Our Team

Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust employ the Pest Free Banks Peninsula Team working on the Elimination Projects…

**Sarah Wilson**
Programme Leader
[email protected]z

Sarah leads the PFBP programme of work. This includes working with the Project Management Group & the Project Oversight Group who direct the project. Sarah has a background in working with communities to achieve ambitious goals. She is committed to working on Banks Peninsula to build resilient communities & thriving biodiversity by removing pests. In her spare time, she is out adventuring with her two huskies.

**Tim Sjoberg**
Operations Manager
[email protected]

Tim oversees operations, supporting the team leads, developing work plans, reporting & staying connected with other PF 2050 projects. He shares our learnings to accelerate PFBP’S goals. After Lincoln University, Tim spent time in the field throughout NZ, involved in the design & implementation of new technologies and refining older methods of predator control & wildlife management. Tim is kept busy with a young family and enjoys sharing outdoor experiences with them.

**Sarah Bisley**
GIS and Information Manager
[email protected]

Sarah (aka The Biz) is responsible for all aspects of data and information management for the project. She loves geeking out over the data and loves making sense of the dots on the many maps and dashboards she creates. Sarah splits her time between Duvauchelle and Lincoln keeping a close eye on both project teams. When not hunched over her computer in a darkened room she enjoys thrifting and hanging out with her family.

**John Williamson**
Operations Coordinator Kaitōrete [email protected]

John leads our team on Kaitorete where we are working to eliminate hedgehogs, feral cats, and mustelids. It’s a big task but the small team are able to manage a large trapping network with the help of a self-reporting trap system. It’s always exciting to see what the traps will bring us each morning. When not at work John is most likely to be on a horse, and sometimes in exotic places like Mongolia.

**Ollie Rutland-Sims**
Operations Coordinator Wildside
[email protected]

Ollie is the Operations Coordinator for the wildside. He manages the wildside possum elimination programme and works alongside the Field Team to deliver that. He dictates where the team work & what they do. When not working for PFBP, Ollie is often at the Akaroa Fire Brigade and he is the Station Officer there. There’s not much time left over for hiking & walking his dog Milo but that’s what he loves to do.

**Hollie Hollander**
Land Liaison Officer
[email protected]

Hollie works with the landowners on the Wildside getting the Access Agreements in place for the Field Team to come onto private property. Hollie lives in Akaroa and has always worked in community roles. Her hobbies are gardening, bee keeping, & Permaculture and she loves to travel. She enjoys meeting new people and is thrilled to be working on this great conservation project, especially landowners who she hasn’t met before.

Alice Webster
Wildside Coordinator
[email protected]

Alice is the Wildside Coordinator for BPCT and leads the Biodiversity Monitoring Programme for PFBP’s Extended Wildside. This involves coordinating, undertaking, collating and reporting on a range of biodiversity monitoring projects. She is passionate about conservation and enjoys being part of a truly collaborative team of agency staff, landowners, runanga, students and volunteers. Alice lives in Akaroa Harbour with her energetic fox terrier Rocket.

**Blake Thomson**
Leading Hand Wildside
[email protected]

Blake is the Leading Hand Wildside. He liaises with Ollie and is the one point of contact for the wildside team. He is also in charge of the toxin & vehicle management. Blake started in June 2023 with PFBP. In his spare time, he loves hunting & fishing, tramping adventures in the hills and NZ wilderness (with a backpack that’s not containing work gear) and surfing. Born and bred in Akaroa, Blake is a local.

**Fiona Waghorn**
Pest Free Ranger- Kaitōrete
[email protected]

Fiona started as a Pest Free Ranger in 2023 and works on Kaitōrete. Previously to that she worked with the Council in Parks & Recreation. Fiona was born and bred on Banks Peninsula on a farm in Pigeon Bay and hasn’t moved far since. She has green fingers and is a horticulturist of many years & a vegetable seedling grower. She is very much involved in her community and gives a lot to the Birdlings Flat & Little River communities.

**Joe Hickey**
Pest Free Ranger-Wildside
[email protected]

Joe started with PFBP in June 2023 and works with the team on the wildside. He is a local lad, Akaroa born & raised. Before PFBP he worked in Arthurs Pass helping protect the Orange-fronted Kākāriki. Joe is a very keen mountain bike cyclist, hiker and generally an outdoorsy type. He’s also very creative: a great drawer & graphic designer. He can also be found having a coffee in every cafe in Akaroa!

**William Fisher**
Pest Free Ranger-Kaitōrete
[email protected]

Will has been with PFBP since February 2023 and works mostly on Kaitōrete with the Field Team there. He leads the mustelid workstream and is a very capable ranger loving the outdoors and the mission at hand. Since childhood, he has always had a burning passion for our biodiversity & the outdoors. Outside of work he spends a lot of his time fishing and exploring our beautiful country.

**Jayden Lum**
Pest Free Ranger- Kaitōrete
[email protected]

Jayden is a Pest Free Ranger currently leading the feral cat elimination on Kaitōrete. He has been with Pest Free since the start of the project (which was around 2021) contributing to both Kaitōrete and the wildside projects.
In his spare time, you will find him out caring for his bonsai, surfing, playing sport or otherwise enjoying the great outdoors.

**Kurt Barlow**
Pest Free Ranger-Wildside
[email protected]g.nz

Kurt started with PFBP in October 2023 and loves doing what he’s doing as a Pest Free Ranger. He works mostly out on the Wildside with the field team. The steep hills and bush of the Wildside environment keep him fit for his other life outside of work where he runs and tramps. He says, ‘every day is an adventure’. Outside of work he loves quizzes! Plus running, football, reading and a bit of gardening.

**Te Rongapai Carroll**
Pest Free Ranger-Wildside
[email protected]

Te Rongapai started in March 2024. He comes from the Wairewa Marae in Little River and lives in Duvauchelle. He has a heart for the work and sees himself as the kaitiaki of the whenua as well as helping protect the water. He is nearly fluent in Te Reo Maori and values the Kaupapa Maori way of life. He teaches kick boxing in his spare time, propagates native plants and enjoys carving and diving.

**Guy McKinnon**
Pest Free Ranger-Wildside
[email protected]g.nz

Guy has worked for PFBP since the project’s inception in 2021, so he is one of our longest standing rangers. He now works on a casual basis. He loves working in nature and the outdoors. He has always been coming to Banks Peninsula since childhood and now resides in Le Bons Bay. Outside work he loves tramping, mountaineering, sea kayaking, mountain biking and skiing, a real outdoorsy Guy!

**Chris Barker**
Pest Free Ranger-Wildside
[email protected]

Chris comes from the UK and has been living in Akaroa for the past 7 years, working in hospo. He’s always had a passion for the outdoors, and now that he has permanent residency here in NZ, he is now very happy to work with us.
Chris loves hiking so he is the perfect person to take on the very active position as Pest Free Ranger.