Barb is a marine biologist who spent her early career researching the ecology and public health safety of culture shellfish species. Prior to taking on the role of Chief Scientist Biodiversity and Biosecurity, Barb led a multidisciplinary programme on the environmental sustainability of aquaculture and was a project leader in NIWAs Marine Biodiversity & Biosecurity OBI.
John has a PhD in Freshwater Botany from the University of Auckland and has a background in freshwater biodiversity and biosecurity. His speciality is applied research and technical consultancy on aquatic plants, including their control and management. With the aid of SCUBA he has developed original survey methods, including use of plants as a tool for assessing lake ecological condition (LakeSPI). John is a Principal Scientist & Programme Leader in NIWA based in Hamilton.
Graeme Inglis is joint Science Leader for the Marine Biodiversity and Biosecurity OBI, a research partnership involving NIWA, Te Papa, the Cawthron Institute, MAF Biosecurity NZ, the Ministry of Fisheries, Te Ohu Kaimoana and the Department of Conservation. He is a member of the IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group, a Technical Advisor to the GEF/UNDP/IMO Global Ballast Water Management Programme and sits on advisory panels for implementation of New Zealand's Biosecurity Science Strategy and MAF Biosecurity NZ's Biosecurity Surveillance Committee.
Wendy Nelson specialises in marine phycology, particularly the biosystematics of macroalgae of New Zealand, with research on floristics, evolution and phylogeny, as well as ecology, and life history studies. Recently she has worked on the systematics and biology of red algae including corallines, distribution and diversity of seaweeds in harbours and soft sediment habitats, and seaweeds of the Ross Sea and Balleny Islands. Wendy co-leads the Marine Biodiversity and Biosecurity OBI and leads NIWA's biosystematic research team.
Paul holds an MSc in biological sciences from the University of Waikato and has been a part of the aquatic plant management research team at NIWA since 1988, with over 25 years experience in the field of plant ecology. He specialises in freshwater biosecurity, especially risk assessment and pest management. He previously worked with MAF, co-ordinating eradication programmes for nationally important noxious aquatic weeds. He also has experience in wetland ecology and management of nationally endangered wetland plants.
Since gaining his PhD from Victoria University in 1982, Malcolm has specialised in the biology and ecology of deepwater fish and fisheries and has been responsible for research on most of New Zealand's orange roughy fisheries. His extensive seagoing experience includes leading international surveys off New Caledonia, in the Ross Sea and on seamounts in the Tasman Sea. He has also participated in NOAA expeditions that included submersible dives on the Monowai and Rumble V volcanoes.
Dennis Gordon is a global authority on the systematics, phylogeny, and biology of living and fossil bryozoans. He has a broad interest in all biodiversity and serves on the international project teams of the Catalogue of Life and World Register of Marine Species. He is also coordinator and editor of the decade-long project "Inventory of New Zealand Biodiversity" that provides the authoritative names for the New Zealand Organisms Register.
Ashley's research interests are largely focused on the question - What particular drivers or processes control and maintain biodiversity in the marine environment? Specifically, he is interested in examining the relationship between the biodiversity of seafloor fauna and habitat heterogeneity, productivity and bioturbation. To address such questions Ashley has been involved in research in a number of marine habitats from the intertidal to the deep-sea.
Dr Dave Rowe gained his PhD at Stirling University and has more than 30 years experience with both native and introduced fish in NZ. He is responsible for a wide range of applied research and consultancy projects identifying factors that reduce native fish biodiversity in NZ rivers and lakes. Biosecurity is another speciality and he helped develop grass carp as a weed control agent, using this tool to rehabilitate NZ lakes via the eradication of both pest plants and introduced fish.
Dr Stuart Hanchet specialises in research on inshore and middle depth fish and fisheries and more recently the Antarctic toothfish fishery in the Ross Sea. He is currently programme leader of a FRST project looking at the sustainability of the Ross Sea and has been leading the development, implementation, and post-voyage analysis of New Zealand's survey to the Ross Sea in 2008, which was part of New Zealand's contribution to the International Polar Year (IPY).
