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We have assembled a diverse and talented Science Team to deliver our Murihiku ki Te Tonga (MKTT) Research & Monitoring Programme. Our Science Team is supported by the MKTT Programme Director Riki Nicholas, Special Oceans Envoy Stuart Prior, and Strategy Advisor Mike Shatford (see Main Team page). We work together with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury as well as a range of international partners.
Prof Michael Stevens - MKTT Science Director
Prof Michael Stevens delivering his keynote address as part of the official launch of Murihiku ki Te Tonga at the international SCAR conference in Christchurch on 03 August, 2023. Photo: R. Eisert
Prof Michael Stevens was appointed the Director of the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre in September 2024.
Mike is a Ngāi Tahu historian who grew up in Bluff. He and his whānau are stalwarts of the annual tītī (muttonbird) harvest and are well-known for maintaining he mahi pōhā: kelp receptacles that hold preserved tītī.
Mike has published widely on Ngāi Tahu history, in recent years through his work with the Ngāi Tahu Archive at Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. Long involved with Te Rau Aroha Marae and Te Rūnaka o Awarua, he is the Alternate Representative for the latter to Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.
Dr Regina Eisert - MKTT Chief Scientist
Prof Michael Stevens, Dr Regina Eisert, and Tā Tipene O’Regan at the 2023 SCAR Conference in Christchurch. Photo: LS PeckStarting with her PhD research at Lincoln University, Regina has been carrying out research on marine mammals in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica since 1996. She is a member of both Antarctic national committees, the Royal Society Te Apārangi National Committee on Antarctic Sciences and the Antarctic Working Group convened by the Ministry of Primary Industries. She established the Top Predator Alliance (TPA) programme in 2013 to fill critical knowledge gaps for marine mammals, birds and their prey, and support the specific objectives of the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area. In 2020, Regina set up Kosatka Consulting Ltd. to offer advice on scientific strategy and international cooperation in research, science and innovation.
New Zealand Team
Colin Aitchison flying his drone in the Antarctic on board of the Heritage Adventurer. Photo: R. EisertColin Aitchison (SkyWorks UAS)
Colin is the Director of SkyWorks UAS Ltd. and a CAA Part 102 certified, professional drone operator based in Picton & Blenheim. He combines award-winning videography skills with the ability to complete professional aerial surveying using a range of sensor modalities, providing cutting-edge capabilities to support MKTT research & monitoring. Colin has participated in two expeditions to the Ross Sea, where he completed a high-resolution aerial survey of the largest Adélie penguin colony in the region at Cape Adare. He also mapped the Enderby Island archaeological site using visual, thermal and multispectral cameras to support a long-standing Ngāi Tahu research programme on early Polynesian voyages to the Subantarctic Islands.
Brian Bell (Compass Innovation Advisors)
Before Brian became the CEO & Founder Compass Innovation Advisors, he held a wide range of roles in Innovation Management. He is the founder of two Innovation Labs, transformed traffic cameras into weather network, built the first vehicle-based weather network, built the National Mesonet Program, visionary of a “smart orchard” system, named inventor on two patents, received two Small Business Innovation Research Awards, and secured a Callahan Innovation Research Grant. Brian is supporting the Team using his excellence in innovation programme management as well as technical expertise in cutting-edge solutions for remote sensing using satellites, drones, and artifical intelligence.
Rewi Davis
Rewi Davis (Ōraka-Aparima) visited the Ross Sea and the Scott Base Pou in February 2024. Photo: MRTe Ao Tūroa Environmental Pou Workstream Lead
Born In Riverton to Bill and Jane Davis, Rewi grew up attending the Tītī Islands seasonally and fishing out of Bluff as a young man. In March 1976, Rewi joined the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry starting the first job in Big Glory Bay Rakiura on the American Drilling Rig Penrod 74. He spent the next 40yrs traveling and working globally, working his way up through the ranks from Deck Roustabout to Offshore Drilling Superintendent in charge of the Rig. He worked in the position of Shore Based Operations Manager for offshore drilling rigs in various countries followed by the role of Assistant Area Manager for Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. In the latter years, Rewi worked as a Drilling Consultant for various International Petroleum Companies. Rewi led the February 2024 MKTT expedition to the Subantarctics and the Ross Sea region (MRAQ24B), including a visit to the Scott Base Pou Whenua.
Dr Sophie Mormede (SoFish Consulting)
Prior to estabishing herself as an independent consultant, Sophie worked as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and as a Fisheries Modeller for NIWA. Sophie develops population models for stock assessment purposes, spatial and multispecies models to investigate ecosystem effects of fishing, risk assessment models and bioregionalisation work to inform spatial management. Her work involves methods development to answer specific management questions and has focussed on Antarctic toothfish in the Ross Sea region, the MPA, the Tongan deepwater fishery and whole-of-ecosystem modelling in the Tasman Bay-Golden Bay area.
Dr Sophie Mormede (second from left) with the first haul of Antarctic toothfish after the species was thought to have disappeared from McMurdo Sound in 2015. Photo: TPA
Dr Jan Noordhof (Jan Noordhof Consulting)
Jan, now an independent consultant based in Christchurch, was Principal Consultant for Tait Communications (Americas) specializing in technical solutions for public safety, utilities, mining, and oil&gas sectors. Previous roles at Tait included Vice President Product Marketing, Vice President of Sales Engineering and Marketing at Tait Radio Communications Ltd (responsible for Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and Indian Sub-continent) and was in charge of bringing Tait’s APCO Project 25 system product to the global market, He has been previously involved in a variety of R&D and product engineering roles in radio infrastructure development. Prior to joining Tait, Jan has worked in TETRA development, software engineering, systems programming, telecommunications, embedded system design, and teaching at a number of universities. He supports the team with expertise in engineering, telecommunications, and management of large-scale, complex R&D projects.
Anthony ‘Antz’ Powell at the South Pole. Photo: Antzworks LtdAnthony Powell (Antzworks)
Anthony (‘Antz’) is a true Antarctic veteran who evolved from telecommunications expert looking after critical satellite infrastructure throughout the Antarctic winter to an award-winning film director and producer of documentaries. Through his company Antzworks Ltd., he provides cinematographic and drone services as well as Antarctic expertise for planning and supporting expeditions. He designs and fabricates original multimedia equipment for Antarctic research that can operate under some of the harshest conditions on the planet, including underwater cameras and acoustics. Antz is the official videographer for the New Zealand Antarctic Programme, Antarctica New Zealand. For MKTT, Antz provides invaluable advice on Antarctic field equipment and logistics, and expands our understanding of marine mammals, birds and fish through his custom-made solutions for research.
Dr Ben Sharp (Corvid North Consulting)
As New Zealand Scientific Committee Representative to CCAMLR and Antarctic Working Group Chair, Ben was the primary architect of the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area (MPA) from 2005 to the adoption of the MPA in October 2016. During this time, he developed novel methodologies for marine spatial management and mitigation of threats to marine birds and mammals. Ben contributes unparalleled knowledge of the MPA, its design, and the international dimension of marine conservation in the Southern Ocean. He has completed several expeditions to the Ross Sea to study Antarctic toothfish and killer whales.
Dr Ben Sharp (far left) with the TPA Team in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica. Photo: I. Visser/TPA
Michael Skerrett (Upoko Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc.)
From Waihopai/Invercargill, Michael’s family can be traced back more than 800 years in Murihiku. Michael has dedicated his life to Murihiku Māori, and is passionate about protecting the future of Ngāi Tahu. He has served Ngāi Tahu as Upoko, Rūnanga Chairperson, Te Rūnanga representative, and was the founding Manager of Te Ao Marama environmental service agency. In 2013 Michael was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for services to Māori and he became an Honorary SIT Fellow in 2014. Michael has particular expertise in the ecology and traditional harvest of tītī - muttonbirds.
Captain Andy Smith (High Seas Fishing Group)
Captain Andy Smith. Photo: supplied
Our key commercial expert, Andy has almost 50 years of experience in the fishing industry and participates in major international fisheries science & policy fora (e.g., CCAMLR). Andy ensures that our research is relevant to sector priorities and contributes decades of experience of fishing in the Subantarctic and Southern Ocean, including the Ross Sea.
International Partners & Advisors
Prof Lloyd Peck, FRS (British Antarctic Survey)
Prof Lloyd Peck, FRS. Photo: The Royal Society of LondonLloyd is a leading global expert on climate change in polar marine ecosystems, a field he has significantly advanced over the last three decades. In 2024, Lloyd was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society London in recognition of his achievements. In addition to his position as Science Leader at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), he is a Fellow of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professor at Portsmouth and Sunderland Universities. Lloyd acts as mentor and primary contact at BAS, whose scientists are at the forefront of remote sensing and monitoring of marine predators as ecosystem indicators.
Dr Andrew Wright (USA & Canada)
Dr Andrew Wright. Photo: supplied by Andrew
Andrew is a marine acoustician studying cetaceans (whales and dolphins) in polar and temperate regions, with particular expertise in conservation management, the science-policy interface, regulatory and legal frameworks, science communication, and the use of drones in whale research. He has recently completed a successful work programme on critically endangered northern right whales (tohorā) for the Canadian Government (DFO). He has particular expertise in the acoustics of parāoa/sperm whales, and has participated in several expeditions to the Ross Sea for research on killer whales. He is an Adjunct at George Mason University, MD, USA.