Juliet Gerrard I the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor (PMCSA)

Professor Juliet Gerrard trained at Oxford University, where she completed a First Class Honours degree in Chemistry and a DPhil in Biological Chemistry.

In 1993, she was appointed as a research scientist at Crop & Food Research, where her multidisciplinary research portfolio included a substantial element of applied research in the food science area.

She was appointed as a Lecturer in Biochemistry at the University of Canterbury in 1998, where she became Professor and Co-Director of the Biomolecular Interaction Centre.

In 2014, she moved to the University of Auckland as a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Chemical Sciences and is now the Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Science.

Juliet’s research has a broad base and is interdisciplinary, cutting across biochemistry, chemistry, health, agricultural and food science and biomaterial design. It also incorporates a full spectrum of fundamental and applied research, ranging from Marsden projects to research for industry, and includes collaborations in the UK, USA and Australia.

From 2012-2016 she held a Callaghan Innovation Industry and Outreach Fellowship (at 50% FTE) focussed on creating an integrated research programme across Callaghan Innovation and the Universities of Canterbury and Auckland. During this time she also founded a start-up company, Hi-Aspect Ltd, which went on to receive seed funding from a private investor in 2017.

Juliet has over 150 publications, as well as three books. She won a National Teaching Award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching in 2004 and has served on FRST panels and domain reviews. She enjoyed her role as Chair of the Cellular, Molecular and Physiological Biology Marsden Panel and Deputy Chair of the Marsden Council prior to being appointed Chair in 2012. She stepped down from this role early in 2018, having overseen an increase in the fund from around $54 million to over $80 million and steered the Marsden Fund Council through the creation of the Fund’s first investment plan.

Juliet has had an increasing interest in governance and served on the Board of Directors of Plant & Food Research Ltd from 2013-2018. Juliet has resigned her roles on Boards to take up this position and won’t apply for research funds in New Zealand while she holds the role. top

Richard Reinen-Hamill | Sector Director Natural Hazard Resilience, Tonkin + Taylor

Richard is a civil engineer with more than 28 years’ experience in coastal engineering, coastal process and coastal hazard risk assessments. Richard holds post graduate qualifications in the field of fluid mechanics, coastal processes and multi-hazard risk assessments. His key skills are: evaluating hydrodynamic and coastal processes; hazard assessment taking into account climate change effects; assisting clients plan for resilience; designing solutions taking into account the natural processes; and his ability to communicate complex processes to a wide range of audiences.

Prior to joining Tonkin + Taylor, Richard worked for the international hydraulic and coastal specialist consultants Delft Hydraulics in the Netherlands. Within T+T Richard has continued developing within his specialist area with an increasing role in resilience and adaptation planning. He has been responsible for regional to district scale coastal process studies, hazard and risk assessments as well as award winning coastal designs that have improved public access and amenity along the coastal edge as well as providing protection to land.

He has assisted in the preparation of numerous guidance and planning documents on managing and adapting to coastal hazard risk and is currently assisting in an international guideline on Natural and Nature Based Features for Coastal Resilience. top

Tahu Kukutai | Te Rūnanga Tātari Tatauranga - National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis

Tahu Kukutai (Ngāti Tiipa, Ngāti Kinohaku, Te Aupōuri) is Professor of Demography at the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis, University of Waikato. Tahu specialises in Māori and indigenous demographic research and has written extensively on issues of Māori population change, Māori identity and official statistics. Tahu is a founding member of the Māori Data Sovereignty Network Te Mana Raraunga and co-edited (with John Taylor) Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Toward an Agenda (free download: https://press.anu.edu.au). Tahu has degrees in History, Demography and Sociology from the University of Waikato and Stanford University. She was previously a journalist.  top

Arama Rata | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato - The University of Waikato

Dr Arama Rata (Ngāruahine, Taranaki, Ngāti Maniapoto) is Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis, University of Waikato. Her background is in Psychology and Statistics and current research foci include Māori-migrant relationships, iwi connectedness, and Māori wellbeing. top

Steve Webster | Chief Infrastructure Officer at Watercare

Steve Webster is a civil engineer with more than 20 years’ experience in senior leadership roles, predominantly in the infrastructure sectors in New Zealand and Australia, delivering projects and maintenance services to government, local authority and private asset owners. He was appointed Watercare’s General Manager – Infrastructure Delivery in May 2015 and appointed Chief Infrastructure Officer in January 2018. Steve is responsible for Watercare’s delivery of infrastructure projects from servicing strategies, through planning to construction and for supporting external developer services to enable growth in Auckland. Steve is the executive sponsor for Watercare’s Climate Change and Adaptation Strategy. top

Anne Bardsley |Centre for Science in Policy, Diplomacy and Society (SciPoDS)

Anne’s background is in biomedical science and biotechnology. Her current research interests revolve around the use of science and evidence in policymaking, concepts of risk and precaution in relation to emerging technologies, and the changing nature of interactions between science and society.

Anne has considerable expertise in synthesizing and communicating scientific evidence to inform the public and policy-makers on a broad range of topical issues. Working with Sir Peter Gluckman in his former role as the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, she led a number of high-impact projects involving close collaboration with leading scientific and policy experts both within New Zealand and internationally.

She has also served as Commissioning Editor for a number of international peer-reviewed scientific journals spanning multiple disciplines. In this role, she helped identify emerging lines of scientific enquiry and facilitated the quality assurance of publications through robust peer review.

Anne holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA, and was a Research Fellow at Lund University in Sweden, and at the University of Auckland. top

Matthew Howe | Patent Attorney Origin Origin Intellectual Property

Matthew is a New Zealand and Australian registered patent attorney, practicing in the field since 2005. He has experience at a tier-one Australasian intellectual property firm advising several of New Zealand's largest export manufacturers. Matthew specialises in protecting, registering and licensing intellectual property in the electrical engineering, physics and ICT technology fields.

Matthew has personally developed and taken to market a number of electronics and software technologies. As well as standing out as a patent attorney with a strong technical aptitude, Matthew is well placed to provide intellectual property advice drawing upon commercialisation experience. Matthew is experienced in advising corporations, universities, start-up ventures and individuals throughout New Zealand and offshore.

Matthew has extensive experience representing clients before the Australian, New Zealand and World Intellectual Property Offices. He also has extensive experience in assisting with representation before the United States Patent Office. top

Reece Moors | Manager Programme Office and Strategic Relationships for NSC Science for Technological Innovation

(Ngāti Mahuta – Tainui, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue – Te Arawa)

Reece has more than 20 years’ experience in Māori Development and has an extensive knowledge of the innovation and business development eco-system. Reece is the Manager Programme Office and Strategic Relationships for the Science for Technological Innovation – National Science Challenge. Reece was the inaugural Te Tumu Whakarae/Executive Director of the Māori Economic Development Unit of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Prior to this role, Reece held senior strategic and operational roles in Māori development in Callaghan Innovation, the Crown Research Institute – Industrial Research Ltd, the Ministry of Science & Innovation and the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. Reece was also Senior Manager Iwi/Māori Partnerships at the Ministry of Education. In the private sector, Reece worked for Telecom (now Spark) in corporate sales, events and sponsorship and has run his own consultancy business.

Reece has also worked in Parliament for five years and has a strong understanding of the machinery of government and of the contribution the Māori economy can continue to make to Aotearoa-New Zealand. Having travelled extensively and lived and worked in Japan, Reece is also fluent in Japanese. top

Craig Stevens | Co-President NZAS

Background: Craig Stevens is the out-going Co-President of the NZAS and holds a joint CRI/University position (NIWA/UoAkl). His science focus is extreme ocean environments. top