Our Speakers
Our Speakers
The good humans who support our mission and give their time to share their knowledge.
Hayley Anderson
Hayley is a seasoned health and disability leader. Making connections across communities, ensuring we have more services closer to home while supporting the wellbeing and effectiveness of health professionals are her superpowers. Since arriving back in Central Otago she has been instrumental in the establishment of the Dunstan Hospital Foundation Charitable Trust and the Wānaka Overnight Acute health service.
Dr. Maria Barnes-Rawiri
Dr Maria Barnes-Rawiri leads He Kete Kai o Hokianga project, supporting food resilience through seed saving, traditional foods, natural growing, climate adaptation and community knowledge.
Finley Watkins
Finley Watkins leads Walter Peak’s gardens, native nursery and ecological restoration, championing sustainable growing and resilient landscapes that connect people with food, nature and place.
Paul Norris
Paul Norris is Chief Conservation Officer at RealNZ, with 35 years’ tourism experience and extensive governance roles spanning conservation, tourism, land stewardship and destination management.
Ewan Mackie
Ewan Mackie has 20 years’ experience in ski tourism and environmental conservation, leading trapping, planting and threatened species projects across the southern South Island.
Hon David Seymour
The Hon David Seymour is the Deputy Prime Minister, MP for Epsom, Minister for Regulation and the ACT Party Leader.
Hon Damien O'Connor
The Hon Damien O'Connor is a Labour Party List MP and the spokesperson for Trade & Export Growth, Defence, Land Information, Regional Development.
Marama Davidson
Marama is the Co-leader of the Green Party. She's based in South Auckland and is a List MP.
Larry Blair
Larry Blair is a specialist generalist, combing a wide range of skills and experience to synthesise various diverse topics into easily understood and actionable information underpinned by energy and biology.
Dr. Melissa Robson-Williams
Dr Melissa Robson-Williams is the portfolio leader for the ‘Catalysing Change’ research group at the Bioeconomy Science Institute Maiangi Taiao.
Michael Rewi
Mike founded and is CEO of Mana Tāhuna Charitable Trust, providing environmental, health and social outcomes for vulnerable communities across Central Otago and Aotearoa.
Nicky Gray
Nicky is the Queenstown Enviroschools Facilitator. She is passionate about education and the environment.
Emeritus Prof. Ian Shaw
Ian Shaw is Professor of Toxicology at the University of Canterbury. Professor Shaw is an international expert on the impact of environmental contaminants on human health, particularly in a food safety context and is a passionate communicator of science. He has had over 40 years’ experience in academia, industry and government, both in the UK and New Zealand, which includes chairing the UK government’s Pesticide Residues Committee and working as the National Food Safety Programme Manager at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) in New Zealand.
Prof. Glenn Banks
Glenn Banks is an Aotearoa New Zealand academic. Banks gained a PhD from The Australian National University, Canberra in 1997. He taught for 11 years in Geography at UNSW (ADFA, Canberra), and moved to Massey University in 2008. Banks is currently a full professor of geography at Massey University. He served as Head of School (People, Environment and Planning) between 2016-2022.
Dr. Nancy Wong
Dr. Nancy Wong is the Pacific Communications & Partnerships Lead with the World Health Organization (WHO). A senior strategic communications leader with more than a decade of experience, Nancy works at the intersection of policy, technology, public interest and risk.
Dr. Cathrine Dyer
Dr. Cathrine Dyer is a Lecturer in Climate Change at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. She teaches in environmental politics and international climate change policy. Her PhD research examined government underreactions to climate change, leading to an interest in commons expansion and collective responses. Cathrine is a regular guest on The Hoon podcast, covering current climate change issues with journalists Bernard Hickey (The Kākā) and Peter Bale.
Clinton Chambers
Meet Clinton Chambers - leader, visionary and strategic thinker with a strong set of values that drives everything he does. Owner of Taste Nature organic supermarket, cafe and apothecary, the business is built on Clinton's vision to create a sustainable, ethical, and local economic system that supports the wellbeing of individuals, engages our community, cares for our planet, furthers our education, and is in harmony with nature.
Arna Craig
Arna established her digital marketing agency Fever Pitch in Wanaka in 2011. Working with business across the spectrum in size and industry has given Arna a unique lens into digital communication strategy and business development.
Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin is one of the country's most experienced technology reporters, founding director of the Science Media Centre, and author of The Launch of Rocket Lab.
Dr. Denise Quinlan
Denise is the Founder of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience (NZIWR), Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI), and a published academic researcher.