About Us
Ecology New Zealand is a leading provider of professional ecological services throughout New Zealand. Our focus is on providing our government and private sector clients with the ecological expertise required to meet RMA requirements as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
We have particularly strong expertise in assessing and managing the environmental effects of land and infrastructure development from small-scale subdivisions up to roading projects of national significance.
The Ecology NZ team is led by Simon Chapman – a Principal ecologist with over 20 years of experience as a professional ecology consultant. Simon has been involved in some of New Zealand’s largest and most complex projects including Mt Messenger, Transmission Gully, SH1 Puhoi to Warkworth and City Rail Link. Simon's abilities as a team leader and business/project manager are well proven, and his technical expertise is demonstrated by the strong demand for his skills as a peer reviewer and as an expert ecologist for council, EPA and Environment Court hearings.
Our expertise in standard ecological matters such as vegetation, birds, streams and wetlands is second to none but we also cover highly specialised requirements such as lizards, bats, frogs and invertebrates.
Want to join us? Find out about our current vacancies
Meet The Team
Simon Chapman
Principal Ecologist
As one of New Zealand's leading consultant ecologists, Simon has helped get many large and complicated projects across the line over the last 20+ years. From due diligence and feasibility through to design, consenting, construction and compliance, his expertise covers terrestrial, wetland and freshwater ecology. Simon has industry-leading expertise in tricky topics such as lizards, bats, frogs and invertebrates. He is a DOC-authorised top level bat ecologist and he holds several DOC permits for surveying, holding and relocating native lizards. He is a well-regarded peer reviewer and has presented expert evidence at numerous council, Board of Inquiry and Environment Court hearings.
Marc Choromanski
Senior Ecologist
Marc is a recognised terrestrial ecologist with specialist skills with native fauna. He is an approved bat ecologist under DOC’s bat competency framework (Level 4 / Class D) and holds Wildlife permits to both survey herpetofauna and keep native lizards in captivity. Marc has been involved in a wide range of projects across NZ and abroad, spanning small scale subdivisions, energy and roading projects of national significance. Marc strives to develop practical ecological solutions to enable sustainable development.
Jennifer
Gollin
Ecologist
Jenny has worked on a wide range of ecological projects across New Zealand. Prior to becoming a a consultant ecologist she was awarded an MSc in Conservation Biology from Massey University and then went on to work as an ecological restoration practitioner. Through her work and studies she has developed substantial expertise in native herpetofauna. Jenny also has a strong practical knowledge of restoration ecology.
Blair Outhwaite
Ecologist
Since completing his MSc Blair has worked primarily in ecological restoration. He made the move into ecological consulting role with Ecology NZ in 2020. His thesis focused on the ecology of bottlenose dolphins in the Hauraki Gulf, including behaviour and acoustics. Since becoming a consultant ecologist Blair has worked on a wide variety of projects including Ecological Impact Assessments and Management Plans
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Chad
Croft
Principal Ecologist
Chad brings over 15 years of experience managing projects and teams across multiple disciplines and industries from urban land development to oil & gas and mining. He has worked with industry, government and private landowners locally and internationally across all phases of development, including planning, construction, operation and closure. Chad has expertise in terrestrial and aquatic ecological inventory and impact assessment as well as mitigation and restoration planning, implementation and monitoring at both local and landscape levels.
Kelly Hayhurst
Ecologist
Kelly has experience in terrestrial ecological assessments and evaluation of ecological effects, stakeholder engagement, forest assessment, threatened ecosystem mapping, wetland assessments, ecosystem/vegetation classification and mapping. She has additional experience in technical report writing, desktop ecological surveys, technical consent reviews, literature reviews, watercourse assessments, stream ecological valuations (SEV) and threatened species monitoring and management.
Peter van Loon
Ecologist
Peter joined Ecology NZ in 2021 following five years as a consultant in ecology and arboriculture. He completed an MSc Degree at the University of Auckland where he studied forest regeneration. He has gained a range of skills in ecological assessments, wetland delineation, technical report writing and plant identification, as well as management of small to large projects and creating and maintaining professional relationships with clients, contractors and staff.
Louisa Copestake
Ecologist
Louisa has a Postgraduate Diploma in Water Resource Management and a Bachelors Degree in Animal Welfare and Management. She is certified in electrofishing and Stream Ecological Valuation (SEV). She has undertaken freshwater fish identification training and is experienced in MCI and QMCI scoring for aquatic macroinvertebrates as bioindicators. Louisa is experienced is assessing wetlands using the MFE protocols as is often required under the Freshwater NPS and NES.