Our People

Melanie (she/her) first heard about Matuku Link in 2023 when her daughter Eloise visited on a school trip and came home raving about all the cool things she had learned! It sounded like exactly the sort of stuff that Melanie wanted to learn more about too, so she looked up the website to find out how to visit. She has been a regular volunteer at the Sunday working bees ever since, along with husband Phil and daughters Eloise and Samantha.

With a background in language teaching, educational publishing and learning design, and a lifelong passion for birds and the New Zealand bush, Melanie supports the team with fundraising, working with school groups and developing educational resources.

Matthew (he/him) is joining the Matuku Link team across 2026 as part of his AUT Capstone placement, where he’ll be working on a science communication project exploring ways to share the stories and ecological work happening across the wetland.

He is currently completing a double degree in Law and Environmental Science, with a Geospatial minor, at Auckland University of Technology. He’s particularly interested in how environmental science and data can be communicated in ways that help people better understand and connect with the natural places around them.

Outside of university Matthew is the Secretary for Te Hōnonga a Iwi – Restoring Rosedale Park, a community-led urban restoration project on the Shore. In practice this seems to involve being part of a little bit of everything, governance, projects, systems, and often the jobs no one else really wants to deal with. If you ever find yourself near Rosedale, he highly recommends coming to check out the restoration work happening there.

He’s also heavily involved in all things hockey (playing, coaching, officiating, admin) and also St John Youth. Matthew is looking forward to spending time learning more about wetland ecology at Matuku Link and getting involved in the mahi happening across the site and meeting all the people behind it.

Contact Aileen at schools@matukulink.org.nz for anything education related.

Grac is a young queer conservationist who has recently come on board the team at Matuku Link to add their skills in storytelling for conservation. 

They have been volunteering with us for just over a year now, helping out with the School Holiday Programme, getting their hands dirty in the nursery, doing bait lines and general mahi around our wetlands. Growing up in the Waitākere Ranges, they developed a passion for connecting community and te taiao which spans both terrestrial and marine spaces.

Grac has a BA/BSc in Anthropology and Marine Science, and works for Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust as their Volunteer Coordinator. They regularly volunteer with other conservation initiatives and a peace education organisation, CISV, as well. As a young, queer, disabled person Grac strives to improve accessibility and intersectionality in conservation spaces for all.

With Christine’s background in ecology, and a skilled conservation field worker by trade, Christine is enjoying being able to practically assist the Matuku projects in growing predator control across the landscape.

Christine happened to be between contracts at Ark in the Park, when Annalily saw the opportunity to nab her and set her to work reconfiguring the bait lines around Stoney Creek. Since then Christine’s role has grown and she has been kept busy around the wetland, installing more lines, baiting, trapping, camera monitoring, and mapping, as well as regularly servicing the lines at Stoney Creek.

Introducing Maarten, who has traveled all the way from the Netherlands to join us at Matuku Link for a five-month internship. As part of his “Landscape and Environmental Management” studies, Maarten is focusing on a key project to explore why matuku (bittern) calls are more frequent in certain areas. He’s determined to not only hear one but also spot one in the wild! Alongside this, he’ll be involved in a range of other conservation projects during his time here. Welcome, Maarten!

Leah joined Matuku Link in 2022, bringing her love of learning and passion for the natural world to our education programme. A former primary school teacher, Leah has worked in schools in both New Zealand and the UK. While living in Bristol, she volunteered at Bristol Zoo, giving talks about and taking care of a range of animals, including snakes, hissing cockroaches, and ferrets. Nowadays, you’ll find her out in the wetlands with school groups and holiday programme children, getting excited about the insects, eels, birds, plants, and magic of our wonderful wetlands. She’s also your go-to person for any queries relating to school visits and our school holiday programme.

Contact Leah at schools@matukulink.org.nz for anything education related!

Rebecca joined Matuku Link in 2023, after volunteering with our education programme for a year. She grew up locally exploring the Waitākere Ranges and West Coast beaches. Now she shares her love of the natural world with her three children.

Rebecca brings her experience from 10 years of child education, fundraising, and event organisation with Playcentre Aotearoa. More recently she has been involved with setting up an environmentally conscious online business that inspired families to explore nature-play while being kind to the world around them. Rebecca is also involved in running the Kiwi Conservation Club in Waitakere for the most junior members of our local Forest & Bird.

In addition to educating the children who come here, Rebecca also manages our Matuku Link shop.

Contact Rebecca at shop@matukulink.org.nz