Our Board

Position: Chair

Chris Mace is an Auckland based businessman. Following the restructuring of the Crown research sector in the early 1990s he chaired the Crown Research Institute ESR and later the New Zealand Antarctic Institute – Antarctica New Zealand. Chris takes a strong interest in education and scientific research. He was a founding Trustee of the Sir Peter Blake Trust and continues as a trustee of the Antarctic Heritage Trust. He also works closely with the tertiary sector with a particular focus on marine science and research. Chris was awarded a CNZM for services to Antarctica and the community and was appointed Chairman of NIWA in July 2009.

Position: Board Member

Dennis Cairns presently farms a sheep, beef and deer hill country property in the Otapiri Gorge in Southland. He has held previous management positions within the mercantile and meat industries and currently holds directorships on several private companies. Previously, Dennis was appointed Board member and Chair of the Southland District Health Board from 2001 until 2008. He also served as an executive member and Chair of DHBNZ before being appointed to the NIWA Board in June 2008.

Position: Deputy Chair

Craig Ellison has an MSc in zoology from Otago University, and is a director on several boards, including Airways Corporation of New Zealand, and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, as well as chairing the New Zealand Seafood Standards Council. Craig was deeply involved in the settlement of Maori commercial fisheries claims and was on the boards of a number of companies through that process, and maintains a strong interest in Maori governance structures and resource management. He has a strong interest in improving NZ management capability and chairs the joint industry/government Business Capability Partnership.

Position: Board Member

Ed Johnson, BA (Hons) Finance and Accounting, MBA (Hons), FinstD, is a Marlborough-based company director and advisor. He is currently Chair of Fulton Hogan Ltd, Goldpine Industries Ltd and Port Marlborough New Zealand Ltd, and a director of several entities, including the Bank of New Zealand, and Port Otago Ltd. He retired as Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Shell New Zealand in 2002 after having senior management roles in New Zealand, the US, and the UK. In 2001, Ed was appointed the inaugural Honorary Fellow of Massey University's Centre for Business and Sustainable Development. In 2003, he was made a Fellow of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand.

Position: Board Member

Dr Wendy Lawson, BSc (Hons), PhD, is a glaciologist with a particular interest in the impacts of climate change and earth systems at IPCC time scales. She has more than 25 years of remote field science experience in Arctic, Antarctic, and alpine regions, on expeditions from Universities in the UK and US, as well as New Zealand. She is Head of the Department of Geography and Professor at the University of Canterbury, and also serves on the Board of the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University. She previously served on the Board of Antarctica New Zealand.

Position: Board Member

Helen Robinson is a highly regarded business leader particularly in the technology, software and infrastructure sector. She has led numerous businesses, including her own software company and recently CEO, Microsoft New Zealand. Previous to this Helen was Vice President for Asia Pacific at Pivotal Corporation. Helen was the founding Chief Executive of TZ1 Registry (now known as Markit Environmental Registry). This is a financial markets based registry service that brings credibility, transparency and robustness to the rapidly growing environmental markets. Helen has a strong passion and drive to deliver value to stakeholders through technology and innovation. She serves on a number of boards including the Business Excellence Foundation and Auckland Plus, and is the Chair for Auckland’s Metro Project Action Plan’s Innovation Strategy.

Position: Board Member

Jason Shoebridge, BCom, MBA, is an Auckland based management consultant and Chartered Accountant, who has led consulting assignments across a diverse range of industries and disciplines, in New Zealand and overseas for a number of years. Prior to becoming a consultant Jason has had a number of senior commercial and financial management roles in large Corporates in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, as well as roles within an international chartered accounting firm.