Freshwater key contacts

Contacts for our freshwater services.

Key contacts for Freshwater services

Chief Scientist - Freshwater and Estuaries

Scott is an ecosystems ecologist. His research focuses on effects of land and water use on biological communities, ecosystem processes and water quality.  This research has been carried out in rivers, estuaries, coral reefs, lakes, aquifers and open ocean.  Current research areas include water quality analysis and tools for assessing land-use effects. Scott is Chief Scientist of NIWA's National Centre for Freshwater and Estuaries.

Manager - Freshwater & Estuaries

Neale manages NIWA’s Freshwater and Estuaries platform. He works closely with Chief Scientist - Freshwater and Estuaries (Dr Scott Larned), programme leaders and external stakeholders to position NIWA as the authority in the area of freshwater and estuaries in New Zealand. Neale’s research has focused on novel methods for water quality assessment, in particular better understanding the information hidden within high-frequency water quality data. He is also interested in undertaking short-term, focused assessments that are critical to many resource consent applications, where he has led many commercial projects, particularly in the area of microbial risk assessment. Neale is committed to mentoring early-career scientists and supporting teams formed to deliver complex, interdependent and cross-discipline scientific research.

Hydrologist

Christian is a hydrologist with a MSc in small scale hydrology (University Joseph Fourier- France) and PhD in Soil Physics (University Joseph Fourier- France). His research interests include developing improved methods for making hydrological predictions in ungauged catchments, understanding the spatial variability in hydrological response through measurement, conceptualisation and modelling of surface water and groundwater flow across landscape and temporal scales, snow hydrology and uncertainty quantification in decision making process in watrer resource and weather related hazard. 

Principal Scientist - Freshwater Ecology

Deborah is a freshwater scientist with a background in plant biology, ecology and genetics.  Dr Hofstra specialises in freshwater biosecurity, leading research that focuses on the management of aquatic plants, including the control of invasive species and the restoration of native plants.  Her research has been instrumental in providing new control methods for invasive weeds through the use of biodegradable benthic barriers, aquatic herbicides and the assessment of biological control tools.  She provides advice to management agencies to support their biosecurity goals, including a strategic approach to invasive species management, and the design and implementation of weed eradication or control plans that support native biota.  Deborah has a special interest in the conservation of native flora and fauna which can be better protected through understanding the consequences of aquatic weed invasions and management actions.

Dr Hofstra served as a Director on the Board of the Aquatic Plant Management Society, and is on the Science Committee of the International Aquatic Plants Group.

 

Ngāti Kahungungu, Ngāti Porou

Aquatic Biogeochemist

Fleur is an Aquatic Biogeochemist with a MSc (Hons) in Biology and Environmental Planning from University of Waikato and a PhD in Physical Geography from Durham University, UK. She leads NIWAs Mitigation Systems research programme. Fleur joined NIWA in 2002. She has a diverse network of science and stakeholder relationships and she coordinated NIWA’s Envirolink research from 2014 to 2016. From 2010 to 2016 she led work to update the New Zealand instream plant and nutrient guidelines for Regional Councils. Her current research interests include developing guidance, models and tools to support the implementation of riparian buffers, constructed wetlands and other mitigation systems for freshwater management. She is a founding member of the Australasian Seagrass Restoration Network and serves on the Editorial Board for the international journals Nature-Based Solutions and Nutrient Cycling in Agro-ecosystems.

 

Freshwater Ecologist

I joined NIWA in 2008 and am a member of the freshwater ecology team based in Hamilton. I work primarily across the Rehabilitation and Protection and Sustainable Water Allocation programmes in the Freshwater and Estuaries Centre. My main areas of expertise are the ecology of native fish, fish passage, flow-biota interactions and environmental flows. I am particularly interested in the interplay between freshwater biodiversity and human uses of river environments including flow regime change, habitat modification and the impacts of instream infrastructure.

 

Hydro-ecological Modeller

Dr Doug Booker is a hydro-ecological modeler at NIWA. He is an expert in development, application and testing of data analytics for improved environmental management. He specialises in advanced data analysis methods such as machine learning and physically-based numerical modelling. Doug has over 20 years of experience researching environment flow requirements, and the interrelationships between flow, geomorphology and ecological values in rivers. He has recently led several large projects on pressure-state-impact modelling of fresh water flows, hydrological indices for national reporting, and indicators for water allocation. He has also conducted research on nationwide hydrological predictions, ecosystem health thresholds for suspended and deposited sediment, river water temperature data, and water quality state and trend analyses. Doug is a member of the NIWA-Meridian Energy Inflow Forecasting Governance Group and has served on the Ministry for the Environment’s Technical Advisory Group for reporting on freshwater. He is the leader of the Environmental Flows Programme, creater of the eFlowsExplorer app and the co-creator the NZrivermaps web app. 

Principal Scientist - Aquatic Pollution

Rupert is a Principal Scientist and Manager of NIWA's Aquatic Pollution Mitigation Group based in Hamilton. He specializes in resource (energy, nutrient and water) recovery from wastewater using natural treatment systems. His research has involved: development, optimisation, design, engineering, construction and evaluation of ponds, raceways, filters, and scrubbers for wastewater treatment (including municipal, agricultural and aquacultural effluents). Specific research has involved: optimising natural treatment system nutrient removal and disinfection;  Covered Anaerobic Ponds for  simple, cost-effective solids removal and biogas production; High Rate Algal Ponds with CO2 addition for cost effective aerobic wastewater treatment and nutrient recovery in algal biomass for use as fertiliser, feed, or conversion to biofuel; Filamentous Algae Nutrient Scrubbers for effective nutrient removal and recovery from agricultural drainage water.

Rupert currently leads research programmes on enhanced wastewater treatment ponds and diffuse pollution mitigation.

Full Staff List

Staff member Position
Jade Arnold Hydrodynamics Technician Email Jade Arnold
Dr Cindy Baker Principal Scientist - Freshwater Fish Email Dr Cindy Baker
Dr Neill Barr Principal Technician - Marine Ecology Email Dr Neill Barr
Dr Hamish Biggs Ecohydraulics Scientist Email Dr Hamish Biggs
Jochen Bind Hydrodynamics and GIS Technician Email Jochen Bind
Dr Doug Booker Hydro-ecological Modeller Email Dr Doug Booker
David Bremner Coastal and Estuarine Physical Processes Technician Email David Bremner
Helen Brider Algal Ecology Technician Email Helen Brider
Dr Michael Bruce Regional Manager - Hamilton Email Dr Michael Bruce
Rod Budd Principal Technician - Coastal and Estuarine Physical Processes Email Rod Budd
Dr Céline Cattoën-Gilbert Hydrological Forecasting Scientist Email Dr Céline Cattoën-Gilbert
Dr Jono Conway Hydrological Forecasting Scientist Email Dr Jono Conway
Dr Rupert Craggs Principal Scientist - Aquatic Pollution Email Dr Rupert Craggs
Dr Shannan Crow Freshwater Fish Ecologist Email Dr Shannan Crow
Dr Vonda Cummings Principal Scientist - Marine Ecology Email Dr Vonda Cummings
Dr Thanh Dang Water Quality Modeller Email Dr Thanh Dang
Dr Rob Davies-Colley Principal Scientist - Water Quality Email Dr Rob Davies-Colley
Mary de Winton Freshwater Ecologist Email Mary de Winton
Dr Bruce Dudley Hydrologist Email Dr Bruce Dudley
Maurice Duncan Hydrologist Email Maurice Duncan
Dr Eimear Egan Freshwater Fish Ecologist Email Dr Eimear Egan
Dr Sandy Elliott Principal Scientist - Catchment Processes Email Dr Sandy Elliott
Mark Fenwick Marine Ecologist Email Mark Fenwick
Dr Paul Franklin Freshwater Ecologist Email Dr Paul Franklin
Dr Max Gibbs Water Quality Scientist Email Dr Max Gibbs
Dr Brandon Goeller Riparian and Wetland Scientist Email Dr Brandon Goeller
Dr Elizabeth Graham Freshwater Ecologist Email Dr Elizabeth Graham
Dr Michelle Greenwood Freshwater Ecologist Email Dr Michelle Greenwood
Dr James Griffiths Hydrologist Email Dr James Griffiths
Dr George Griffiths Principal Scientist - Hydrology Email Dr George Griffiths
Dr Arman Haddadchi Sediment Transport Scientist Email Dr Arman Haddadchi
Dr Alice Hill Hydrologist Email Dr Alice Hill
Dr Deborah Hofstra Principal Scientist - Freshwater Ecology Email Dr Deborah Hofstra
Dr Clive Howard-Williams Emeritus Scientist Email Dr Clive Howard-Williams
Dr Jo Hoyle River Geomorphologist Email Dr Jo Hoyle
Dr Neale Hudson Manager - Freshwater & Estuaries Email Dr Neale Hudson
Dr Andrew Hughes Land and Water Scientist Email Dr Andrew Hughes
Christian Hyde Environmental Monitoring Technician Email Christian Hyde
Dr Phillip Jellyman Regional Manager - Christchurch Email Dr Phillip Jellyman
Dr Cathy Kilroy Freshwater Ecologist Email Dr Cathy Kilroy
Dr Alison Kohout Hydrodynamics Scientist Email Dr Alison Kohout
Dr Anika Kuczynski Water Quality Modeller Email Dr Anika Kuczynski
Dr Scott Larned Chief Scientist - Freshwater and Estuaries Email Dr Scott Larned
Dr Drew Lohrer Strategy Manager - Coasts & Estuaries Email Dr Drew Lohrer
Dr Carolyn Lundquist Principal Scientist - Marine Ecology Email Dr Carolyn Lundquist
Dr Shad Mahlum Quantitative Freshwater Ecologist Email Dr Shad Mahlum
Dr Fleur Matheson Aquatic Biogeochemist Email Dr Fleur Matheson
Dr Alistair McKerchar Hydrologist Email Dr Alistair McKerchar
Dr Lucy McKergow Land and Water Scientist Email Dr Lucy McKergow
Richard Measures Hydrodynamics Scientist Email Richard Measures
Dr Michele Melchior Freshwater Fish Ecologist Email Dr Michele Melchior
Jonathan Moores Regional Manager - Auckland Email Jonathan Moores
Greg Olsen Principal Technician - Environmental Chemistry Email Greg Olsen
Pete Pattinson Principal Technician - Environmental Monitoring Email Pete Pattinson
George Payne Principal Technician - Water Quality Email George Payne
Dr David Plew Hydrodynamics Scientist Email Dr David Plew
Dr Rasool Porhemmat Hydrologist Email Dr Rasool Porhemmat
Dr Channa Rajanayaka Surface Water - Groundwater Modeller Email Dr Channa Rajanayaka
Glen Reeve Principal Technician - Coastal and Estuarine Physical Processes Email Glen Reeve
Darcel Rickard Maori Organisational Development Manager Email Darcel Rickard
Dr Helen Rouse National Projects Manager - Science Delivery Email Dr Helen Rouse
Karl Safi Algal Ecologist Email Karl Safi
Dr Annette Semadeni-Davies Urban Aquatic Scientist Email Dr Annette Semadeni-Davies
Dr Ude Shankar GIS Specialist Email Dr Ude Shankar
Dr Shailesh Singh Hydrologist Email Dr Shailesh Singh
Dr Graeme Smart Principal Scientist - Natural Hazards and Hydrodynamics Email Dr Graeme Smart
Brian Smith Freshwater Biologist Email Brian Smith
Dr Tilmann Steinmetz Principal Technician - GIS Data Administration Email Dr Tilmann Steinmetz
Dr Rick Stoffels Freshwater Ecologist Email Dr Rick Stoffels
Dr Rebecca Stott Environmental Health - Microbiology Scientist Email Dr Rebecca Stott
James Sukias Wastewater Scientist Email James Sukias
Colin Sutton Fisheries Technician Email Colin Sutton
Dr Andrew Swales Principal Scientist - Coastal and Estuarine Physical Processes Email Dr Andrew Swales
Dr Leigh Tait Marine Ecologist Email Dr Leigh Tait
Dr Chris Tanner Principal Scientist - Aquatic Pollution Email Dr Chris Tanner
Aleki Taumoepeau Aquatic Biology Technician Email Aleki Taumoepeau
Karen Thompson Principal Technician - Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology Email Karen Thompson
Dr Piet Verburg Lake Scientist Email Dr Piet Verburg
Sanjay Wadhwa GIS Analyst Email Sanjay Wadhwa
Dr David Wood Water Quality Scientist Email Dr David Wood
Dr Ben Woodward Biogeochemist Email Dr Ben Woodward
Dr Sharleen Yalden Environmental Modeller Email Dr Sharleen Yalden
Dr Jing Yang Hydrology Scientist Email Dr Jing Yang
Dr Christian Zammit Hydrologist Email Dr Christian Zammit

Contact

Free phone within New Zealand:
0800 RING NIWA
(0800 746 464)