Credit: Lana Young

Synthesis Team

The Synthesis team is working together across four strands to ensure our mahi is greater than the sum of its parts.

Caine Taiapa

Synthesis strand leader - Empowering Mana Moana

Caine Taiapa (Ngati Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi, Te Arawa) General Manager of cultural and environmental research at Manaaki Te Awanui, a Māori Environmental Research Group based in Tauranga Moana in the Bay of Plenty.

His interest is in reclaiming and reframing mātauranga with a goal of cultural and environmental well-being.

Anne-Maree Schwarz

Synthesis Strand Leader – Improved decision-making using an ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach

Anne-Maree is an independent contractor with research interests in social-ecological systems, and she has a range of experience across temperate, polar, tropical, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems.

Previously a researcher at NIWA, Anne-Maree has since worked for more than 10 years as a scientist and programme manager in the CGIAR Center, WorldFish, in Solomon Islands, and for six years as coordinator of New Zealand’s fisheries sector support programme embedded in Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources. Now based back in New Zealand, Anne-Maree will draw on her experience within international aquatic systems research programmes and community-based fisheries management, in contributing to the synthesis activities.

Jodie Kuntzsch

Synthesis Strand Leader – Enhanced Blue Economy

Jodie Kuntzsch is an independent contractor dedicated to the adaptation and creation of a blue economy for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Jodie brings a wealth of experience leading collaborative projects from across the global seafood industry. Her career has focused on bringing together stakeholders to develop economically viable solutions to the sector’s urgent environmental, social and climate related challenges. Her work has spanned four continents and hundreds of marine farms, fishing vessels, seafood factories and businesses. Jodie has diverse experience across both public and private sectors, with technical expertise in environmental standards and impact measurement.

Jodie’s current roles also include Cluster Development Lead at Moananui and Implementation Lead for the Seafood Sector Adaptation Strategy at The Aotearoa Circle.

Karen Fisher

Synthesis Strand Leader – Research Process

Karen is a human geographer and Associate Professor in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland. She researches how knowledge is produced and used to inform environmental governance and management in New Zealand.

Her work is focused on transdisciplinary approaches to understanding marine social-ecological systems; accommodating different conceptualisations of, and knowledge about, rivers and river management; and the potential for indigenous knowledge to enable just and sustainable river futures.