Governance Update April 2023

May 1, 2023 - News Story

The Trust welcomes several new members to our Board in 2023. Brent Clothier joins as the Royal Society Te Apārangi representative, Rex Hendry as the New Zealand Antarctic Society representative, and Aliesha Staples is appointed as a new Independent Trustee.

We are delighted that Governance Interns Mike Dawson and Georgina Archibald have joined the Board as full Independent Trustees, and we welcome two new Governance Interns, Laura Andrews and Tasman Gillies.

Aliesha Staples

Aliesha comes from a 15-year film industry and Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, technology creation background. She is the founder of Staples VR, an emerging tech consultancy and development company, and the co-founder of Click Studios. Aliesha is a pioneer of new technology and has a passion for governance. She also currently sits on the board of TVNZ, Institute of Directors, and New Zealand Football Foundation.

Dr Brent Clothier

Brent is a soil and water environmental scientist, working at the Crown Research Institute Plant & Food Research as a Principal Scientist based in Palmerston North (NZ). Brent is also an Adjunct Professor at China Agricultural University in Beijing and a Fellow of the New Zealand Society of Soil Science, and four foreign science academies: Soil Science Society of America; American Agronomy Society; American Geophysical Union and an Academician (Foreign) of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Brent is also involved in water-related aid and development projects in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as in the Middle East, China, and Africa.

Brent is a Fellow of Royal Society Te Apārangi, and their current President. He grew up in Christchurch during the International Geophysical Year 1957-58 and was enthralled by the US Operation Deep Freeze, riding his bike out to the airport to watch the Globemasters land. He reads avidly of the polar explorations of Scott, Amundsen, Nansen, Shackleton, Byrd, Mawson, Fuchs, and Hillary.

Rex Hendry

The Ice is in Rex’s blood, having travelled to Antarctica 25 times over four decades. Roles and activities have included wintering over as an electrician at New Zealand’s Scott Base, field training instructor, mountaineer and dog handler roles for British Antarctic Survey, search and rescue roles, serving as Scott Base Operations Support Manager for three consecutive years, with subsequent seasons in operational roles, and visiting as a New Zealand Government Representative, lecturer, and field guide on Antarctic cruise ships.

Rex has also worked as an outdoor instructor, a local government adviser, an area manager for the Department of Conservation, and consultant planner. He also runs a horticulture business, lovelavender.co.nz.

Rex’s previous governance roles include serving as Chair of Taranaki-Whanganui Conservation Board, Council member of the Western Institute of Technology, and Chair of Land Search and Rescue NZ. He has also served on the Advocacy Committee for the New Zealand Alpine Club and as the Environmental Sustainability representative on the Taranaki Regional Transport Committee.

Rex is now (mostly) retired, and joins the Trust’s Board in his capacity as President of the New Zealand Antarctic Society.

Georgina Archibald

Georgina is from Ōtautahi (Christchurch, NZ) and of Tongan and Pākehā heritage. With a background in literature, law and education, she works as Pacific Learning Advisor at Te Pūkenga Ara Institute of Canterbury. Her passion is supporting students to succeed in education so they can increasingly action and inspire positive changes in their communities.

Georgina was selected as a team member for the Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ to the Antarctic Peninsula in 2019. She is thrilled to join the Board of an organisation that cares for the incredible legacy of polar exploration and delivers meaningful outreach to diverse local and international communities. Georgina is also involved in governance across a range of Waitaha Canterbury initiatives that support youth development, conservation, and sustainable intentional communities.

Mike Dawson

Mike is a retired New Zealand representative athlete with over 15 years’ experience in the high-performance sport environment as an athlete, advisor and coach. He is a double Olympian in canoe slalom, and a New Zealand Olympic Ambassador, inspiring young New Zealanders and sharing the Olympic values of respect, friendship and excellence. Mike is currently the coach of the New Zealand canoe slalom team. He is internationally renowned for his extreme kayak feats, having won a slew of titles in some of the biggest rapids on the planet, and through his expedition paddling.

Mike is the founder of Kiwi Creations, a New Zealand-based film production company, and has been involved with the Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expeditions™ to the Antarctic Peninsula as a kayaking mentor, and as an Inspiring Explorer™ on the Trust’s most recent expedition to the South Pole.

Laura Andrews

Laura is a firefighter and medical first responder by day, working for Auckland Airport Emergency Services. She enjoys the close-knit team environment she works in, the ability to interact with the community and the dynamic environment that means no two days are the same.

Outside of work, Laura loves the outdoors and thrives on pushing her physical and mental boundaries. She has previously spent three months walking the length of New Zealand’s South Island solo, cycled the length of New Zealand along the Tour Aotearoa route, competed in endurance, adventure and ironman races in New Zealand and firefighter stair climbs internationally.

Laura was a member of the Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ South Pole team.

Tasman Gillies

Tasman, a descendant of Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Kahungunu, is a passionate advocate for restoring, maintaining, and enhancing the relationship between people and the environment. As Programme Director at Toha, he works with those taking action on the frontline of the climate and biodiversity crises, where he sees the urgent need to scale the flow of capital, data, and information to drive climate action.

Tasman’s expertise lies in leveraging data to support frontline action by developing and implementing data strategies that support regenerative environmental outcomes. Most recently he is working to support the East Coast Exchange to show in near real-time the community-led disaster response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Tairāwhiti (NZ). He supported the public release of locationspecific sea-level rise projections as part of the NZ SeaRise project through his work at Takiwā.

Tasman has completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies and contributed to the paper ‘Transforming Antarctic Management and Policy with an Indigenous Māori Lens’ which proposed a new approach to Antarctic management and conservation by incorporating Māori values and perspectives. Tasman hopes that through the governance internship, he can contribute his expertise, skills and passion to the Antarctic Heritage Trust.