Meet the Committee
Antanika Hoberg- President
Antanika currently holds the position of President within the Australian Psychedelic Society (APS), and her influence has been instrumental in shaping the organisation's path. Her involvement with APS commenced in 2018, culminating in her election as Vice President, a role she occupied from 2021 to 2023.
Antanika's profound connection with the realm of psychedelics is rooted in her personal journey, where she utilised these substances to effectively treat Complex-PTSD. This life-altering transformation, marked by Post Traumatic Growth, ignited her unwavering commitment to ensuring that individuals seeking similar healing experiences encounter a landscape of safety and liberation from societal stigma’s while remaining safe in their communities.
In 2018 when she began dedicating her time as a volunteer, Antanika saw a noticeable void within the psychedelic community, motivating her to establish the Adelaide chapter of APS. Subsequently, Antanika has been since engaged in numerous projects linked to psychedelic advocacy and mental health.
Antanika's authentic zeal revolves around cultivating a sense of community and advocacy, areas she perceived as deficient during her initial exploration of psychedelics for mental health purposes. Alongside her role as APS President, she also lends her expertise as an advisor to both Signs of Life Psychology and the Australian Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Practitioners (AMAPP). In these capacities, she diligently strives to bridge the gap between local communities and the broader organisations and networks within the field.
Her dedication to the psychedelic community extends well beyond her official responsibilities. Antanika regularly hosts monthly national group calls for women, where she places emphasis on pivotal subjects like harm reduction, ethics, community support, and self-education within the psychedelic sphere. When she isn't presiding over group events, speaking on panels, or contributing behind the scenes at APS, she embraces the role of homeschooling two of her three children. During her leisure moments, she takes pleasure in admiring other people's dogs and embarking on enchanting explorations of the local forests with her family.
Gabrielle Smith - Vice President & Treasurer
Gabrielle has been the Treasurer of the APS since 2020. Gabrielle’s balanced ideas, and consistent contributions to the APS also found her nominated for the role of Vice President in August 2023.
Gabrielle’s interest in psychedelics stemmed from her deep set interest in the shamanic & cultural use of entheogens. Over the years this led her to working with these medicines to break through complex trauma from her childhood whilst also using them to improve her capacity to understand the world around her.
Gabrielle is very passionate about advocacy, de-stigmatisation and law reform for psychedelic plant medicines and believes that they can be a powerful tool on the healing path for those who feel the call. She is motivated by encouraging positive change within the community and advocates for plant medicine and the responsible use of psychedelics as a catalyst for self-growth.
Outside of her Accounting career, Gabrielle is a budding Herbalist & Naturopath with a love for entheogenic plants & cacti. She likes to spend her free time out with her horses and tending to her medicinal garden which contains both plant & cacti species – always with the help of her Doberman, Meg.
Dr. Simon Beck - Secretary
Dr. Simon Beck MD is a psychedelic harm reduction advocate and mushroom enthusiast living on Gumbaynggirr country in Northern NSW. He holds a Medical Degree and a Masters of Medicine in Psychiatry. He believes psychedelics have amazing therapeutic potential for individuals and communities. He is involved in the psilocybin mushroom ID and harm reduction group PMANZ on Facebook and has spoken about mushroom identification for the APS. He believes in advocating for safer, legal access to psychedelics and other substances by those who want to use them and feels strongly that the current drug laws continue to fail in every respect. He is excited to be a part of helping to drive the APS towards its goals during this rapidly evolving and important time in the modern history of psychedelics.
Dr Sam Douglas - Committee Member
Sam has been involved in social media, written content, and assisting with policy and procedures of the APS, as well as forming partnerships with other organisations. Mid-2021 saw Sam take over as APS President after assisting Meredith Drinkell as Vice President for 2019-2020.
He is motivated by the ideals of fairness and autonomy, and this is a big part of what drove him towards drug law reform activism.
Sam is an academic philosopher, teaching critical thinking and professional ethics at university. He likes to garden, read old science fiction books, and hang out with his partner and his cat.
Martin Deering - Committee Member
Marty‘s involvement with the APS began in 2016 as one of the co-founders. He is mainly involved in administration, technical support, advocacy and developing APS policies and procedures. He is motivated by the need for laws to be based on evidence and to only limit freedoms where necessary to protect public safety, order or health. Marty’s work has been much appreciated with the APS, and he dedicated much of his time to the role of Secretary in 2019-2020.
Marty has a Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in Environmental Management, and has relevant experience in administration and project management. He is particularly interested in legislation, community development, policy and advocacy.
Marty spends his time gardening, mountain bike riding, enjoying music and reading.
Connect with Marty via:
Nick Wallis - Committee Member
Founding President of the APS, Nick has been involved in featured talks, events and film screenings, and is particularly proud of the growing Mushroom Day celebrations.
One of Nick's motivations is community building as immunisation to poor information flow.
He has been volunteering with a harm reduction service provider and is employed in harm reduction services. Nick is a broadcaster, MC, and audio and video producer. He is qualified in radio training with the station 3CR, where he hosts the radio show Enpsychedelia. He is passionate about radio and media, and also has two young children, a cat, chickens and pigeons.
Nick Palmer - Committee Member/ Tasmanian Chapter
Nick began volunteering with the APS in 2017, and since then he has been involved in organising numerous events, including book club meetings and picnic days. He is dedicated to creating safe environments in our psychedelic communities.
Nick is motivated by his own personal healing through natural medicine after these experiences profoundly changed him. Since then he has been studying and immersing himself in traditional plant-based medicines, which further motivates his interest in advocacy and community education.
Nick's interests are writing, reading, his medicinal garden, travelling and his cats.
Tobias Penno - Perth Chapter Lead
Tobias Penno and Steve Bright worked together to kick-start the Perth chapter of the APS in 2020, and have seen it grow in numbers and enthusiasm ever since. Tobias is passionate about the science of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and the big question of how we as a society integrate the psychedelic experience. Tobias hopes to cultivate a sense of community amongst Perth psychedelic users through his volunteering with the APS.
Tobias is a government-funded psychedelic researcher at the University of Western Australia (UWA). His first academic publication titled ‘How Ayahuasca Offers Psychosocial Wellbeing’ won the social work research prize in the school of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Science at UWA in 2017. Tobias is the chair of the APS’s Perth chapter and his current doctoral research is titled ‘Interpersonal Neurobiology in Psychedelic Healing’.
Jef Baker - Committee Member /Sydney Chapter Lead
Jef has been involved with the APS since 2017, facilitating community film screenings, engaging Q&A Panels, book clubs and picnics. He also helps out with social media and community engagement.
Jef’s interests extend to ethnobotanical gardening, and more specifically the anthropology of ancient psychoactive substance use. He is motivated by helping people to gain knowledge and understanding of psychedelics and their enormous potential and power so that they can make informed decisions in order to maximise benefits and minimise possible harms.
Jef enjoys sculpture, painting, tattoo art, poetry, music and nature. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cultural Studies & Communications from SCU, where he wrote his Honours Thesis entitled 'A Thread in The Vine'. The thesis explored the philosophy of deep ecology and how the core tenets of this philosophy were evident in articulations of the ayahuasca experience in online forums.
Jess Maude - Committee Member and Chapter Coordinator
Jess first volunteered with APS in 2019, and in 2021, she co-founded the Goldfield’s chapter. Her dedication shines through her successful organisation of events and meet-ups across both the Goldfields and Macedon Ranges regions. She has also been co-hosting the national APS women's group this past year and was recently appointed the role of National Chapter Coordinator.
With over two decades as an AOD counsellor, Jess is excited by the expansion of psychedelic treatment for addiction and mental health. Holding a strong conviction in harm reduction and legalisation, Jess believes firmly in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics and plant medicines and sees them as invaluable aids for mental health. An avid advocate for legal reform, Jess emphasises the significance of building communities like APS. She is keen to educate and support individuals, especially women, who are looking for a deeper understanding of psychedelics and their benefits.
Drawing from personal experience, she knows the transformative power of psychedelics firsthand. Over the past seven years, she embarked on a personal journey with them to address and heal her own traumas. Jess resides in the Macedon Ranges with her two teenagers.
Darryl Greensill- Committee Member/Brisbane Chapter
Darryl is our Brisbane chapter volunteer. Darryl’s first psychedelic experience was in Peru in 2010, when he went to an Ayahuasca retreat centre in search of treatment for his life-long major depressive condition. It worked better than he could possibly have hoped for, so much so that he was inspired to learn more about psychedelics as a whole area of knowledge, and to share that knowledge with other seekers. Darryl has been involved in psychedelic harm reduction and advocacy with the APS since 2018. He describes himself as a syncretist seeking to learn from ancient mystical traditions, modern science, personal development, and philosophy, and he particularly enjoys helping others to clarify their goals and plan the achievement of them. Darryl's personal hobbies include reading and writing, strategy-type computer games, storytelling and tactical roleplaying games, and the type of wide-ranging free-form conversations found in psychedelic communities. It is Darryl's goal that everyone should have the right and opportunity to benefit from psychedelic healing for themselves should they choose to do so, and they should have access to correct and honestly presented information with which to make that choice. Darryl owns a small business in the animal care field, which he loves and would only ever have gotten into as a result of the improvements in his mental and physical health from psychedelic therapy.
Adam Grosman- Committee Member and Melbourne Chapter Lead
Since joining APS in 2022, Adam has made a significant impact as a chapter leader in Melbourne. Alongside co-leader Baden, Adam rejuvenated the chapter post-pandemic, establishing a lively hub for the psychedelic community. Together, they orchestrate an array of meetings, events, workshops, and gatherings.
With a background in physiology, pharmacology, and psychology, Adam's fervour extends to harm reduction, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and fostering community. He emphasises the power of mutual understanding, championing the notion of 'speaking the same language'.
For Adam, building community becomes paramount, especially for those involved with drugs and psychedelics; such individuals often perceive and articulate their experiences differently than those who abstain. At the core, his drive stems from a desire to foster genuine understanding, allowing people—including himself—to truly be seen and understood.
Outside his professional endeavours, Adam's passions lie in basketball, dancing, and whipping up delectable dishes—often featuring a hint of olive oil and garlic.