Plenary Speakers
We are pleased to announce the following plenary speakers for NZES 2022.
Araceli Samaniego
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
2021 Ecology in Action Awardee
Dr. Araceli Samaniego is a conservation biologist with 20 years of experience, always combining biodiversity conservation projects and applied research. She has led and contributed to numerous conservation projects on islands, including numerous rodent eradications in Mexico (her home country) and Australia, Canada, UK, USA, to name a few.
Her aim to advance technological innovations to maximise conservation effectiveness took her to New Zealand. Her PhD at Auckland University focused on the ecology of invasive rodents on tropical islands. Her publications always aim to be useful to conservation practitioners. Araceli is now part of a busy team at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, helping restore Aotearoa New Zealand. Yet, given her experience on islands she continues to advise eradication projects around the globe.
Doug Armstrong
Massey University
2021 Te Tohu Taiao Awardee
Doug Armstrong is an independent wildlife scientist who recently retired as Professor of Conservation Biology at Massey University. His research over the last 30 years has addressed multiple challenges involved in conserving threatened wildlife, especially through translocations. This research has involved intensive monitoring, usually with marked individuals, and a strong emphasis on manipulative experiments, integrated Bayesian population modelling, and decision analysis. Current projects include assessing our capacity to reintroduce New Zealand birds to large landscapes, understanding the role of individual growth rates on population dynamics of turtles, and improving monitoring methods for frogs and lizards. He is a long-term contributor to the IUCN Conservation Translocation Specialist Group, including co-authoring the current IUCN translocation guidelines, and is a member of New Zealand frog and hihi recovery groups.
Brought to you with support from:
Chris Hepburn
University of Otago
Theme: Working together
For the last 15 years Prof Hepburn has supported transformative climate change, aquaculture and fisheries researchand teaching programmes in partnership with coastal communities. Key to this work is building capacity andapplying fit-for-purpose research to empower decision-makers to alter public policy surrounding marinemanagement and ecosystem restoration. He co-leads Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai a research partnership programme thatsupports local action by Tangata Tiaki/Kaitiaki (customary fishery managers) and is Co-Director of the Coastal PeopleSouthern Skies Centre of Research Excellence. He leads an active and diverse lab group and is committed tosupporting the leaders of coastal communities and training the next generation of scientists equipped to gather andshare the knowledge to better support local leaders in their work to restore coastal ecosystems.
Cate Macinnis-Ng
The University of Auckland
Theme: Ecology in a Warming World
Cate Macinnis-Ng is Associate Professor and Academic Group Leader for the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Group in the School of Biological Sciences at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland. She is a plant ecophysiologist with broader research interests in impacts of climate change on biodiversity. For her Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, Cate established the first forest-based throughfall exclusion experiment in a New Zealand Forest to study the impacts of drought on kauri water use and carbon uptake. Cate is a principal investigator with Te Pūnaha Matatini, Past President of the New Zealand Ecological Society (2018-2019) and Councilor representing the Constituent Organisations for the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Grant Norbury
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
Dr Grant Norbury is a wildlife ecologist based in Alexandra with 40 years of research experience on speciesinteractions, invasive species ecology and management, and methods for restoring and protecting native species.Grant specialises in predator-prey ecology and currently leads a large multi-disciplinary research programme oneradicating a suite of invasive mammals from New Zealand. This programme includes mammal ecology, detection atvery low densities, reinvasion ecology, modelling of eradication outcomes and declaration of success, biodiversityresponse monitoring, and social science. The focus is on research that has practical value for managers to achieve anational outcome. Grant is a member of several conservation advisory groups, and is the chair and founder of acommunity trust that is restoring extinct vegetation and herpetofauna in his local district.
Conference Organisers
Conferences & Events Ltd
PO Box 24078, Manners Street, Wellington, 6011
+64 4 384 1511
www.confer.co.nz
nzes@confer.co.nz
Banner photos by: Danilo Hegg, James Reardon, Cara-Lisa Schloots