Scarlett spent his childhood in a small village on an isolated island off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea while his wife, Mandy, grew up in a small country town in the far west of Queensland. For two years before coming to SFS, they lived together in Fiji while Scarlett traveled around the South Pacific as an executive coach and small business efficiency consultant. Although his business still flourished after its relocation to Australia, he and Mandy were itching to get back to the country. Plus, Scarlett missed the leadership and social interaction of education management. Neither of them thought twice about wrapping up the business, renting out their house, and moving with their two Italian greyhounds and a Siamese fighting fish over 1,200 miles to Yungaburra, North Queensland. “Now I start my day in awe of the animals, birds, other creatures, and the sunrise that welcome us to a new morning everyday.”

Working closely with students and managing the SFS program in Australia is the real source of Scarlett’s pride and the direction of his passion. His energy is reinforced by a solid foundation in educational management, having served as a member of the business faculty with one of Australia’s leading provincial universities for five years, along with fifteen years experience managing international student centers of several colleges and universities and holding two postgraduate degrees in education as well as an MBA.

Scarlett’s career choice stems from a desire to help others strive for and reach their potential in life. In his free time, he coaches athletes to the Commonwealth Games in cycling and the 50k walk. Although working as a business consultant had allowed him to mentor clients to improve their business, students at SFS have been “absolute models of everything that represents the best of that generation and what makes for wonderful and contributing members of society.”

One of the biggest accomplishments of the Center is their community outreach program, allowing students to assist many of the local NGOs. One such organization is the Tolga Bat Hospital, which retrieves bats of all species that have been injured or stranded. One of the student research groups had conducted studies into the effect of volunteer workers and specialist services in the region. The research findings were fruitful, but to see the students become attached to helpless baby bats was “truly touching.”

Every year, SFS students also spend their free time volunteering at the Yungaburra Folk Festival, where artists from all over the world and people of all kinds flock to the sleepy village for one week of music and festivities. The feedback received from the community has been exceptional. “It was quite emotional to see ‘my kids’ working the ticket counter, doing the ‘roadie’ work for the musicians, and acting as hosts to the dignitaries and guests. This was a very proud time for me and I look forward to many more such experiences.”

Strong community outreach, in combination with the practical application of their research (Scarlett mentions “bum breathing turtles,” studied by Professor Tim Curran, who are able to prolong their time underwater foraging for food, by breathing through a gland in their bottom), has made the Center for Rainforest Studies a vibrant contributor and valuable member of the community for over 20 years.

It is Scarlett’s wish to continue this legacy of the Center while fostering its growth. And while the global economy is currently weak, “there is no way that economics would stop keen and adventurous students from venturing Down Under to spend a semester in ‘the bush’ with my team and me.” 

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