Mountains To Sea Conservation Trust (MTSCT)

Olivier (Olly) Ball

Olly is a senior tutor at NorthTec Whangarei, and teaches subjects ranging from ecology to conservation to the dreaded statistics. Olly's interest in ecology and conservation was sparked when, as a child growing up in London, I found out that I was never going to be able to see such wonderful creatures as moa, huia and dodo, as every last one had been exterminated by humans, directly or indirectly. After leaving school in England, he followed the zoological pathway, completing a BSc Hons at the University of Canterbury (NZ), majoring in ecology and invertebrate physiology. For  his PhD at Waikato University, his studies focused on biological control of pastoral insect pests using endophytic fungi of grasses. After post-doctoral studies on endophytic fungi at the University of Tennessee, and several years as a research scientist with AgResearch at Ruakura and Grasslands, he was able to rekindle my passion for plants, animals and their conservation when  he took up his current post at NorthTec. Since his arrival at NorthTec, he has participate in several research projects, including studies on freshwater invertebrate communities of northern Northland dune lakes.  Olly is happy to support the amazing work of the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust here in Northland.

Geoff Buttirini

Geoff has had have had an association with the sea ever since he can remember. Being in, or on, the ocean is his second home. He spent seven years in the RNZN as a radio operator, but also qualified as a navy diver for a second skill. Apart from coastal fishery patrol boats, he served on HMNZS Tui (which is sunk off Tutukaka) and HMNZS Canterbury (sunk in Deep Water Cove). Both ships are now refuges for marine life and great dive sites. In 1973, while on HMNZS Canterbury, he was one of the volunteer crew that went to Mururoa Island to protest against atmospheric nuclear testing by the French, on behalf of New Zealand. The circle now seems complete with Canterbury continuing to be a safe place for marine life and his association with EMR. After he eft the Navy he worked in communications for several years, until he decided his future lay in the aquatics industry. When living in Australia he qualified as a swim teacher, teacher of life saving and swim coach. He also qualified as a life guard and went on the manage an outdoor pool in the summer over four seasons. He is currently involved with local schools doing WaterSafe and water awareness. EMR attracted Geoff because it is fantastic to be able to share his love of the sea, and marine life, with people who have never experienced it before. IHe also enjoys the challenge of helping people to overcome whatever fears they may have about being in the ocean.

Hilton Leith

Hilton sees life as an opportunity to continually learn and change. Hilton has been fortunate to spend half of his working life free diving for rock lobster, paua and sea urchin. The balance was spent in real estate. He saw both of these as wonderful opportunities to learn about himself and his connection with his surroundings. Hilton is a PADI Rescue Diver and a knowledgeable businessman. He believes our future is linked to how we treat our environment today. Hilton continues to add value to the trust in the areas of financial processes and strategic vision as a non-consulting trustee.

Manuel Springford

Manuel is committed to Te Reo and surrounds himself with the language in his day-to-day activities, but it was a different story as a youngster - he didn't even know his grandfather could speak Māori. His initial reason to learn the language was to converse with him, so started his reo journey in 2009. He started Māori Mondays in May 2009 after hearing about Mahuru Māori, another Māori language initiative that encourages people to speak Maori in September.  His commitment to the language has inspired many in his community to give Te Reo a go. Manuel came onboard  the trust 4 years ago as an advisor and has stayed the course and has now taken on the role of the Chair!  Manuel brings so much mana to the Trust and empowers our team to be brave and develop their use of Te Reo and navigating into Te Ao Maori. 

Matt Keene

Matt is born and bred in Whangārei. He has a bachelor of management studies from Waikato University and is a partner in a software development company. Matt is on several not for profit boards that focus on education, the arts and skills development for young people. He has many years of experience in the development and implementation
of strategic planning for not for profits. Matt has been on many EMR school trips with his 3 daughters and has seen first hand how important and effective it is to make the education of tamariki about the environment and ecology an adventure and fun.

Eden Hakaraia

Eden has been a teacher for the past 15 years and her passions are Science and Environmental Education hence her new job with Enviroschools, Northland Regional Council. She has been an Enviroschool facilitator since 2017. Eden is working with 40 schools in Northland promoting Education for Sustainability. In 2012.  Eden had a Science Fellowship with Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust and was able to work alongside Experiencing Marine Reserves and Whitebait Connection. In 2015, she was awarded a Science Alumni award for the work she had been doing with science with a huge emphasis on Environmental Education.

Jean-Louis Ecochard

Jean-Louis grew up in France at the onset of the digital age and found in technology the vehicle to quickly convert his ideas into new ways of working that transformed our world. His incessant curiosity led him to pioneer many technologies that we now take for granted: online banking, caller ID,
internet access, global systems, B2B, digital trading, video conferencing, online advertising, and eHealth. Jean-Louis spent the last few decades pursuing his passion of creating digital innovations for good, accelerating the mission of the largest international nonprofits.
Jean-Louis now serves NetHope as Chief Innovation Officer leading The Center of the Digital Nonprofit, a social sector accelerator and the center of excellence for digital transformation in nonprofits. He resides virtually on the Internet @jecochard and physically in New Zealand where he lives sustainably with his wife and daughters, blending roles of husband, dad and visionary.

Samara Nicholas - MNZM

Samara  was  a foundation Trustee from 2002 - 2019 he was recognised in 2005 in the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree from AUT and is a graduate of Northland Polytechnic's Diploma of Environmental Management. Samara founded the Experiencing Marine Reserves programme in 2001 and the Community Guided Snorkel Days in 2004. She is also a graduate of Kamo High School where she was Head Girl and played a key role in the school’s marine reserve proposal and establishment. Samara is a PADI Dive Master and a registered assessor for unit standards in snorkelling. Samara is a contracting trustee and has responsibility for the overall management and direction of all programmes. She is also the national EMR coordinator.

Kim Jones 

Kim is the national coordinator for the Whitebait Connection Programme. She is also a Whangarei District coordinator for the EMR programme and co-founder of the Drains to Harbour campaign and Mangrove Discovery Programme. She is a graduate of the Diploma in Environmental Management and Conservation at Northland Polytechnic. Kim received the Golden Bay Cement student scholarship in 2005, which has helped fund her education and provided her with experience working within the environmental management industry. She has a National Certificate in Business Administration and Computing. Kim was a selected member of the youth delegates at the 2006 Digital Earth symposium on sustainability and is also a committee member of the New Zealand Association for Environmental Education, Northland Branch. Kim has been involved with the trust since 2005. . Kim is a contracting  trustee.

Vince Kerr

Vince is a biologist with a background in environmental education, forestry, horticulture and conservation management and currently works for his own firm Kerr & Associates, based in Northland. Vince is a strong advocate for marine conservation and played a key support role in the Kamo High School Whangarei Harbour Marine Reserve campaign. Vince is retiring from his role as our longest serving trustee in 2021 but will remain our marine advocacy adviser.