I lead NIWA's Aquacullture/Environment Interactions Programme. I am a member of the Marine Farming Association’s Research and Development committee and of the Technical Advisory Panel for the Marlborough Aquaculture Working Group. I trained as a biologist and specialized in population and ecosystem modelling. I have developed models to simulate processes ranging from individual fish-growth, individual seabird foraging and up to spatially explicit biogeochemical models. The biogeochemical models have included models of both waste-water processing systems and coastal water-quality. Some of the latter models have explicitly included the influences of shellfish and fin-fish farms – and have been used to inform discussions related to shellfish and/or salmon farming in the Marlborough Sounds and elsewhere.