Te Pae Tiaki Taiao ā Rohe Advisory Committee for the Regional Environment (ACRE)

Committee members

• Anna Casey-Cox

  Term end date
  February 2027
  

  Affiliations
  Whakamana ki Rotoroa
  Te Ohu Whakaita (Matariki ki Waikato)
  

  Meet Anna

  Tēnā koutou katoa. I ahu mai ōku tūpuna i County Limerick, i County Cork, i Lydd, i Kōtirana hoki. I tupu ake ahau i raro i te maru o Maungakawa. Kei Kirikiriroa ahau e noho ana. Ko Anna tōku ingoa.

  Anna has been involved in a number of restoration, food growing and environmental projects in Kirikiriroa Hamilton. Anna worked at Go Eco for almost a decade and through this work had regular engagement with the various gully restoration groups and community gardens in the city. Alongside community, Anna started the advocacy group - Whakamana ki Rotoroa. This group continue to champion the restoration of Lake Rotoroa in Kirikiriroa. Anna is a board member of Te Ohu Whakaita (Matariki ki Waikato) and leads an Eco Church initiative at Chartwell Cooperating Church. Anna’s PhD focused on noticing oppression and privilege in the context of community gardening and life. Anna is an active cycling and public transport advocate and enjoys biking or busing to her work and community meetings as much as possible. Anna is currently a first term Councillor at Hamilton City Council and the Deputy Chair of the Community and Natural Environment Committee.
• John Badham (Chairperson)

  Term end date
  February 2027
  

  Affiliations
  Riverlea Environment Society
  Mangaonua Gully Care Group

  Meet John

  John Badham is Chairperson of ACRE. He is a retired Registered Quantity Surveyor and building construction project manager. John holds a BSc (Resources and Environmental Planning) from the University of Waikato, and has been active with a number of Kirikiriroa Hamilton gullies restoration groups. He has a particular interest in the biodiversity and biosecurity of indigenous forest ecosystems. John enjoys reading, property maintenance and spending time with his grandchildren.
• Malcolm Green

  Term end date
  Ongoing (as required)
  

  Affiliations
  Former NIWA employee and expert on estuarine, coastal and marine science

  Meet Malcolm

  Dr Malcolm Green was Principal Scientist for estuaries and coasts at NIWA. He is a certified Resource Management Act decision maker, and has served on panels hearing applications for consents for large coastal development projects. Malcolm currently works for himself (www.rmascience.co.nz), providing expert advice on estuarine, coastal and marine science.
• Shepherd Isaac

  Term end date
  End of 2024

  Affiliations
  Hillcrest Stadium
  Kirikiriroa Restoration Network
  Whakamana ki Rotoroa

  Meet Shepherd

  Ko Tawhiao te Maunga
  Ko Rangitaiki te Awa
  Ko Ngati Manawa te Iwi
  Ko Hepara taku ingoa ahau
  Kia ora tatou katoa

  Shepherd has spent the last decade volunteering with Go Eco and Hamilton City Council, being involved with our environment and ecosystem. Shepherd is passionate about our community. As the previous manager for Te Whare o Te Ata Community House in Fairfield, Shepherd has the skills and confidence to build a resilient community involving other organisations.
• Wiea Montemezzani

  Term end date
  End of 2026
  

  Affiliations
  Whāingaroa restoration groups

  Meet Wiea

  Wiea works as an ecologist in New Zealand with a keen interest in working with bats and cryptic wetland birds. During her work as an ecology consultant, she has worked on several Significant Natural Area (SNA) and diodiversity inventories for regional, district and city councils. Through her work, Wiea has developed a good understanding of biodiversity values, potential, and issues in the Waikato region and is keen to see improvements happen to better the state of biodiversity.

  In her spare time, you will find Wiea volunteering for a local restoration group helping with seabird monitoring and undertaking pest control, doing a range of water sports along the Raglan coast, or spending time in the garden with her adventurous toddler.
• Craig Solomon

  Term end date
  February 2027
  

  Affiliations
  Ngāti Maru Runanga

  Meet Craig

  Craig is passionate about protecting the environment in our Rohe of Mai Matakana Ki Matakana which includes Tikapa Moana the Hauraki Gulf as well as Te Tara o te Ika a Māui the Coromandel Peninsula as a whole. Craig has a lifetime of whakapapa and tribal area knowledge, Craig has spent 35 years working in the mussel farming industry in Coromandel Town, 35 yrs of pig hunting knowledge in Coromandel and knowledge of local maunga and peaks. Craig is tangata whenua of Moehau of the Ngāti Rongou Te Uringahu of Moehau Maunga Hapū.
• Rachel Thompson

  Term end date
  End of 2026

  Affiliations
  Kids Greening Taupō

  Meet Rachel

  Rachel Thompson was a teacher for almost 20 years, before becoming the lead coordinator for environmental education organisation, Kids Greening Taupō in 2020. She works closely with restoration and predator free groups in Taupō and Tūrangi to involve tamariki and rangatahi in their work. Rachel also provides teacher professional development about using conservation work and te taiao as learning contexts in schools around Aotearoa through Field Based STEM. She is also a facilitator for Trees for Survival and a member of the Taupō Environmental Education Collaborative (EEC).
• Kristel van Houte

  Term end date
  End of 2025
  

  Affiliations
  Karioi Project
  A Rocha Aotearoa NZ

  Meet Kristel

  Kristel van Houte (MSc) is the National Director of A Rocha Aotearoa NZ and Te Whakaoranga O Karioi Project Manager – prior to this Kristel was a marine and freshwater ecologist at NIWA (NZ) and in American Samoa and Kenya. Kristel started her career as a dairy farmer and has since added nearly 20 years of practical biology and community based conservation experience. Kristel has taught field biology in New Zealand and overseas and enjoys applying these skills in a community based setting. She lives with her family in Whāingaroa Raglan.
• Steph Parkyn

  Term end date
  December 2027
  

  Affiliations
  Moehau Environment Group

  Meet Steph

  Stephanie Parkyn holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Waikato and worked as a freshwater ecologist with NIWA in Hamilton specialising in stream health, riparian management and kōura ecology. In 2008, she moved to Australia and focused her career on art and writing, and to date has three published historical fiction novels. Since returning to live in the Coromandel Peninsula in 2018, she has been active with the Moehau Environment Group, a large-scale predator control group, assisting with committee governance roles, scientific advice on monitoring, and science communication. Most recently, she has joined the Board of Trustees for the Driving Creek Railway and Conservation Park as a conservation advisor.