Committee members are appointed by our Board.

Steven (Tīpene) Wilson, Chairperson

Steven (Tīpene) Wilson is currently the Deputy Chair of the EPA Board, he was a former Chair of Ngā Kaihautū Tikanga Taiao, the EPA’s Māori Statutory Advisory Committee. In addition to being the current CEO of Maximize Consultancy, an organisation building relationships and value in Māori organisations and working with corporate and government partners, Steven has held a number of governance and leadership positions and has been recognised for helping develop the EPA's credibility and relationships with iwi and Māori.

He has worked with various iwi on environmental management, helped an iwi Environmental Management Plan team which won a NZ Planning Institute Best Practice award in strategic planning and guidance, and has knowledge of central government and regional council processes. He identifies his facilitation skills as one of his strengths, and facilitated a Māori national network wānanga on hazardous substances.

Dr Kerry Laing, PhD

Kerry Laing is a senior environmental scientist who is recognised as one of New Zealand's leading resource management specialists. He has more than 40 years' experience in environmental management and hazardous substance and waste management.

Kerry has a background in industrial chemistry and research, and has extensive experience in industrial operations and the regulatory and policy development for environmental management, hazardous substances and waste.

Kerry was part of a team responsible for the development of the Hazardous Substances Regulations, and brings extensive expertise in risk assessment and management of hazardous substances.

Dr Louise Malone, PhD

Louise Malone has a PhD from Imperial College, University of London, and a background in entomology. Her 38-year career with Plant & Food Research (and its predecessors HortResearch and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research) included research on biopesticides, honey bees, potential impacts of genetically modified plants on non-target organisms, tools for prioritising non-target organisms for risk assessment, and assessing invertebrate biodiversity in orchards.

She has a good understanding of New Zealand’s horticultural, forestry and agricultural sectors and their concerns about biosecurity, sustainability and maintaining access to export markets.

She has served on the HSNO Committee since 2012. In addition to her work on the HSNO Committee, Louise currently works for the Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition, a charity which supports, informs and represents New Zealanders with breast cancer.

Dr Derek Belton

Derek Belton graduated in Veterinary Science from Massey University in 1977, and subsequently gained post-graduate qualifications in microbiology, epidemiology and business administration. He worked in practice, veterinary diagnostic laboratories, and public health, before joining the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Biosecurity Authority in 1999.

He became New Zealand’s Director of Animal Biosecurity and a Chief Technical Officer under the Biosecurity Act in 2000. His international representation role expanded to include all international organisations that the then Ministry of Agriculture Biosecurity Authority engaged with, along with negotiation of the biosecurity provisions of the sanitary and phytosanitary chapters of New Zealand trade agreements in late 2004.

In 2012 he joined the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) as Head of the International Trade Department, the position he has very recently retired from to return to New Zealand. The International Trade Department provide corporate support and representation for OIE’s international animal health and welfare standard development functions.

Dr John Taylor, PhD

John Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Virology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland and holds a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Edinburgh.

His scientific interests are in the biology of animal viruses and their development as vaccines and therapeutic tools.

John brings considerable expertise in the area of genetic engineering to the HSNO Committee including the regulation of biological safety and genetic modification under the HSNO Act having chaired the Biosafety Committee at New Zealand’s largest University since 2004.

Dr Nicholas (Nick) Roskruge, BHort Tech(Hons), PGDip Māori ResDev, PhD

Dr Nick Roskruge is currently senior lecturer with the Massey University Institute of Agriculture and Environment and Kaiārahi Māori to the College of Sciences in the university. Nick has a PhD in Soil Science, a Post-graduate Diploma in Māori Resource Development and a Bachelor of Horticulture (Technology).

His professional specialty is horticulture and sustainable Māori economic development. He is currently Chair of Tāhuri Whenua Incorporated Society — a National Māori Horticultural Collective. Nick served with Ngā Kaihautū Tikanga Taiao, the EPA’s Māori Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2015, also holding the position of Tumuaki Tuarua (Deputy Chair).

Dr Ngaire Phillips, PhD

Dr Phillips is co-Director of Streamlined Environmental, an environmental science consulting company based in Hamilton. She is an experienced environmental scientist with expertise in toxicology associated with environmental and human health. Her PhD examined the effects of heavy metal pollution on population genetic structure of a marine mussel.

She has led research programmes investigating the risks of contaminants (including heavy metals and organic chemicals) to human health, aquatic ecology and ecosystem functioning. She has practical experience in the derivation of toxicological data and in the undertaking of risk assessments through her role as a research scientist in New Zealand and Australia.

She is also a registered RMA Independent Commissioner. She brings a wealth of knowledge based on practical and extensive experience in a wide range of scientific disciplines, including freshwater and estuarine ecology, customary fisheries management, water quality and land management.