Di Buchan, EIANZ Vice President NZ, was recently awarded Fellow Membership of the Institute. Jon Womersley, EIANZ President, presented her with the award at the New Zealand Symposium in March.

Dianne is the Managing Director of Corydon Consultants Ltd, a Wellington-based company specialising in socio-environmental research, social impact assessment and community consultation.  Over the past 25 years she has worked on a wide range of projects from major infrastructure projects to community-based environmental initiatives. Over that time she has been responsible for managing a wide variety of multidisciplinary teams working on projects throughout New Zealand and the Pacific. 

She has been a member of EIANZ since 2007 and became a Certified Environmental Practitioner in 2008 with Impact Assessment Specialist certification. She has served on the NZ Chapter Executive committee for five years and was a member of the EIANZ Council prior to the establishment of the Board.  She was convenor of the organising committee for the EIANZ annual conference in 2010 and of the recent Symposium held in Wellington. 

Di established the DB Environmental Trust which works with landowners to develop new, less damaging land-use practices and with students from poorly resourced communities who might otherwise struggle to access thefunding, knowledge and networks, to undertake projects aimed at environmental restoration.

For many years Di has been actively involved in civic activities in Wellington, particularly in regard to issues affecting the quality of the urban environment and the development of Wellington’s Waterfront. In 2009 she was awarded Life Membership of the Wellington Civic Trust for her contributions to the work of that organisation – including seven years as its Chair.