As the inaugural programme coordinator for TMBC, Andrew played a critical role in setting up and establish TMBC's long term direction.
Andrew is a kiwifruit grower and a specialist biosecurity consultant who sits on several local and national boards. He previously managed the Psa and biosecurity programme for Kiwifruit Vine Health, led national pest management efforts as a senior manager within the Ministry for Primary Industries and worked in biosecurity and biodiversity protection for the Department of Conservation.
Andrew is passionate about working with communities for the protection of Tauranga Moana. He aims to ensure biosecurity is personally relevant and we are all taking action - as individuals, as local community members and as part of the team of 4.7 million New Zealanders.
Barry O'Neil is a kiwifruit grower in Katikati. He is the Chair of Horticulture NZ, and of Tomatoes NZ, and sits on the board of the Food and Fibre Partnership Group and Leadership Forum.
He recently concluded his time as Chair of the kauri dieback independent review panel and was a founding director of Our Biological Heritage National Science challenge. He has had a long career involving biosecurity, including being the head of MAF’s Biosecurity New Zealand, and more recently as Chief Executive of Kiwifruit Vine Health, the kiwifruit biosecurity organisation that led the response to Psa.
Plant & Food Research - Science Group Leader + Co-Chair
Dr Beccy Ganley
Dr Beccy Ganley
Dr Ganley's research has dealt with understanding and finding solutions to diseases that are problematic for commercially produced, urban and native trees.
Most recently, she has been intensively involved in the incursion response to myrtle rust and research for long-term management.
Bill works as a knowledge broker for the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge where his main task is to share the knowledge developed in the challenge with key stakeholders.
The approach that the Biological Heritage is taking to reverse the decline of biosecurity and biodiversity is completely different from traditional approaches, as it brings end-users and scientists together in the design process and ensures a strong iwi perspective.
Bill has previously held roles with the New Zealand Forest Owners Association as their biosecurity manager and also manages a funding scheme called Envirolink to transfer knowledge from university science to regional councils.
Brad manages the day-to-day of the NZ Avocado Primary Growth Partnership programme: NZ Avocados Go Global. He works to ensure the industry has a well considered biosecurity plan to protect the New Zealand avocado industry.
Carlton has an extensive background of iwi and hapū representation across a diverse range of institutions. He brings a wealth of cultural knowledge to the table as a mediator and negotiator of national and regional issues on behalf of Māoridom.
Specialising in environmental management, with an intimate knowledge of the Kaimai forest range and its conservation concerns, Carlton has been an iwi representative to the Department of Conservation (DOC) for 15 years, gaining the confidence of iwi and hapū to speak on high level conservation issues.
Carlton is a founding member and current chair of Manaaki Te Awanui Environmental Research and Development Trust, which conducts major cross-cultural research and restoration projects in the Tauranga Harbour and surrounding catchments.
Marine ecologist and environmental scientist, Professor Chris Battershill, is the director of the University of Waikato’s Coastal Marine Field Station in Tauranga.
The field station is now a nationally significant centre of excellence for coastal and marine research, with numerous masters and doctoral students working on projects spanning the use of the harbour by sharks and rays, to marine biodiscovers of agricultural pathogen remedies. Researchers currently work in collaboration with industry, government agencies and crown research institutes across areas that include biosecurity, coastal sustainability, ecology and agri-science.
Chris' early interest in biodiversity and aquaculture was matched by his interest in medicine and he has worked in both fields simultaneously, exploring medicinal leads (anti-tumour) from marine organisms. His career has also covered marine biotechnology, conservation and aquaculture.
Jeff Milham is the District Manager for Te Papa Atawhai (Department of Conservation), based in Tauranga, where he's been working for the past 12 years.
Prior to this, he worked for the Whanganui Regional Tourism Organisation, in the city he grew up in. Straight out of high school he spent a year working and travelling in Europe, before returning to Aotearoa and starting four years at the University of Otago where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing and Management) and a Post-Grad Diploma in Tourism.
Graeme is chair of TMBC and a director of Kiwifruit Vine Health. He has also been the chair of the Biosecurity Ministerial Advisory Committee and member of the Biosecurity 2025 Steering Group. He is currently a director of Port Taranaki and is on the governance board of the economic development group, Bay of Connections.
During his tenure as Port of Tauranga commercial manager, his portfolio included management of cruise, bulk, break-bulk container operations, marine and security. He has worked in ports since 1978, including as general manager at the Port of Napier. Having chaired Tourism Bay of Plenty, Cruise NZ and been a director of New Zealand’s largest transitional facility, he has extensive knowledge and understanding of biosecurity risk pathways.
He is passionate about biosecurity and a strong advocate for the Ko Tātou This is Us campaign.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council - Biosecurity Manager
Greg Corbett
Greg Corbett
Greg is Biosecurity Manager for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council leading a team 15 biosecurity officers, including a dedicated biosecurity dive team.
Starting with the old Agricultural Pest Destruction Boards in the 1980’s, he has worked in biosecurity and pest management for most of his working life with a focus on pest animals. He has been with the regional council since 1995 and held several different roles including Tb vector manager when Council supported OSPRI’s predecessor, the Animal Health Board, with managing possums and other Tb vectors.
Greg's team focuses on working with landowners to deliver the Bay of Plenty Regional Pest Management Plan and supporting our regional communities with pest projects.
Prior to joining the Trevelyan family business in 1990, James trained and worked as a professional engineer. James and his wife Vicki also own a kiwifruit orchard in Te Puke.
Kiwifruit and avocado growers across the Bay of Plenty have relied on Trevelyan’s to provide world-class packing and fruit storage facilities for nearly 40 years. Trevelyan’s operates four export packhouses, one local market packhouse and 33 state-of-the-art coolstores in Te Puke. These facilities employ up to 1600 people at the height of the season.
Like many other New Zealand kiwifruit businesses, Trevelyan’s felt the pain of the devastating Psa incursion in late 2010 and continues to live with it today. The business has relied on a process of continuous improvement, transparency, and biosecurity developments to see it through those tough years.
Biosecurity New Zealand - Team Manager Engagement Programmes, Partnerships & Engagement
Jo Darby
Jo Darby
Jo has recently joined Biosecurity New Zealand’s newly established Partnership & Engagement Team. TMBC will remain one of Jo’s priority engagement programmes as well looking at how we extend biosecurity collaborations into other regions. Jo’s team will also deliver engagement and communication programmes for some of Biosecurity New Zealand’s long term pest management programmes and supports the Biosecurity Business Pledge programme.
Prior to this role Jo was the senior engagement advisor for the Biosecurity Ko Tātou This Is Us programme, leading the biosecurity engagement programmes. In this role, Jo launched the independent biosecurity brand, championed the building of a biosecurity team of all New Zealanders, and developed strategic events including the NZ Biosecurity Awards programme.Prior to joining MPI, Jo was the Director of Conventions and Events at Wellington Venues, where she led a strategy and team to turn business events into a commercially successful sales model and to make Wellington region wildly famous as a place to host events and grow the region’s economy.
Prior to this Jo worked at the communications consultancy agency Acumen as the Group Account Director responsible for leading the national events team.
Western Bay of Plenty Distrcit Council - Senior Policy Analyst
Liesel Carnie
Liesel Carnie
Liesel is the Community Outcomes Advisor for the Natural Environment in the Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s Community and Strategic Relationships Team, which works to build community capacity and support community-led programmes and projects. Much of Liesel’s focus is to support community led development around pest control and conservation. Liesel has worked in various council and community roles focusing on environmental behaviour change, education and advocacy both regionally and locally. With five years working in the community for the environment, Liesel is passionate about preventing further environmental issues for the district by supporting the development of a biosecurity conscious community.
Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital - Programme & Events Manager
Lisa Cowan
Lisa Cowan
Lisa has worked in a number of PA, business admin and health & safety roles in the UK and New Zealand and brings the skills and experience TMBC needs to coordinate and manage our busy programme of events, workshops and training sessions. Lisa works part time for TMBC and lives locally in Pāpāmoa with her son Luca.
Biosecurity New Zealand - Manager Partnership & Engagement
Tim Fraser
Zespri - NZ Government & Regulatory Affairs Manager
Annabelle Robb
Annabelle Robb
Zespri is the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, accounting for about one third of global kiwifruit trade. Zespri is 100 percent owned by current and former kiwifruit growers and has a global team of more than 800 based in Mount Maunganui and throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas. Our purpose is to help people, communities and the environment around the world thrive through the goodness of kiwifruit, and we work with 2,800 growers in New Zealand and 1,500 growers offshore to provide consumers with fresh, healthy and great-tasting Zespri™ Green, RubyRed™ and SunGold™ Kiwifruit. In 2021/22, Zespri supplied over 200 million trays of kiwifruit to consumers in more than 50 markets, and recorded global operating revenue of NZ$4.47 billion.
Annabelle joined Zespri as Senior Legal Advisor in 2020. Following a secondment to the External Relations team in 2021, she is now Zespri’s New Zealand Government & Regulatory Affairs Manager, as part of the Global Public Affairs team. Annabelle and her team have primary responsibility for all regulatory, policy, government engagement and trade issues, as well as Zespri’s community investment programme. Annabelle has held various legal roles in private practice and in-house between New Zealand and Europe over the past 10 years, including at Russell McVeagh, Spark New Zealand and global pharmaceutical company Reckitt Benckiser, LLC. She particularly enjoys working within purpose-driven companies and is really pleased to represent Zespri in this external facing role within New Zealand’s primary industries, based in the Bay of Plenty.
Biosecurity New Zealand - Chief Biosecurity Officer
Stu Hutchings
Stu Hutchings
Stu trained as a veterinarian and owned a mixed practice in the Central North Island for a significant part of his career. During this time, his passion for disease management at a population level developed. In 2010 he left the practice and became the National Programme Manager for the Bovine TB Eradication Programme based in Wellington for OSPRI. He held various other roles within the organisation including Operations Manager and Acting Chief Executive.
In 2018, Stu shifted to Mount Maunganui to become Chief Executive of Kiwifruit Vine Health, where he has oversight of the management of Psa and wider biosecurity on behalf of the Kiwifruit Industry.
He has also played a key role in the Government Industry Agreement (GIA) readiness and response programme chairing fruit fly council, Plant Biosecurity Council and the GIA stakeholder Deed Governance Group. He has a huge passion for raising awareness of biosecurity across all sectors of the community, and in 2021 started a new role as the Chief Biosecurity Adviser at Biosecurity New Zealand.
Leanne is the Chief Executive at Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH) and joined the team in May 2021, relocating to Tauranga Moana from Wellington. Prior to taking up the KVH role, Leanne was Deputy Chief Executive at Horticulture New Zealand and General Manager Process Vegetables New Zealand. She has had previous roles at the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) working in areas of import regulation and international plant protection.
Leanne is experienced in management of biosecurity risks, having worked in plant health, government, international, and industry organisations. She has held responsibility for biosecurity, food safety, and regulatory portfolios, and has very strong relationships with MPI and industry groups across New Zealand.
Nicole started her Biosecurity career at the border for MPI, then returned to the Bay to continue Biosecurity work in the Kiwifruit industry and now works for AsureQuality in their Biosecurity Team.
Nicole has over 10 years’ experience in Biosecurity ranging from Imports and Exports, liaison with Government and Community Stakeholders, engagement with Contractors and delivering Response and Surveillance programmes. This range of experience gives Nicole a broad technical and empathetic approach to her work.
After holding the role of Warranted Livestock Officer and Quarantine Officer with MAF for 12 years at the Ruakura Agricultural Centre, Richard started his Biosecurity career in 2001 with AgriQuality/AsureQuality as National Service Manager.
His first Response operational role was in managing the surveillance and aerial spray application over parts of Hamilton city during the Asian Gypsy Moth response. Since then, Richard has held operational management roles in multiple pest incursion responses involving many pest species ranging from localised pest responses to several fruit fly incursions and Mycoplasma Bovis.
Outside of response work Richard works within the AsureQuality Biosecurity preparedness team. This team draws on sector and community wide experience, and relationships aiming to grow, refine and maintain biosecurity response capability and capacity.