Climate Change

Chris has experience across climate change science, strategy, policy, and implementation in local and central government, and the private sector. He has had an interest in climate change since the early 1990s and worked directly in the climate change field for the last 15 years. He has a PhD in climate science and has represented New Zealand at international climate change negotiations, disaster risk reduction and science panels (UN and IPCC).

Chris was involved in developing the model that is used to estimate inflows into New Zealand’s hydro-lakes and has developed other models and tools to support decision-making and provide insights into patterns and trends. He has strong networks and can support clients in all aspects of climate change across all sectors of the environment, covering both emissions and impacts. Taking innovative strategic approaches to respond to climate change is a particular strength of Chris’s.

Lisa is a strategic thinker practised in policy analysis, development, environmental planning and provision of advice, with a particular interest in the climate adaptation/planning/risk management interface. Lisa has led adaptation work at national and regional levels, including technical work, methodology and policy development as well as engagement with a range of stakeholders, including iwi/Māori, businesses, the local community and technical experts. She is well-connected within the Aotearoa climate adaptation space and is passionate about helping to increase adaptation skills and expertise across the private and public sectors. Lisa is PDP’s primary contact for climate adaptation work.

Akuhata (Te Arawa, Tūwharetoa) is a climate change adaptation specialist with a background in coastal hazards, sea level rise, coastal geomorphology, adaptation and managed retreat.

A key focus of his work is bridging Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) and mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) with western science, to understand how iwi Māori can adapt and respond to climate change impacts.

Alida is an Environmental Engineer in our Christchurch team. With a B Eng (Honours) in Chemical & Process Engineering, she has diverse experience across many air quality, three waters and resource consent projects.

Alida’s key career focus has grown into emissions estimation and reductions planning. Her journey started by volunteering to build PDPs own inhouse operational greenhouse gas inventory tools. This followed with assisting PDP to improve their data collection systems for greenhouse data inputs, and assisting in drafting the Emissions Reductions Strategy which informs the wider PDP sustainability initiatives to reduce the company footprint. 

Alida’s engineering background means that all reduction optioneering undertaken for clients naturally includes a feasibility and cost efficacy estimate. Alida is a passionate member of our Sustainability Committee and leads many internal PDP initiatives around sustainability. 

David is an Environmental Engineer with over 30 years of consulting experience in environmental management, contaminated land assessment and remediation, resource consent applications, consent compliance management, and project delivery. 

David’s expertise and experience encompass property pre-purchase and pre-sale environmental and consenting due diligence; environmental approvals and site assessments for infrastructure development; asset management compliance monitoring and environmental auditing; soil, groundwater and air contamination investigation and risk assessment (human health and environmental); risk-based assessment and management of environmental effects; environmental asset inventories; environmental monitoring field work scoping, Safety management, quality control, and coordination; risk-based contamination management option prioritisation and selection; remediation system design and implementation; environmental management support for facility closure and decommissioning; and effective project management including coordinating multi-disciplinary project teams.

David works closely with PDP’s Geospatial and Remote Sensing teams developing environmental data acquisition, analysis and communication solutions for clients to enhance project efficiency, safety and quality.

Shari (Ngāti Maru, Te Rarawa) is a coastal scientist with broad national and international experience in interdisciplinary projects focused on the coast. This includes coastal hazards such as flooding and sea level rise impacts, geomorphology and morphodynamics, estuarine processes and restoration, and more recently, blue carbon in restored coastal wetlands. A key focus of her work is bridging Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) and mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) with western science, to understand coastal dynamics and plan for climate change.

Shari also works as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Science at the University of Waikato, is Co-Chair of Women in Coastal Science & Engineering (WICGE), and is Associate Editor for Anthropocene Coasts.

Tristan has over 20 years of experience as an Environmental Engineer working across a variety of sectors including process engineering, water, solid waste, contaminated land management and, most recently energy and international development. Tristan joined PDP in 2013 as a contaminated land expert, leading site investigation, remediation, validation, risk assessment and long-term management work covering a wide range of contaminants and land uses, along with associated planning activities (preparation of an assessment of environmental effects and resource consent applications). Tristan led the development of PDP’s services around asbestos, helping significant national clients manage human health risk and comply with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016. 

Since mid-2018 Tristan has been based in Vientiane, Lao PDR, managing the New Zealand-ASEAN Renewable Energy Facility funded by the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Over 5 years the Facility has supported the Government of Lao PDR across a range of activities including developing an energy planning, dam safety, energy efficiency and power system operation. The Facility has also recently commenced work in Cambodia where energy demand is increasing rapidly and there are opportunities (and challenges) for RE to meet this demand.

Kaeli is an environmental geologist with a keen interest in the intersection of geology and environmental conservation. Kaeli is committed to leveraging geologic insights to address pressing environmental concerns and contributing to a more sustainable future.

Kaeli holds a master's degree in geology with a specialised focus on the climate change of the late Holocene. Her research delved into the past to glean insights for the future, shedding light on southern New Zealand’s climatic history and utilising historical data to inform contemporary environmental challenges.

Kaeli specialises in conducting contaminated site investigations (with a particular focus on PFAS, petroleum, and timber treatment contamination management), surface water and groundwater quality assessments, and carbon sequestration monitoring.  Kaeli has a keen interest in exploring the benefits of blue carbon, delving into the critical role of coastal ecosystems in sequestering carbon.