NZAIA CORE GROUP 

​The Core Group meets on a monthly basis via teleconferencing to discuss and implement NZAIA business.
​All Core Group members are volunteers. 

Richard Morgan - Chair 

Sophal Chhun - Secretary 
Richard is Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of Otago, Dunedin, and the current chair of NZAIA. Although he began his career as a biogeographer, investigating human impacts on soil and vegetation systems, he soon developed an interest in impact assessment in the early 1980s, and this became his main research focus following the enactment of the Resource Management Act 1991. Richard’s research addresses issues around improving the quality and effectiveness of IA, both through institutional change and better practice,  across all forms of assessment, from ecological to social, cultural, and health,  through to strategic environmental assessment and regulatory impact assessment. He has published extensively on impact assessment, including an international textbook. Currently a trainer on IAIA’s online EIA course, Richard has also run training sessions at a number of IAIA conferences, and for SPREP in various countries in Asia-Pacific region, as well as training courses within New Zealand. Richard was President of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) in 2003-5.
Sophal Chhun is a socio-ecological researcher and impact assessment practitioner with over 10 years’ experience from both regulatory and consulting perspectives.  He has completed more than 50 consultancy projects in Cambodia on environmental and social impact assessment for consents/approvals and developed mitigation guidelines and safeguard plans for several international development projects.  As an ecological economist by training, Sophal has advocated integrating environmental valuation into impact assessment for decision-making support and using economic instruments for environmental policy (including payment for ecosystem services and pollution taxes).  He is an Independent Consultant, Consulting Partner at CES Co. Ltd., and Guest Lecturer of environmental impact assessment at Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).
 
Sophal with his wife and three children migrated to New Zealand in 2019.  He was a Senior Policy Analyst, science policy at NZ Ministry for Primary Industries. With a passion for research and impact assessment, Sophal has joined and taken a role as a Core Group Member and Secretary of NZAIA.  He has recently been accredited as a Certified Environmental Practitioner (CEnvP).  

Andrew Crosland - Treaurer

Andrew Crosland has been interested in the effectiveness of impact assessment since taking papers by Richard Morgan while at the University of Otago.

Andrew had 15 years experience as an environmental planner at councils, MfE and the EPA. While no longer working in the field of environmental impact assessment, Andrew is enjoying the challenge of applying impact assessment methodology to regulatory stewardship. 

Membership of NZAIA is a great way to keep up to date with the practice and community of the Impact Assessment profession. 

Nick Taylor 

Nick is a specialist in SIA. As a school leaver VSA in Sarawak seeing native forest logging expand, he was drawn to an interest in people and the environment, studying geography and anthropology at Otago and resource management at the Joint Centre for Environmental Sciences.  His PhD at Canterbury investigated the impacts of NZ agricultural development projects in the Cook Islands, expanding an interest in how projects are designed and implemented, often with inadequate consideration of their cultural and social implications.

​Convinced about the need to integrate environmental and social perspectives, Nick was drawn to the Centre for Resource Management at Lincoln University, where the late Dr John Hayward led what we would now call a strategic investigation of the impacts of large scale mining of lignite for synthetic fuels.  No, it didn’t proceed.  But Nick got involved in developing capacity and training in SIA and went on, with James Baines, to form a consulting firm doing SIA and environmental research.  Nick was President of the IAIA from 2008-11 and in recent years led the course on EIA at Lincoln.

Keith Finlayson

Terry Calmeyer
Keith Finlayson was drawn to impact assessment after undertaking Richard Morgan's Impact Assessment paper for an Environmental Management course at the University of Otago. The paper introduced the impact assessment concept, with particular focus on prior planning or risk avoidance aspects which struck Keith as a particularly powerful concept to improve projects at a crucial early stage. During the paper various complexities were also illustrated including things like meaningful consultation, pressures to develop for job creation, and how to value the environment and the risks / benefits involved.

​Being a part of NZAIA allows Keith to work with experts in the field, be involved in challenges of running a volunteer organisation and promoting IA wherever it is applicable for the benefits of the environment and society. Keith currently works as a Land Sustainability Officer at the Southland Regional Council.
After over 25 years of consulting in the environmental management sector in Southern Africa Terry moved to New Zealand to take up a position at the Environmental Protection Authority in January 2020. Her skills are founded on a Masters degree in Geography (Environment and Society) from the University of Pretoria and she is experienced in undertaking environmental impact assessments for large infrastructure projects in the water, transport and energy sectors.  In South Africa, Terry was actively involved in IAIA as well as the South African affiliate of IAIA that she was president of in 2012 – 2013.
 
Terry is currently a Principal Advisor in the Land and Oceans Applications team at the Environmental Protection Authority. This team is responsible for processing applications for consents for offshore activities as well as Nationally Significant Proposals.

Kate McNab

Gillian Stewart
Kate McNab is an Environmental & Resource Planner at the Christchurch City Council, assisting with the delivery of Council's Capital Programme. Kate was drawn to impact assessment after taking Nick Taylor's course at Lincoln University, and became part of NZAIA after being the recipient of a conference scholarship.

Kate maintains the website for NZAIA and edits the monthly E-News that gets sent to members. She enjoys editing the E-News as a way to stay on top news and research relevant for the impact assessment profession and her role as a planner. Kate values the mentorship and mutual learning that takes place between the younger and the more experienced members of NZAIA, and the diverse perspectives within the organisation.  

Dyanna Jolly

Iresh Jayawardena

Dr. Iresh Jayawardena is a lecturer in Planning at the University of Auckland. Iresh's planning experience spans academic, industry and international contexts in both New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Following completion of his PhD at the University of Auckland in 2018, Iresh worked as a practical planner at Auckland Council in a variety of roles across departments including Resource Consents, Healthy Waters and Plans & Places. There Iresh has worked towards better freshwater management outcomes by providing planning and technical advice related to structure planning, plan changes and planning inputs through the current Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP). Iresh was also seconded to Plans & Places as part of the team leading a six-yearly review of the efficiency and effectiveness of the AUP related to planning and freshwater management. Before coming to New Zealand in 2013, Iresh worked as a Lecturer in Planning at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka (2007 – 2013).

Rajan Chandra Ghosh 
"Silent" core group members

Hamish Rennie
Associate Professor, Lincoln University
​Katherine Russell 
​Independent consultant
Michael Mackay
Senior social scientist, AgResearch
James Baines
Director, Taylor Baines Associates
Ian Boothroyd
Senior Principal, BoffaMiskell
Rob Greenaway
Director, Rob Greenaway and Associates
Gerard Fitzgerald
Director, Fitzgerald Applied Sociology
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