My Background

I am a transdisciplinary social scientist in the School of Environment with teaching and research that focuses on the science and society relationship particularly relating to complex and often contested socio-environmental issues. My research ouputs explore community engagement in science /environmental issues, transdisciplinarity in addressing complex environmental issues, science communication, and science innovation.

Before joining the University of Auckland, I worked in the public and commercial health sectors where I developed a strong interest in the communication of scientific information.  I joined the newly created Science Communication course in 1992, eventually being employed as a Senior Tutor in 1999.  I developed the Faculty of Science's Science in Society Module which now includes courses in Science Communication, Science Innovation, and Science Engagement.  In 2020 I transferred to a research position at the University.


My Teaching

I worked as a tertiary teacher in the School of Environment and its legacy departments until 2020 with primary responsibility for the curriculum development, coordination and teaching of three Science in Society courses. In 2018 I developed a named Science in Society module consisting of three interdisciplinary undergraduate courses: SCIGEN 101/101G ‘Communicating for a Knowledge Society’, taught jointly with the Department of Mathematics; SCIGEN 201/201G ‘Innovating in a Knowledge Society’, taught jointly with the Business School; and SCIGEN 301/301G, 'Engaging in a Knowledge Society', taught jointly with staff from the School of Social Sciences (Arts). Approximately 750 students from across the University enrol annually in these courses.

My teaching has been recognised with a University of Auckland Sustained Teaching Excellence Award in 2014 and a National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award in 2015. I also served as the Vice President of the Ako Aotearoa Academy of Tertiary Teaching Excellence between 2019 and 2023.



Postgraduate Research

My First Class Masters (Hons) research was in Film, Television and Media Studies where my research investigated media coverage of two biosecurity events in Auckland, New Zealand. These involved the aerial spraying of a biological insecticide over urban populations to control invasive exotic moths and I examined these programmes within the wider global debates about ‘participatory science’, ‘environmental communication' and the media’s role in a risk society. My thesis was titled: ‘Science Communication in an age of risk’.

I completed a PhD in Environmental Science in 2016. My thesis, titled ‘An Exploration of Collaborative Learning Spaces in the Quest for Agricultural Sustainability in New Zealand’, explored how farmers, scientists and other agricultural innovation system actors, including research funders, engage in the contested space around agricultural sustainability. My research investigated six agricultural innovation projects across New Zealand and proposed a social model to show how actors collaborate in agricultural science innovation projects.


Academic Research

In May 2020 I transferred to a research position at the University of Auckland. My research focuses on principles that facilitate greater alignment and more effective communication between the diverse actors who come together to address complex socio-environmental issues. I have a particular interest in biosecurity and in particular forest biosecurity and invasive predator management.

In November 2019, I was appointed as a co-lead of the Mobilising for Action (MFA) theme of the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge’s Ngā Rākau Taketake (Saving Our Iconic Trees) Programme. This MBIE funded research which rn from 2020-2024 theme critically examined the meaning people attach to te taiao (the environment), ngahere (forests), and taonga (treasured) species, specifically kauri and myrtaceae. It also examined how people’s connection to te taiao, ngahere and taonga species can be fostered and supported and how people can be empowered to make a difference to enable te taiao, ngahere and taonga species to flourish.

To co-develop this programme of research, I engaged in korero / conversations with over 150 people between January and March 2020 from a wide range of communities, research institutions, hapū and whanau who had a diverse range of opinions and expertise from across New Zealand and the globe. This resulted in an extensive programme of research guided by a waka hourua framework. This reflected MFA’s recognition that mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and Western knowledge both have an equal role to play in understanding the social dimensions of ngahere ora / forest health.

The research programme I oversaw with Dr Mark Harvey (University of Auckland) who was MFA’s Måori co-lead, had a large trans-disciplinary academic team of researchers who brought a diverse range of disciplines, knowledges and methodologies to the programme and this was reflected in the broad range of projects funded by the research theme. The MFA programme supported 12 research projects, three grounded in kaupapa Māori and led by kaupapa Māori specialists, two that interweave western science knowledge, five grounded in critical social science approaches and two science outreach projects.

I am an advocate for the meaningful funding of critical social science research in the biosecurity/conservation space and for developing strong relationships with communities and mana whenua working at the coalface of biosecurity and conservation.

I worked with colleagues from Otago University and Te Tira Whakamātiki to engage a wide range of New Zealanders to explore people’s perceptions about gene technologies for environmental purposes. Using a deliberative process and novel methodologies to involve, listen to, and understand a diverse range of perspectives this project explicitly engaged with publics across the lenght and breadth of New Zealand. It also engaged with iwi, hapū and whānau to elicit their specific concerns and aspirations about gene technology in a way that they self-determine to contribute to Tiriti-led science-policy and governance. This timely research  provides understanding of how to engage with diverse audiences in complex and controversial issues.

My current research focuses on invasive species management and particularly landscape-scale predator control/elimination projects in inhabited places. These projects are typically underpinned by expertise gained from successful eradications on uninhabited islands.  My research shows that programme managers who have strong understanding of the technical dimensions may underestimate the social dimensions of working in and with communities. As such, international evidence shows that project delivery can become fraught if communities’ aspirations are not correctly understood and embedded in programme delivery. 

In 2018 I undertook a scoping investigation of six predator eradication programmes on inhabited islands in New Zealand (Rakiura / Stewart Island), Australia (Lord Howe Island) and the United Kingdom (Isles of Scilly; Orkney; Outer Hebrides – Uist, Isle of Lewis and Harris and Lewis), which demonstrated the urgent need for critical social science in predator control in inhabited areas. This complemented both my work on Aotea Great Barrier Island in 2014/15, where I co-developed for the Local Board a community-driven ecological vision for the island, and my role as a social scientist on the Technical Advisory Group for Te Korowai o Waiheke. A Faculty of Science Research Grant enabled a broader study to be undertaken (2022-24) to explore how national predator programmes interact and collaborate with community based pest eradication.  This resulted in a 162-page report on the social dynamics of community-based predator eradications (see Research Outputs), a presentation to the 2026 Island Invasives Conference, and a publication (under review).

My research has been recognised through a University of Auckland Early Career Research Award which I received in 2022; and a University Research Impact Award which I received alongside Dr Mark Harvey in 2024.

Expertise in Biosecurity Policy and Delivery

Since 2008, I have been involved in kauri dieback research and was appointed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s Biosecurity Science Advisory Group (2009-2012); the Kauri Dieback Technical Advisory Group (2010-2013); the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Strategic Science Advisory Group for Kauri Dieback (2015-2018); MPI’s Accelerating Protection for Kauri Independent Panel (2018-2019) and MPI’s Knowledge Advisory Group (KAG) for Kauri Dieback and Myrtle Rust. I have also been appointed as a social scientist on the Technical Advisory Groups for Kauri Rescue (2016-present), a kauri dieback citizen science project, and Te Korowai o Waiheke (2019-present), a Predator Free 2050 initiative to create a pest free Waiheke Island.



Areas of Expertise

Science and society interactions; community based participatory research; science and technology studies (STS); complex socio-environmental issues; transdisciplinarity; science innovation; sustainable agriculture; agricultural innovation systems; science / environmental communication; citizen science; media communication of science.


Media Keywords

Contested environmental issues; biosecurity; invasive species management.