Bob Dickson
Area manager. Buller / Kawatiri
Bob leads a team of 26 permanent staff based at three geographical sites (Punakaiki, Westport and Karamea) and is responsible for delivering programmes focused on species protection, pest control, visitor information, recreation services and concession opportunities.

Julie Geritzlehner
Biodiversity ranger
Buller / Kawatiri, Westport
Julie works in a team of seven people who undertake the management of threatened species and ecosystems on the West Coast.

Rebecca Gibson
Community relations ranger
Rebecca’s work focuses on education initiatives and liaison with community groups and organisations. She has previously worked as a tour guide for ecotourism operators both here and overseas.

Jim Livingstone
Programme manager, biodiversity
Jim’s work involves managing biodiversity assets and biodiversity threats. He has worked in the Rowi Recovery Programme, weed control programme, animal pest control, wetland monitoring, freshwater fish monitoring and marine mammal programme. His work includes Compliance and Law Enforcement and Fire Control programmes for the area and community relations and public awareness responsibilities.

Dr Jane Marshall
Technical support officer, terrestrial plant ecology
Jane provides technical advice to DOC on issues relating to plant ecology on public conservation land and at times on freehold land. This includes a range of botanical issues from restoration and revegetation plans, threatened species management and assessments of biodiversity values.

Tim Shaw
Technical support officer, terrestrial fauna
Tim provides planning and strategic advice on DOC’s terrestrial fauna projects in the West Coast conservancy including its rowi, whio and mohua programmes.

Henk Stengs
Biodiversity ranger
Henk is responsible for taking fish, bird and wetland surveys for the West Coast. Additional work includes plant conservation, RM A assessments, ecological assessments of private land and public education.

Kelly Stevens
Concessions and statutory land manager
Kelly manages DO C’s Concessions and SLM team, providing support and advice on issues and best practice in concessions and statutory land management. DOC currently manages over 450 concessions within the West Coast Tai Poutini Conservancy.

Andrea Forrest
General Manager, Shantytown
www.shantytown.co.nz
Andrea is a relative newcomer to the tourism industry having commenced with Shantytown in 2006. Challenges for the iconic visitor destination include the tension between tourism and its museum roots, embarking on a journey of change through re-branding, re-theming and the introduction of interactive visitor experiences.

Matt Lysaght
Managing director, Kea Heritage Tours
www.keatours.co.nz
Matt is a passionate advocate for the South Island’s West Coast, particularly its awesome landforms, resilient yet relaxed lifestyle and the strong character of its people. Along with running a successful West Coast-based tour company, he is also a representative of the Shantytown board.

Peter Morrison
Marketing consultant
Peter has 20 years’ experience as an independent consultant in marketing and business development around New Zealand, with a focus on tourism promotion. Peter lives at Greymouth where he is actively involved in local tourism.

David Stapleton
David is descended from four families who arrived in Hokitika in the 1860s West Coast Gold Rushes, and grew up in Hokitika before attaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography and Economics at Canterbury University. West Coast history is one of David’s strong interests and he is a founding member of Heritage Hokitika, Greymouth Heritage Trust and Heritage West Coast.

Kerry-Jayne Wilson
Senior lecturer in ecology, Lincoln University
Kerry-Jayne has had a lifelong fascination with nature and for almost 40 years has carried out conservation-related research on birds. She has mostly worked in New Zealand but also in Canada, Antarctica, the Southern Ocean, Mongolia, the Cook Islands, Sarawak and Indonesia. Kerry-Jayne recently retired after 23 years lecturing in ecology and conservation at Lincoln University. She now lives in Charleston where she is writing another book and undertaking research on penguins and other West Coast seabirds. Kerry-Jayne wrote the book ‘Flight of the Huia’ which describes the evolution, ecology and conservation of New Zealand’s vertebrates and she compiles the annual State of New Zealand’s Birds reports.

Les Wright
Historian
After an early career in radio, newspapers and television, Les now works mostly as an historian gathering and retelling West Coast stories. Gold mining is his particular interest and he has written several books on the subject. Les is a heritage adviser for Oceana Gold Limited, identifying and cataloguing relics excavated at the Globe Hill opencast gold mine near Reefton. He is also a director and guide for Green Kiwi Tours at Punakaiki where he lives in his ‘home-made’ house near the sea.

Zane Smith
Ecotourism operator
Zane has worked in tourism for 18 years, specialising in the adventure and ecotourism sectors. He started his first ecotourism business in 1997 and today operates an accommodation business and ecotourism guiding company, both based at Punakaiki in the Paparoa National Park.

Bridgit Young
Ecotourism guide
Bridgit has a degree in Physical Education from Otago University and certificates in Outdoor Recreation and Advanced Leadership and Guiding from Tai Poutini Polytechnic. She has worked as a sea kayak guide and outdoor instructor in Australia and NZ. Bridgit is passionate about educating and encouraging others to explore our natural environment in sustainable ways.