THE RESILIENCE LAB TEAM
Who We Are
Joe Knight
CO-DIRECTOR | Paramedic
Joe founded The Resilience Lab's pre-cursor, One Ocean International in 2012, and has continued to hone his skills and knowledge in the areas of Resilience, Athletic Performance and Personal Development ever since.
Joe is a currently registered Apnea Academy Freediving Instructor, a Professional Waterman, as well as a Registered Paramedic (currently completing a Masters Degree in Neuroscience), a Nutrition and Lifestyle Consultant and a renowned trainer and coach specialising in personal development.
He found his passion for helping others very early in life by joining the Royal Australian Navy, where he served as a Medic and was discharged honourably with a Maritime Commander Australia Commendation whilst serving in South East Asia.
Joe's legacy is, “Your success is my success”, which he applies to his various roles as a trainer and coach.
Joe has trained with some of the best athletes and teams in the world including surfers, cross fitters, windsurfers, swimmers, boxers, ultra-marathon runners, freedivers and watermen and water women.
Nathan Burns
CO-DIRECTOR | Paramedic
Nath is our Managing Director which entails everything from Curriculum Development, Resilience Instruction, media creation and general problem-solving!
He's a water-mad surfer surfer who's currently in the process of helping his young daughter become a mermaid!
He is a Registered Paramedic, an Oxygen Advantage Advanced Instructor and the Founder of Backpacker Medics. He has spent the majority of his adult life on the road and in the outdoors- either travelling, guiding expeditions or working in Outdoor Education.
Somewhere along the line he decided a change of career was needed and he became a Paramedic- working in metro, rural and austere settings for more than 15 years.
He has led countless wilderness and medical trips to far-flung places like Nepal, Japan, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea.
He holds university degrees in Paramedicine and Journalism and has formal training in Major Incident Management and Advanced Wilderness Life Support.
He has a deep interest in the physiology, psychology, the dynamics of teamwork and leadership and is always looking for ways to further his understanding in these areas.
He is slowly trying to master the intricacies of woodworking, is an avid mountain biker, a life-long surfer, a coffee-nut, a doting father/husband and a proud Tasmanian.
Maria Jesu Nazar
CONSULTANT: Movement Specialist
Maria (or Jesu, as her friends call her), comes to the Resilience Lab family, all the way from Chile.
She started sailing as a little kid, learning from her dad- a passionate ocean man. Since those early days, she has formed a life-long bond between with the ocean.
She has always had a passion for sports and movement and in 2011 first experienced what she describes as "the wonders of Yoga". This set Jesu on a path which has seen her dedicate her life to bringing the joys of movement, yoga and ocean adventure to others. In 2014 she graduated as a Physical Therapist, began teaching Yoga and all-the-while drew inspiration by a true belief that movement is medicine.
Now she teaches in Margaret River and also shares her own style of what she calls YogaTherapy: a unique combination of yoga and physiotherapy.
Jesu loves surfing (especially left-handers!), but she is always frothing just by being in the ocean- whether it's swimming, freediving, bodysurfing or just playing around.
She believes that the ocean is truly her happy place, her temple and her biggest teacher and inspiration.
Romney Noonan
CONSULTANT: Clinical Psychologist
Rom is a Clinical Psychologist, an accredited EMDR practitioner, an accredited Schema Therapist, and a licensed Circle of Security Parent Educator. He has experience across a range of treatment settings including Child Protection, Community Adult Mental Health, and Private Practice.
In working with adults, Romney draws on a range of treatment approaches including EMDR, Schema Therapy, ACT, and Positive Psychology. In working with children and
families, he has a strong focus on attachment and child development and draws from a range of attachment-based models including the Circle of Security, Dan Hughes’ PLACE model, and the ARC (attachment, regulation, competence) model.
Rom's private practice, South West Clinical Psychology, is based in Margaret River and he is also a team member of South West Community Therapy Centre.
Georgia Hanson
CONSULTANT: Outdoor Education Specialist
Georgia grew up in the Margaret River region and was immersed in the ocean from a very young age. Open-ocean swimming, surfing, fishing... you name it!
But surfing has always been her main ocean passion- something she now predominantly pursues through competitive longboarding.
Georgia is so passionate about what surfing and the ocean can teach us and those around us. She has been a surf coach and an Outdoor Education Instructor for around ten years and is very passionate about teaching people (particularly the young, and the young-at-heart!), about the ocean and outdoor/wilderness settings. She really loves watching her students become more self-aware and self-sufficient in these environments.
Georgia has also been a water photographer as long as she can remember, having studied the practice and gone on to write an honours thesis in photography that focused on surf media and surf photography.