Knowledge Advisory Group

Glenice affiliates to Ngāi Tahu and Te Atiawa. She has a background in the conservation and resource management fields and is a Deputy Commissioner of the Environment Court. Glenice is also Co-Chair of the Governance Group for the Biological Heritage – National Science Challenge and a member of Te Tira Whakamātaki (the Māori Biosecurity Network), as well as a past member of the Biosecurity 2025 Steering Group.

Ken is Professor of Environmental Management at Lincoln University and is seconded to Te Papa Atawhai, the Department of Conservation (DOC) as Chief Science Advisor, a position he’s held since 2014. In this role, Ken takes a broad overview of science issues relating to DOC’s responsibilities and advises the Director-General about preferred ways forward. Ken has broad ranging interests including science strategy; particular areas of interest include water resources, environmental perceptions, and sustainable tourism (including in relation to climate change). He has been advising DOC’s Senior Leadership Team on science strategy improvements and has participated in MPI-facilitated work about strategic science.

Marie is a social scientist at Waipapa Taumata Rau – the University of Auckland, with research interests in science and society interactions particularly relating to biosecurity, pest management and agricultural sustainability. Marie is the co-lead of the “Mobilising for Action” theme of the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge’s Nga Rākau Taketake programme, where she works with a large transdisciplinary team of social scientists and practitioners to address the human dimensions of ngahere health. Marie’s research seeks to facilitate greater alignment and more effective communication between scientists and community. Marie has worked in biosecurity research since 2009 across a diverse range of roles.

Karyn is an epidemiologist and the Director of Biosecurity Research Ltd, with over 25 years of research experience. Her main areas of expertise are in conducting observational research and surveillance into new exotic pest and disease incursions particularly in association with plant-based industries, and in developing and teaching biosecurity preparedness and response planning. Prior to this she spent 10 years working for MPI in the Incursion Investigation area. Before that, Karyn was a research scientist at Plant and Food Research.

Haami is Chair of Te Runanga o Te Rarawa and a member of the National Iwi Chairs Forum. He works alongside the Māori biosecurity network (Te Tira Whakamātaki) who report to the forum on biosecurity issues. He is involved in conservation initiatives, in particular preventing the spread of and Phytophthora Agathidicida (also known as Kauri Dieback) which has a significant presence throughout Te Rarawa tribal territory and chairs the management board for Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (90 Mile Beach). He is one of the architects of the Korowai model for redress of Treaty grievances in Te Hiku o Te Ika. Haami was awarded the NZ Order of Merit for services to Māori in 2014.

Melanie (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Te Atiawa), is an indigenous environmental advocate who is a co-founder and the CEO of Te Tira Whakamātaki, the Māori biosecurity network. She is also the Deputy Secretary Māori Rights & Interests at the Ministry for the Environment and until recently was the Kaihautū Ngātahi Director Māori of New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge. Melanie specialises in understanding and applying mātauranga Māori to biosecurity and biodiversity issues and has a specific interest in decolonising ideologies of conservation and restoration in order to address injustices and harm caused to indigenous peoples and our planet.

Sarah is a forest pathologist with 20 years’ experience of working with pathogens of trees, focusing in the last ten years on risks to UK forests from Phytophthora and risk mitigation through plant nursery sector best practices. Sarah also has research interests in understanding pathways of Phytophthora spread using metabarcoding and other genomic tools, impacts on the host and mechanisms underlying natural resistance in host populations.

Beccy has worked on both the Austropuccinia psidii (myrtle rust) and Phytophthora agathidicida (PA-also known as Kauri Dieback) pathogens and looked into pre- and post-border biosecurity for a number of others that have not yet made their way into Aotearoa New Zealand. Beccy also co-leads the “Host, Pathogen & Environment” theme in Ngā Rākau Taketake, which examines the role environmental factors play in disease expression and severity, as well as investigating the genomes of the pathogens that cause both myrtle rust and effects of PA on kauri.

Peter is a forest ecologist and a Senior Researcher at Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research in Lincoln and an Associate Professor at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. He co-leads the “Conservation and Restoration” theme in Ngā Rākau Taketake. His research interests focus on the dynamics of our ngahere and how they respond to the interactions of natural disturbances, invasions by mammals, weeds, and diseases, and effects of the climate crisis. He has worked in ngahere in which kauri and myrtle are major components, especially in Te Tai Tokerau, for over 30 years, and works increasingly with mana whenua about how to meet their objectives of kaitiakitanga in ngahere.

Geoff is a forest pathologist and has been actively researching forest health and biosecurity since 2000, with a focus on managing diseases impacting on plantation and native forests and ways to improve forest biosecurity. His recent research focus has been studying the impact of myrtle rust in native Australian environments. Raising awareness of the importance of environmental biosecurity and understanding the threats pests and diseases pose to Australia’s environmentally and culturally significant species and ecosystems is a key area of interest.