New co-opted Council Member – Brenda Greene
July 2nd, 2025
Brenda grew up in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland, exploring the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, with holidays at the family bach in Doubtless Bay in the Far North. She joined OSNZ while at high school and was a regular attendee at meetings held at the Auckland War memorial museum. After graduating from Auckland University, she studied the genetics of kaki/black stilt as part of her Master’s degree at Victoria University of Wellington, exploring the McKenzie country braided riverbeds and helping out with the Ashburton Lakes and River bird surveys.
Returning to Auckland, she worked for the Auckland Council parks department initially as their interpretation officer. She led bird guided walks at Ambury Park and lead volunteer bird counts at Tawharanui and in the Hunua Range. As the parks resource scientist, she set up the mainland island programme which has seen the return of birds such as kokako, bellbird, robins etc previously locally extinct to the mainland. Volunteering, she visited most of the Hauraki Gulf Islands, counting kiwi, catching kakapo and black petrel. She also headed further afield to the Mokohinau Islands to search for the Stack H beetle and Pureora forest to catch kaka and blue duck.
Later, she took the opportunity to move to Otautahi Christchurch where she worked for the Department of Conservation as a Technical Advisor, Environment Canterbury as a Biosecurity planner and the Christchurch City Council as a Natural Heritage Advisor. At the City Council, she visited the Chatham Islands several times and was thrilled to see Taiko and many other endemic threatened birds. Currently she is working as an environmental consultant and science tutor. Volunteering, she caught hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin, short-tailed and long-tailed bats and continues to count winter birds on the Ashburton Lakes. In Notornis she has written about the gannets at Muriwai, grey-faced petrel and New Zealand scaup. She is hopeful that her birding experience across New Zealand and her scientific and teaching background will be of use to the Council.