Contact The Hutton’s Shearwater Charitable Trust
Email: admin at huttonsshearwater.org.nz
Post: PO Box 58, Kaikoura 7340, New Zealand
Trustees
The Trust consists of the following Trustees.
Ted Howard, Kaikoura (Chair) 027 442 4281 huttonschair@gmail.com
Ted holds a B.Sc. in Zoology (marine ecology) from Auckland University, and moved to Kaikoura in 1998. He was a founding member and is currently Deputy Chair for Te Korowai o Te Tai o Marokura, is the Chair for the Kaikoura Zone Water Management Committee, a Kaikoura Marine Guardian, a member of the Northern Regional Biosecurity Working Group, is a past district councilor, a member of Forest and Bird, and is very active in many community roles. Ted has a lifelong interest in nature, and as a hunter, fisherman and keen observer. Ted attended early meetings around the setup of the Kaikoura Peninsula colony, and has been a strong supporter of efforts to understand Hutton’s shearwater and to reduce the significant risks to their survival. Ted currently manages the Te Rae o Atiu colony site and the technology in use there. Ted & Ailsa were awarded QSMs for services to conservation in the 2022 New Year’s Honours list.
Teri Sonal, Kaikoura
Teri is a founding member of the Tukete Charitable Trust (formerly Kaikoura Charitable Trust) which started Whale Watch Kaikoura – a multiple award winning nature tourism company which takes people by boat to see the sperm whale and other marine life found on the Kaikoura coast. Teri is the Manager of Human Resources & Training. She has been a Trustee since the Trust’s creation in 2008. She is also on the local Water Zone Committee.
Nicky McArthur, Kaikoura (Deputy Chair) 021 351 355
Nicky is the owner of Puhi Peaks Station where the Shearwater Stream colony of is located at 2,000m. This area is protected by a QEII Conservation Covenant. Nicky manages Shearwater Lodge and Kaikoura Wilderness Experience which allows her to share her passion for the environment and the Hutton’s shearwaters with visitors not only from New Zealand but right around the world. Nicky also chairs the Kaikoura Dark Sky Trust and is a member of the Kaikoura Water Zone Committee.
Gus Cooke, Kaikoura (Treasurer)
Gus owns a business in South Bay Kaikoura and is interested in contributing to conservation in many ways.
Joey Paterson (Secretary)
Joey lives and works in Kaikoura and is committed to making a difference in the environment, and has been active lyinvolved in rescuing fallout birds prior to joining the Trust.
Lorna Deppe, Blenheim (Chair of Science Committee) 021 049 1486
Lorna is a seabird scientist originating from Germany, where she predominantly studied the spatial distribution of seabirds at sea from boats and planes, before heading to New Zealand’s beautiful shores, and even further, the Chatham Islands to conduct her PhD research on endemic albatross species, tracking their whereabouts across the year using GPS and geolocation loggers. Colony based work on European sea- and shorebirds as well as New Zealand albatross and petrel species has been another vital part in Lorna’s career. Aside from obtaining academic degrees Lorna has worked as environmental consultant, research scientist and scientific advisor. She has a strong conservation background and a passion to work towards the protection of seabirds both professionally and voluntarily. She has visited to help raise Hutton’s shearwater chicks at the Kaikoura Peninsula/Te Rae o Atiu colony during translocation work in 2007 and again in 2012. Fondly following both the project as well as the Trust’s activities ever since, she has now finally found the time and capacity to once again actively engage to support the Trust’s objectives and as such the conservation of Hutton’s shearwaters.
Phil Bradfield, Blenheim
Phil is recently retired as a Biodiversity Programme Manager for the Department of Conservation (DoC) in Renwick and has extensive experience in management of endangered birds, and is directly responsible for the management of the DoC Hutton’s shearwater programme. Phil has been a Trustee since the Trust’s creation in 2008.
Ari Boyd, Kaikoura
Ari is a Te Runanga o Kaikoura representative on the Trust since 2019. Ari has been involved for many years in Hutton’s events, particularly in engaging with youth.
Ailsa Howard, Kaikoura
Ailsa holds a B.Sc. in Botany/Biography, and is the current Chair of the Kaikoura branch of Forest & Bird. Forest & Bird has opened up many opportunities for contribution to nature, including an involvement with Hutton’s shearwater which extends back to more than two years before the first translocations. She is also studying banded dotterel reproductive success around coastal Kaikoura and Facebook blogs about them regularly. Ailsa photographs under the name “Expressive Bird Photography”. Ailsa joined the Trust in December 2014. In 2022 she received a QSM for services to conservation. Her dotterel work is documented in international award winning documentary Nest 38.
Emma Williams, Christchurch
Emma has a vast ornithological background and is most well known for her research on the endangered Australasian bittern, of which only ~900 remain in New Zealand. Emma brings a fantastic set of scientific skills to the Trust and we love having her on board.
Toni Rigarlsford, Kaikoura
Toni was active on the Trust, then moved away doing conservation work in the Hauraki Gulf for several years, and is now again active on the trust since returning to South Bay. Toni is active in all aspects of trust work, organising public events and doing maintenance work at Te Rae o Atiu, and various other volunteer work.
Jemima Rodden, Kaikoura
Jemima is now the DoC representative on the Trust.
Geoff Harrow, Christchurch sadly died in 2023.
Geoff was the Trust’s founder. His passion for Hutton’s shearwater spanned nearly 5o years since he reconfirmed the “muttonbirds” breeding high in the Seaward Kaikoura mountains were indeed Hutton’s shearwaters.