Keynotes 2025

Mike Adams

Mike Adams is a civil/water resources engineer who has been deploying nature-based solutions for stream restoration and resilient stormwater management, including geomorphic stream design, process-based natural channel design, fluvial geomorphology, dam removal, and stream assessments for 27-plus years. He has been involved in every phase of a stream restoration project, from developing goals and objectives to construction oversight and monitoring. Mike has worked on highly urban and large-scale projects across the United States in a variety of aquatic landscapes, focused on understanding stream responses to geomorphic processes for channel/floodplain design. He serves as a discipline lead and subject matter expert in stream restoration for Stantec.

Kris Faafoi

Kris Faafoi joined the Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kāhua Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) as chief executive in April 2024. He is a former member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister who served in a number of roles, including Minister of Justice, Immigration, Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Broadcasting and Media. Before that, Kris worked as a journalist, including at TVNZ and the BBC.

Jonathan Rowe

Jonathan is the Programme Manager for South Dunedin Future, a joint initiative between the Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council to develop a climate change adaptation plan for the low-lying and flood affected South Dunedin. Jonathan has led design and delivery of the programme, navigating council systems to deliver a blend of science, engineering, land use planning, and community engagement work over a five-year period. Jonathan’s background is in sustainable development and prior to joining council, he spent 15 years working in central government, primarily for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the New Zealand Aid Programme (NZAID). Jonathan has worked across the Pacific, including diplomatic postings in Cook Islands and Fiji, where he led work in areas of health, education, infrastructure, climate change, and disaster response. He has also had roles in Parliament advising the Minister of Foreign Affairs (2015) and Minister of Climate Change (2019-21).

Allan Leahy

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: The past, the Present and the Future (maybe) of the Water New Zealand – Stormwater Interest Group

Allan is a Civil Engineer by training who has spent his nearly forty-year career operating in the stormwater management practice area. He has worked predominantly in the consulting environment with roles ranging from summer intern to company director, from graduate engineer to national technical specialist.

He has worked within multi-disciplinary consulting, land development consulting and transportation focussed consulting. In each of his roles Allan has applied and grown his stormwater management expertise. This personal growth has occurred in conjunction with the stormwater industry growth and maturing. In his consulting roles he has worked for developers, local and regional councils, transportation agencies, industrial interests and private property owners.
Allan left consulting in 2021 to join the Auckland Council Healthy Waters team. A big change late in his career but actioned to allow him to keep learning. Allan quips that after 35 years in consulting and then 35 years in council he might actually know what he is doing – but don’t hold your breath. 😊

Allan has contributed to the engineering and stormwater industry in a number of ways over his career and acknowledges the support of the various organisations he has worked within and his family (especially his wife) in enabling him to do this.

Examples include:

Stormwater Interest Group / WaterNZ

• Founding committee member of the stormwater interest group
• Stormwater conference committee member for a number of the early WaterNZ stormwater conferences.
• Continued support of the interest group, via conference papers, awards judging, workshops (in and out of conferences), conference attendance and session chairing.

ACE New Zealand

• Area rep for 3 years
• Board member for 3 years
• 21 years on the panel of judges for the Awards of Excellence including five years as convenor of judges
• Contributor to a range of ACE New Zealand projects.

Engineering New Zealand

• Involvement with engineers in schools
• Judge on the New Zealand Engineering Awards (since replaced by the ENVIs)).
• Development and presentation of two one day courses on stormwater management and design (for something like 14 years? And still going).

Other

NGICP

• Technical work supporting the adaptation of the 5 day NGICP (developed by WEF in the USA) course on the maintenance of green infrastructure.
• Lead presenter of the presentation of these courses (pre-Covid).
• Technical lead on converting these courses to on-line learning.

Christ The King School

• Working with CTKS (in particular the teacher) on understanding stormwater impacts and school project development.

Hon. Simon Watts

Minister of Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister of Local Government and Minister of Revenue

Simon Watts was elected as the Member of Parliament for North Shore in the 2020 election. He is the Minister of Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister of Local Government and Minister of Revenue.

Simon grew up in the Waikato, where his family were farmers and orchardists. He is married, has two sons, and lives on the North Shore with his family.

He studied Accounting and Finance at Waikato University and worked in investment banking in Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. He has worked for one of the world’s largest investment banks, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), where he held several management roles during and in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis.

Simon has also completed a Health Sciences degree at Auckland University of Technology. He continues to volunteer with St John as an ambulance officer and is a registered Paramedic alongside his duties as a Member of Parliament.

Dr Shari Gallop

Coastal hazards & climate change
Pattle Delamore Partners Ltd

Shari (Ngāti Maru ki Hauraki, Te Rarawa) is a coastal scientist, researcher and practitioner with extensive national and international experience in coastal hazards/ processes, coastal geomorphology and hydrodynamics, coastal monitoring and nature based solutions. After 10+ years in academia, she now holds a Coastal Scientist role at Pattle Delamore Partners in Tauranga. A key focused of her work is taking a holistic approach considering policy and guidance, climate change, risk, community needs and te ao Māori. Shari contributes to the broader sectors with roles such as co-leading Te Komiti Māori in the New Zealand Coastal Society, being on the working group to establish the Aotearoa Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) and is on the Design Team for the MBIE-funded Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform. A key focus of her work is finding new ways to build capacity and capability to support projects that support hapū and iwi aspirations.

Nicki Green

Nicki describes her professional niche to be in developing and delivering multidisciplinary resource management policy and planning projects. That involves as policy advice and development as welle as bringing together diverse disciplines, skills, experience, and motivations to progress enduring
solutions to challenging issues. A biochemistry degree, earth and environmental science diploma, and an M.Sc. in Resource Management, provided excellent policy and science foundations for thiswork.

Nicki recently shifted to a small farm between Thames and Paeroa with her husband – a new adventure now that her two children have left home to study at Canterbury University. At the end of April 2025, she is joining/has joined Thames Coromandel District Council as their Strategy and District Planning Team Leader, where she will lead spatial planning and district plan change work through the Resource Management Act reform period. She has sadly farewelled the team at Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council after 9+ years as a Principal Policy Advisor leading the work programme to implement the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and providing national policy advice for Toi Moana, Te Uru Kahika (the Regional Sector Organisation) and for some national working groups for the Ministry or the Environment.

Some of you will know Nicki from her time with 4Sight (now SLR) Consulting and with Auckland Council’s Stormwater Unit, where she worked closely with Stormwater Unit teams, consultants, and policy and planning teams on aspects of the Auckland Spatial Plan, Area Spatial Plans and Auckland
Unitary Plan.

Some of you may also remember her from her presentation at the Stormwater Conference in 2021!

Steve Mushin

Steve Mushin is an industrial designer, author, illustrator, and futures workshop facilitator. He is focussed on urban rewilding and the radical rethinking of cities in the face of climate change and biodiversity collapse.

Steve is the author of award-winning science-comedy Ultrawild: An Audacious Plan to Rewild Every City on Earth (Allen & Unwin, 2023). Ultrawild contains over 100 outlandish-seeming inventions and plans, all based upon real engineering possibilities. It aims to kick start conversations on the potential for new technologies like autonomous vehicles, AI and swarm-3D-printing to help us rapidly redesign cities.

Steve’s background is in sustainability design, where he has over 20 years experience – largely in Australia – working on projects ranging from high-tech urban farms, commercial composting systems and biogas technologies to zero-emission master-plans and science-based adventure playgrounds. He managed technology projects at CERES Environment Park in Melbourne for seven years from 2003-2010, and in 2015 was awarded an Australian Design Honours for his work in sustainability design.

www.stephenmushin.com

Linkedin @stephenmushin

William Wright MNZM

Ngati Whatua Iwi / Te Uri o Hau hapu and Ngati Porou Iwi / Te Aitanga a Mate hapu

Present –

• Treaty negotiator for the settlement of the Kaipara Moana and future Co Governance entity
• Te Uri o Hau Takutai Moana Claim advisor and lead researcher
• Trustee on Pou Tu o Te Rangi/Harding Park Reserve
• Committee member on Kia Puawai Ki Kaipara
• Advisor and support for Poipoia Te Kakano
• Committee member on Korero Tuku Iho project for Kaipara Moana Remediation

Past –

• Mana Whenua Relations Lead for the Kaipara Moana Remediation
• Programme Manager to the Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group (IKHMG)
• Chair of the Northland Conservation Board
• Trustee on Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust
• Te Uri o Hau Treaty Claims Manager and negotiator

Nicola MacDonald MNZOM– Chief Executive, Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust

Nicola leads the Trust’s strategic initiatives to enhance the environmental, cultural, and economic wellbeing of Ngāti Manuhiri. In addition to her CEO role, Nicola has served as Co-Chair of the Hauraki Gulf Forum since 2019, advocating for the protection and restoration of the Gulf. In 2024, Nicola was honoured as the New Zealand Environmental Hero of the Year / Te Tao Taiao o te Tau (Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards), recognising her significant contributions to environmental conservation. Further acknowledging her dedication, she was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit (NZMN) in the 2025 New Year Honours List for her services to the environment. Nicola’s governance experience includes roles such as Chair of the Auckland Conservation Board and involvement with the Māori Women’s Welfare League and Oho Mauri Trust.

Delma O’Kane – Kaitakawaenga, Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust

Delma O’Kane serves as Kaitakawaenga (Engagement & Relationships Lead) for Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust. She plays a key role in strengthening partnerships, supporting Māori development, and ensuring the Trust’s work aligns with Ngāti Manuhiri values and priorities.

Fiona Kemp

Ko Fiona Kemp tōku ingoa
Nō te Kaipara Moana
Ko te Kaihautū Taiao mō Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust
Hēmana o te JCAC nō Te Taitokerau
Fiona Kemp from the Kaipara as the Taiao Manager for Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust. Chair of the Joint Climate Adaptation Committee for Te Taitokerau