Professor Spellerberg is a proven thought-leader on matters of national and international significance relating to ecology, nature conservation, environmental education and environmental best practice. His contribution to the body of knowledge, leadership, and commitment to research and teaching is truly extraordinary. He has excelled in his academic profession and fully committed himself to the development of EIANZ, its goals, and its values. His personal ethics and integrity are of the highest standard.

Professor Spellerberg was Director of the Isaac Centre for Nature Conservation at Lincoln University in New Zealand from 2002 until 2012. For many years he was also a Divisional Director of a large assemblage of academic groups. His academic career began in 1972 when he became Lecturer in Biology at Southampton University in the UK. He was later Director of Environmental Sciences at Southampton University until 1994. He holds a BSc in Science from Canterbury University, an MSc in Zoology from Canterbury University, a PhD in Conservation Biology from La Trobe University in Melbourne among many others.

Arriving in New Zealand in 1994, he began a campaign to establish a professional environmental organisation. After completing widespread consultation throughout New Zealand, a Steering Committee was formed in 2001. In January 2003 the New Zealand Chapter of the EIANZ was stablished – a milestone for the environment profession in New Zealand. For many years he served on the inaugural New Zealand Executive Committee. He also established the first CEnvP review committee in New Zealand and was for several years on the inaugural CEnvP Committee.

Professor Spellerberg is a former Vice President (New Zealand) of the EIANZ. He was instrumental in the re-activation of the Students and Young Professionals Standing Committee. He is a recipient of a Humboldt Fellowship, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, a Fellow of WWF (UK), and was a member of IUCN Ecosystems Commission.

Additionally, in 2008 he was the winner of the Science Communicator Award from the New Zealand Association of Scientists, a prestigious award recognising his significant contribution towards communicating science and sustainable practice to the public. He has an enviable publishing record with many textbooks to his name and also several books on New Zealand native plants.

He was made an Honorary Fellow of the EIANZ in 2010. Now semi-retired, Emeritus Professor Spellerberg continues to undertake research in nature conservation and environmental sustainability. In 2012 he was Editor in Chief for Volume 6 of the Berkshire Encyclopaedia of Sustainability.

Photo courtesy of John Maillard, Waihora Gallery.