What is it about the colony that got you interested and continues to interest you?
From a volunteer-run colony in the early 1990s, the blue penguins nesting in a rock quarry on the edge of Oamaru Harbour have become one of the town's major tourist attractions, with 75,000 visitors a year.
In 2006 the visitor centre was expanded to accommodate the volume of annual visitors, while a day viewing room, known as the Blue Wing, was built in the breeding area. It was joined to the visitor centre by a boardwalk.
In 2006, visitors were allowed to enter the breeding area, to visit this room, and for the first time see penguins in their burrows.
By 2011 more than 10,000 people a year were viewing penguins during the day. A new 60-seat grandstand, new boardwalk and extended colony track were added in June 2012.
The penguin colony is a gold mine of conservation opportunity. When I was working with the colony as a branding consultant I began to realise the potential.
The opportunity to work with conservation professionals to safeguard a local species, and to do it in a manner that allowed the public wide access to our activities and to the birds, was an opportunity I could not pass up.
So I came ... and ... I worked closely with our biologist, the Waitaki Development Board and the local council, as well as the Department of Conservation, to implement operational changes that would give greater protection to the penguins as well as greater scope for visitors to ... view the penguins in their native habitat, and gain an appreciation for and participate in the ongoing monitoring and research activities.
The possibilities are really endless. And that is what I find so fascinating.
How are the projects in which you're involved benefiting conservation?
We are building a better understanding of the penguin activities, better understanding [of] what influences breeding success and failure; and securing their habitat for future growth.
All our activities here are designed to encourage the penguin population to naturally develop.
In removing land-based predators, managing visitor interactions, and providing [a] secure habitat we are ensuring the population is and will continue to be stable.
What do you get out of your work in conservation?
The satisfaction of seeing the penguins thrive; and giving people the opportunity to work in a conservation programme.
What challenges do you face and how have you overcome them?
The elements are the biggest challenge.
Weather changes, heavy seas and erosion, too much rain, too hot - all these things impact on our ability to predict what environmental factors we need to manage to secure the population.
Don't get me wrong, the penguins were here long before us.
They have the ability to cope in ways we do not understand ... but ... we sit faced with trying to predict the impact of weather phenomena on their breeding and survival success.
We can manage people, and we can manage land-based threats.
We struggle to manage the impact of the weather.
What would you like to do in the future through conservation?
The colony will continue to develop habitat, conduct multiple world-leading research projects, and expand its monitoring programme.
