreal.
In 2003, Lise relocated to 2 acres in Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast. By then, her daughters were growing up and beginning to get into skincare. Inspired by a herbal course in Tasmania at Pindari Herb Farm in 2006 Lise decided to create natural skincare from the botanicals grown on their family certified property and from there, The Herbal Gardener calendula skincare range was born.
During this time, Lise has completed herbalist studies, doing private consultations, cultivating herbal medicine, making herbal remedies and offering workshops on natural health and herbalism.
Lise continues to use knowledge from her nursing studies, herbalist qualifications, botanical organic farming practices, as well as connecting on a weekly basis, with natural skincare users and natural health clients.
At The Herbal Gardener they have been fully certified Demeter Biodynamic since 2008. Here they botanicals for skincare making as well as for workshops focussing on practical home herbalism.
Melani Kovač
aromatherapist, dropsmith founder - workshop
Melani devoted over 10 years solely to aromatherapy. To serve this purpose she’s founded Aromainstitut through which she organizes and supports different aromatherapy projects, collaborates with colleagues, non-profit organizations, homes for the elderly, hospitals, universities, and anyone who can benefit from aromatherapy or is hoping to incorporate aromatherapy in their work.
She was invited as a lecturer all over the globe because of her unique expertise and style of teaching. So far she lectured for over a thousand different pharmacists and health professionals as well as aromatherapy students. Her IT background, curiosity as well as working as an educator for a very wide variety of students along with collaborating with distillers, sellers, nurses, and scientists inspired her to create a global online platform for all essential oil users and sellers - Dropsmith. Her goal is to make aromatherapy simple, fun, as precise, and safe as possible.
Madeleine Kerkhof
RNret CA AED MT ACS - presenter
Madeleine Kerkhof is a former RN. Today she is an expert and world renowned educator in Clinical Aromatherapy, AquaCare and other complementary therapies. Her passion is to help integrate complementary therapies in mainstream health care. She is a frequently asked speaker at conferences for professionals in health care. She is highly specialised in the care for the frailest patients, in elderly and dementia care, in oncology, pain management, and in palliative and end of life care. She is member of several global aromatherapy organisations, approved educator for the Dutch Board of Nurses and NAHA.
Madeleine is the author of “Complementary Nursing in End of Life Care” (2015), “CO2 Extracts in Aromatherapy” (2018), and “Clinical AromaCare”(in Dutch 2020).
Madeleine is global director and senior educator of Kicozo, Knowledge Institute for Integrative & Complementary (Nursing) Care – www.kicozo.info
Jill Mulvaney
distiller & product developer - workshop
Jill is a craft distiller who has worked closely with aromatics and herbs for over two decades. In more recent years, Jill has applied her extensive knowledge of aromatherapy and plant science to botanical distillation and aromatic blending. Jill now teaches and consults on all aspects of distillation, fragrance and natural flavour advancing ideas and products that can be utilized across a range of industries: spirits, perfumery, cosmetics, and plant medicines.
Jill is a collector and experimenter at heart, her shelves overflow with Agee jars full of macerating seeds, leaves and flowers. “It’s my library; those are the tools I work with every day,” she says fondly. It goes deeper than that though. She believes it’s a privilege to work sustainably with nature. “The distillation process is virtually a closed loop system. Everything that is leftover can be used,” she explains. After we finish chatting, she plans to mix leftover quince syrup , the remains of a distillation with white clay to make a facemask, and experiment by adding quince to ‘pink’ a gin.
Jade Shutes
aromatherapist, researcher, educator - presenter
Jade Shutes holds a Diploma in Holistic Aromatherapy, Holistic Massage, Anatomy and Physiology, and Reflexology from the Raworth College of Natural Medicine in Dorking, UK, and a Diploma in Aromatherapy from the International Therapist Examining board (ITEC). She also holds a certificate in herbal medicine.
An aromatherapy practitioner, researcher, and educator for over three decades, Jade is passionate about elevating the practice of aromatic medicine for a new generation of aromatherapy practitioners. She has taught at Bastyr University, Duke University, Ashmead College, San Diego Hospice, and throughout North America. Recognized as one of the vanguard of professionals who helped introduce aromatherapy to the US, she has since played an active role in the setting of standards for aromatherapy education in North America.
Jade is the past president for the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy. She served two highly successful and rewarding terms as NAHA President (2000-2003 and 2013-2015). She is the author of “Aromatherapy for Bodyworkers” and the soon to be released book “Aromatic Medicine through the lens of Western Herbal Energetics”.
Jonathan Benavides
CLINICAL AROMATHERAPIST - PRESENTER
Before becoming a clinical aromatherapist in 2003, Jonathan has been a psychologist since 1986. He specialised then in autism and communication disorders.He first got in touch with aromatherapy when working with sensorial therapies for autistic children in the Netherlands. He has participated in several seminars, conferences and congresses in aromatherapy, complementary therapies, psychology and music therapy.
Jonathan is also a Reiki Usui Master, HEARTS (UK) Teacher, Anointer, Coach, Counsellor, Trainer and International Lecturer.
Since 2009 he has been working within the Palliative Home Care system in the Netherlands with the very sick and the dying. During this time, he has developed, used, trained and lectured on different therapeutic interventions (conventional and non-conventional) including topics such as:
“Train to the Light” aroma and sound for HEARTS (UK) (2018); “Remembering and Honouring you”, aroma and texture for HEARTS (UK) (2018);
“Adjusting, a multisensory self-compassionate approach for cancer related distress” (2019);
“De-Compressing, for stress relief, resilience and to treat anxiety, fear and solitude” (2020)