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Environmental Management Staff Profiles

Alice Jones
Programme Coordinator, Senior Academic Staff Member
Programme Coordinator Alice Jones

"I completed my Masters in Zoology from Auckland University and then traveled and worked through Japan, Turkey, Italy, Greece and Honduras. I coordinate the Environmental Management Year Two students, and teach some of the modules within the Diploma.

Since joining the Applied Science, BOP Polytechnic team in 2000, I have spent some time in Costa Rica. My interests include ecological restoration, biodiversity and conservation.

The BOP Polytechnic has a very hands-on and supportive approach to learning, yet still arms students with the essential tertiary level skills and academic background to enable them to graduate with a Diploma and Degree in Biological Sciences field. The focus on Environmental Management is essential and increasingly topical in today’s world”.

Written On: Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Subject Area: Environmental Management
Dean Tully
Group Leader, Programme Coordinator Year 1
Programme Coordinator Dean Tully

I joined Marine Studies in 1994 and whilst I seem to spend more time on the paperwork side of things now I really look forward to working in the field with students. I have an M.Sc. in Freshwater Ecology from Waikato University, am a qualified boat skipper and also a PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer.Dean Tully: Kicking back and relaxing while hiding from the rest of the team Prior to working at the Polytechnic I spent two years working at Kelly Tarltons Underwater World where I enhanced my Marine Biology and Aquaculture knowledge. I teach Marine Mammals, Birds and Fish in Year One and Freshwater Ecology and Monitoring in Year Two as well as Marine Surveying throughout both years.

I love wildlife photography and travelling around the world. Recent trips include snorkeling with Humpback Whales in Tonga and Whale Sharks in Western Australia.

Areas of research that I am interested in include tropical reef fish and invertebrates, characteristics of the little blue penguin population at Mount Maunganui, freshwater invertebrates as monitoring tools for stream quality, rainbow trout seasonal distribution in the Tarawera River, humpback whale identification and distribution in Vava'u, Tonga.

Written On: Friday, 1 January 2010
Subject Area: Environmental Management, Marine Studies
Debashis Dutta
Senior Academic Staff Member
Senior Academic Staff member Debashis Dutta

"I've been teaching the Diploma in Environmental Management at the Polytechnic since 2003. Prior to that I lived in Shillong, India, and I completed an MSc in botany and a PhD in plant ecology there. 

I've taught terrestrial ecology at tertiary level for a number of years and my interests are centered around terrestrial ecosystems, particularly plant ecology, and biodiversity and conservation biology."

Written On: Monday, 14 June 2010
Subject Area: Environmental Management
Esta Chappell
Academic Staff Member
Academic Staff member Esta Chappell

"I'm a newer member of the Environmental team after spending the last year working for a forestry consulting company in Rotorua. There I was heavily involved with the LUCAS project (Land Use and Carbon Analysis System), calculating carbon in New Zealand’s natural and plantation forests, and developing electronic data capture programs for use in the field.

In 2008 I gained an MSc. in conservation biology from Massey University in Palmerston North, focusing on the genetic and morphological variation in a New Zealand ground weta species.

I'll be helping Paddy Stewart on the biosurveying field trips, teaching in various modules including invertebrates, and will be co-ordinating the Year 2 and 3 major projects. My research interests include insect biodiversity and conservation, terrestrial ecology and conservation genetics."

Written On: Monday, 14 June 2010
Subject Area: Environmental Management
Jono Tonkin
Academic Staff Member
Academic Staff Member Jono Tonkin

"I have just joined the team in 2011 after completing a PhD in Freshwater Ecology at Massey University. My thesis was entitled “The effects of productivity and disturbance on stream invertebrate diversity”. Much of this was focused around the Tongariro National Park in the central North Island with a portion of time studying streams in Hawke’s Bay. I was also fortunate enough to use links in Cantabria, Spain to research Cantabrian streams and compare productivity-diversity relationships with those found in New Zealand. Prior to that, I completed an honours thesis on the Tongariro River looking at the effects of the hydro-electric development on stream invertebrate drift.

My research interests focus around the ‘big picture’ theoretical questions in Ecology including large scale diversity patterns and how productivity and disturbance interact to affect these patterns. I’m also interested in all other things freshwater ecology and management. I have also spent a fair bit of time doing various consultancy jobs including fish and invertebrate surveys for Regional and District Councils.

I teach Waste Water Management for first year Environmental Management students, Freshwater Ecology and Monitoring and Coastal Management for both Environmental Management and Marine Studies second year students, and Applied Freshwater Ecology in the third year through Waikato University.

Apart from science my interests involve surfing, downhill mountain biking, kayak and fly fishing, snowboarding and tramping when time allows."

Written On: Thursday, 28 July 2011
Subject Area: Environmental Management, Marine Studies
Patrick (Paddy) Stewart
Contractor
Tutor Patrick Stewart

"I have worked with the Environmental Management students since 2002 and I teach the Biosurveying modules – where students learn various surveying (flora, fauna and pests), risk management and safety skills in the bush. I am a contractor for various organisations including the Department of Conservation, specialising in fauna surveying and pest management.

Over the two years of the Diploma, I take the students on a number of field trips to biodiversity restoration projects around the North Island of New Zealand. This includes surveying native flora and fauna, and implementing pest management strategies in a range of habitats from offshore islands through to alpine areas in the Tongariro National Park. Besides running a small biomonitoring and outdoor training consultancy, I am involved with projects which include control of Calluna vulgaris in Tongariro NP, effects of forestry operations on endemic Hochstetter's frog, kiwi call count rates during lunar cycles, biomonitoring on Tuhua (Mayor Island) and reviewing the private conservation covenant scheme in the Coromandel."

Written On: Monday, 26 July 2010
Subject Area: Environmental Management