Organising Committee
Convenor - Ross Roberts
Ross is an engineering geologist with 25 years' experience in landslide risk management. A former Chair of the New Zealand Geotechnical Society, he now represents New Zealand on the IAEG council. He works between geology and engineering as Chartered Geologist and a Chartered Professional Engineer. In his role as Chief Engineer at Auckland Council he has a keen interest in policy controls for risk management, and in response and recovery from his extensive emergency management experience.
JTC1 Liaison - Chris Massey
Dr Chris Massey is an engineering geologist with more than 23 years of consultancy and research experience in the investigation and analysis of complex geological and geotechnical data for landslide and slope stability including landslide monitoring, foundation design, underground/surface rock support and groundwater problems. He has applied these skills to geohazard and risk assessments, oil and gas pipelines, highway, railway, mining engineering and town planning projects in Africa, the Himalayas, Europe, South East and Central Asia and Australasia. Chris has a degree in geology from Leeds University, UK; a masters in Engineering Geology from Imperial College, London, UK; and a PhD in engineering geology from the University of Durham, UK. Dr Massey has published many peer-reviewed journal papers and has given lectures and workshops around the world.
JTC3 Liaison - Martin Brook
Martin is the Professor of Applied Geology and director of the Master of Engineering Geology programme at the University of Auckland. His research focuses on land instability and enviornmental geology in New Zealand, SE Asia and the Pacific Islands, including publishing >100 journal articles and >200 conference presentations. Prior to joining the University of Auckland, Martin was a Brisbane-based consulting engineering geologist working on a range of infrastructure and resource sector projects across Australia and the middle east. He is a CGeol and CMEngNZ PEngGEOl, and regularly undertakes consulting and expert witness work. As a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he retains a keen interest in pedagogy and student learning.
Treasurer & Sponsorship - Lauren Foote
Lauren is a Chartered Engineering Geologist working with WSP in Nelson, New Zealand. She has been involved with natural hazard response, specifically landslide assessments, following the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, 2016 Kaikoura Earthquake and more recently with the 2021-2022 Marlborough Storm recovery works. Lauren is passionate about promoting training opportunities for young professionals and is looking forward to the sessions available at the workshop.
Young Professionals liaison - Christoph Kraus
Christoph is a Professional Engineering Geologist (PEngGeol) at Beca, and the current NZGS Young Geo-Professionals Coordinator. Christoph’s key interests and expertise include developing geological models, landslide risk assessments, as well as the assessment and mitigation of natural hazards. He is experienced in geological mapping and ground investigations, having conducted fieldwork in a range of different geological settings throughout New Zealand, in Samoa, Patagonia and Antarctica.
Programme - Emilia Stocks
Emilia is a chartered Principal Geotechnical Engineer at Tonkin + Taylor and the current NZGS Treasurer. She has over 15 years of experience across a variety of geotechnical and civil projects. Emilia has led several major geotechnical projects, including new developments on the Wellington waterfront, landfilled design, and retaining wall construction for roads and stopbanks. As a Risk Specialist, she also manages project technical issue investigations and claim resolution. Her experience spans geotechnical investigations, liquefaction damage assessment, evaluation and design of liquefaction mitigation options, and foundation design. She is known for her focus on continuous improvement, quality assurance, and proactive risk mitigation, which consistently enhance project outcomes.
Australian Geomechanics Society Liaison - Anthony Miner
Tony graduated as a Civil Engineer and later gained a Masters degree in engineering geology. His focus over the past 15 years has been on risk management and landslides studies including developing inventories and regional susceptibility maps and integration of them into planning control overlays.
Tony is actively involved in landslide research through formal associations with both The University of Ballarat and The University of Wollongong and he has published a number of landslide and risk related conference papers. He was a member of the 2007 Australian Geomechanics Society’s NDMP Landslide Taskforce (for Landslide Risk Management) and a member of the working groups which prepared the ‘Guideline for Landslide Susceptibility, Hazard and Risk Zoning for Land Use Planning’ and ‘The Australian GeoGuides for Slope Management and Maintenance’.
Workshop and training coordinator - Doug Mason
Doug is an engineering geologist with WSP in Wellington, with over 20 years’ experience. His particular interests are the assessment and mitigation of natural hazards and risks, including landslide hazard mapping, assessment of infrastructure resilience, and providing advice for land use planning. Doug has a Master’s degree in geology and is currently studying for a PhD in engineering geology, investigating the performance of earthworks slopes in the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. He is currently involved with the NZ Geotechnical Society’s Slope Stability Guidance project and is a committee member of the NZ Society for Earthquake Engineering’s ‘Learning From Earthquakes’ programme.
Local liason & workshop support - Richard Justice
Richard is a Chartered Engineering Geologist with over 30 years' experience, with the last 12 years spent at ENGEO. His main focus is on geotechnical risk assessment, landslide and rockfall assessment, and stabilisation. Throughout his career, he has worked on various projects across Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, particularly in geohazard risk assessment and mitigation.
Richard developed a passion for landslides under the tutelage of Don Mcfarlane, Dick Beetham, Gary Smith and many others as a student on the Clyde Dam Landslides Remediation Project in the early 1990's. Much more recently, Richard was involved with the North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCITR) following the 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake. He held key roles such as Geotechnical Principal for Kaikōura South and Geotechnical Lead for Transport Corridor Resilience, coordinating geotechnical teams, rockfall modelling, and designing risk mitigation works along the coastal corridor.
Richard's work with KiwiRail on various geotechnical hazard assessments and slope stabilisation measures has been crucial in ensuring the safety and resilience of railway infrastructure. Beyond project work, Richard has been actively involved over the last few years in developing the slop stability guidance documents under the New Zealand Geotechnical Society.
Social & training support- Blake Hoare
Blake is an engineering geologist with over 7 years experience. He has worked in New Zealand for a large interdisciplinary engineering firm and in Sydney for a specialist geotechnical consultancy, and is now located in Queenstown working for ENGEO.