The Environmental Risk Management Authority (the Authority) was established under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act 1996.
The Authority's main role is to make decisions on applications to import, develop, or field test new organisms; or to import or manufacture hazardous substances in New Zealand.
The Authority is the decision making body and consists of up to eight members appointed by the Minister for the Environment. They are:
Richard Woods CNZM, MA, Chair
Richard
Woods was appointed to the Authority as its Chair with effect
from April 2008. He is also New Zealand Chair of the New
Zealand-France Friendship Fund.
From 1999-2006 Richard was Director (CEO) of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service. In his previous diplomatic career he served as Ambassador in Tehran, Athens, Moscow and Paris (where he was also Permanent Representative to the OECD). At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Wellington he served as Director for Middle East and Africa and as Director of External Aid. He was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007.
Max Suckling BSc(Hons), PhD
Max
Suckling was appointed to the Authority in February 2003, to the
position of Chair of the New Organisms Committee from July 2004,
and to the position of Deputy Chair in April 2008.
Max is an insect ecologist with 20 years experience in research and research management and is a past President of the New Zealand Plant Protection Society. He completed his PhD in entomology in 1983 at Lincoln University, following completion of a post-graduate diploma in Biotechnology (1980) and a BSc (Honours) in Zoology at Massey University (1978).
He joined DSIR in 1983, and has worked for HortResearch since it was formed in 1992, where he has contributed extensively to the development of sustainable methods for horticultural production in New Zealand. In November 2003, he was made Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in recognition of his significant scientific leadership on biosecurity matters. Max is also a recipient of the New Zealand 1990 Commemorative Medal for Excellence in Science.
Manuka Henare BA(Hons), PhD (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa people of Tai Tokerau)
Manuka Henare was appointed to the Authority in January 2003, and to the position of Chair of the Audit Committee in May 2004.
Manuka has a doctorate in Māori Studies and is currently the Associate Dean of Māori and Pacific Development and the foundation Director of the Mira Szāszy Research Centre for Māori and Pacific Economic Development with the University of Auckland Business School. He is also Co-ordinator of the Graduate Diploma of Business (Māori Development) and Masters of Management (Māori). He was previously a Senior Lecturer in Māori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington and he also lectured in the Masters of Development Studies on culture, religion and economic development at Victoria University and the School of Māori and Pacific Development, Waikato University. Manuka has published articles on Māori philosophy and ethics, the Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tiriti o Waitangi, development theory and practice, social policy, and globalisation and indigenous peoples.
Kieran Elborough, BSc(Hons), D. Phil
Kieran
Elborough was appointed to the ERMA New Zealand Authority in
August 2004. As part of his duties in that role he serves on the
new organisms standing committee and is currently the
chairperson for the GMO standing committee.
Kieran followed a degree in microbiology and microbial genetics from the University of Dundee with a doctorate from Imperial College in cancer biochemistry. He then lectured in plant molecular biology and human biochemistry at the University of Durham before moving six years ago to New Zealand to join ViaLactia, a subsidiary of Fonterra, as chief science officer-forage. He was a Business Leader with HortResearch for just over two years and is currently General Manager Science-Food Innovation with the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd.
Helen Atkins, LLB
Helen Atkins was appointed to the Authority in August 2004. She is currently a partner at the law firm of
Atkins Holm Joseph Majurey where she specialises in public, environmental, resource management and local government law.
Helen's degree is from the University of Canterbury. In addition to working for law firms, she has worked in the public sector in both England and New Zealand. Over the past ten years especially, she has been involved in law reform in the environmental area with a particular focus on the Resource Management Act 1991. In 2003, Helen was a member of a special working party established by the Ministry for the Environment to review the hazardous substance elements of the HSNO Act.
Valerie Orchard, PhD
Val Orchard was appointed to the Authority in May 2006. She is currently the Science and Research Manager for ESR. Val is actively involved in science strategy and has a special interest in ensuring that research underpins society's need for people to live and work in safe and healthy environments.
Val was the Research Manager at the Consumers' Institute for three years and was a practising researcher for 17 years with the DSIR Soil Bureau and Landcare Research. She is an experienced research microbiologist with considerable field work experience, including Antarctica. She has led teams on Public Good Science Funded projects and has published over sixty refereed papers as well as numerous reports and articles. Val was elected to the Victoria University of Wellington Council in 2000 for two years and again in 2002 for four years.
Deborah Read, MB ChB, DComH, FAFPHM(RACP)
Deborah Read was appointed to the ERMA New Zealand Authority on 15 December 2006. Dr Read is a public health medicine consultant, Medical Officer of Health for the Regional Public Health division of Hutt Valley District Health Board, Chair of the Ministry of Healths Organochlorines Technical Advisory Group and Deputy Chair of the Medical Council of New Zealand. She has published extensively on issues relating to environmental risks and public health, and received a World Health Organisation Fellowship in 1995.
Shaun Ogilvie BSc, MSc(Hons), PhD (Te Arawa, Ngati Awa)
Shaun Ogilvie was appointed to the Authority in July 2008. Shaun
has a PhD in Ecology from the University of Canterbury and is
currently a Senior Lecturer in Wildlife Management at Lincoln
University. Shaun is also the Tumuaki of the Kaupapa Māori Unit at
Lincoln’s Bio-Protection and Ecology Division.
Shaun was previously Principal Scientist - Māori Research at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in Christchurch, and Scientist at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research. He was a member of Ngā Kaihautū Tikanga Taiao from 2004 to 2008. Shaun’s research interests include the development of techniques for the management of animal pests. He has also been involved in investigating the fate of 1080 in the environment, and has published a number of articles in this area.