Research team

Monique Ladds - Monique is an applied statistician with experience in biology and ecology. At DOC she has three main projects: developing the framework to monitor our marine protected areas (MMRF), modelling trophic interactions and the impacts of fishing on communities for the Marine Sentinel Sites Programme, and ensuring that climate change drivers are incorporated into DOC's work streams.

Victor Anton - Victor is a wildlife biologist and founder of Wildlife.ai. He works with data scientists and biologists around the world to translate big data into more effective wildlife conservation, and is the software coder for this project. In his spare time he enjoys snorkelling, multiday hikes and time-lapse photography.

Kalindi Fonda - Kalindi grew up by the sea, and it’s her mission to give back the love that growing up with nature gives her. She is exploring all the ways technology can be leveraged for good and loves what Spyfish Aotearoa stands for: caring for marine reserves, bringing the community together, and creating tools that make this work easier, plus she gets to see a lot of videos of fish. Before Spyfish, she worked at companies big and small and spent a big part of the last decade in ed-tech. She has a background in film, and one of her recent projects was doing camera work for a documentary on a wildlife reserve in Namibia. She has also explored bioacoustics (from just behind the computer) and camera traps (in the field, placing them to research manta rays). She never stops learning, and she plays underwater rugby and cycles.

Nerissa Linwood - Nerissa is an Environmental Management Master’s student at the University of Otago. She holds an undergraduate degree in Marine Science and has spent much of her life around the ocean, from paddleboarding and kayaking on the surface to scuba diving below. This has fostered a strong appreciation and understanding of Aotearoa’s marine flora and fauna. She joined the team to support the project, continue her learning, and help others as they discover more about Aotearoa’s wonderful marine reserves.

Cam Hunt – Cam is a senior marine biodiversity ranger at DOC, based in Taranaki, where he leads the work program for the monitoring and compliance of the Tapuae and Parininihi marine reserves. Cam has a unique background in environmental science and GIS combined with law enforcement experience in Aotearoa/New Zealand and overseas. He is dedicated to the protection and understanding of our marine ecosystems.

Spyfish Alumni

Hiromi Beran - Hiromi wrote the Spyfish site content during a summer internship for the Marine Ecosystems Team at DOC. This internship then turned into a part-time role throughout the rest of her eclectic medley of an undergraduate degree and into her marine biology MSc, which focused on the potential of mesophotic reefs to act as thermal refuges for New Zealand coastal fish species. She is now undertaking a PhD on shallow-water benthic polar foodwebs at the British Antarctic Survey.

Ben Knight - Ben was a co-founder and chair of the Guardians of Kāpiti marine reserve trust. An ocean lover with a background in diving, communication and business, he was passionate about enabling local communities to be involved in the protection and management of their unique coastal, marine and freshwater environments. We are so grateful for all of the work Ben put into making the ocean a better place.

Harry Allard - Harry is a marine ecologist with an interest in the indirect effects of marine reserves on reef fish assemblages. At DOC he’s enjoyed the opportunity to work on various marine reserve-related projects, and is dedicated to understanding and encouraging the use of marine reserves as a conservation tool.

Jesu Valdes - Jesu is a marine ecologist from Chile. She has always been interested in the effect that human activities have on the marine environment, and after working in Chile, the USA and Australia, she moved to Aotearoa/New Zealand to carry out her PhD on the effects of mussel farming on the endemic Hector’s dolphins. She now works in Taranaki as a marine reserve ranger for DOC, carrying out the monitoring and compliance plans for Tapuae and Parininihi marine reserves. In her free time, she enjoys all outdoor activities including scuba and free diving, surfing, mountain biking, tramping and nature photography.

Jess Marinovich is a PhD student at the University of Auckland studying the ecological role of tāmure (snapper) on northeastern New Zealand rocky reefs, particularly regarding their role as predators of kina (sea urchins). She has taken on this role as she has lots of experience analysing baited underwater videos to monitor marine reserves and has a particular interest in marine protected areas and ocean management and the ways in which we can use science to better inform our ocean practices.

Resources

Organisations

This project is a collaboration between Te Papa Atawhai | Department of Conservation (DOC) and Wildlife.ai.

DOC is the government agency charged with conserving Aotearoa's natural and historic heritage. Wildlife.ai works with conservation biologists to propel their research forward using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms, and thus this exciting project was born.