Russell Taylor

Lab Technician
Phone: 03-364-2987 ext 7791

I havean MSc fromtheUniversityof Canterbury (2001) and am currently the Project Manager for the UC Tonga Initiativeand the Science Project Manager and trustee of EcoCARE Pacific Trust.

I am a research assistant to Professor Schiel and have been involved in projects that relate to the physical and biological influences on marine invertebrate larval dispersal, recruitment and settlement at sites around Banks Peninsula.

I am a certified Local Launch Opperator and skipper UC research craft.

I designed, co-ordinated, and lectured, the University of Canterbury Continuing Education courses, Glacial and Non-glacial Stream Ecology and Natural Resources Conservation Biology, and have supervised a number of undergraduate biology laboratory courses.

I am the current coordinator and lecture for the UC Environmental Studies for UC Opportunities.

As Project Manager of the University of Canterbury Tonga Educational Initiative I am involved in founding the relationships and project direction of educational initiatives in Tonga. These initiatives have been reward by overseeing projects carried out in Tonga (Invasive Mosquitoes and Mosquito Borne Diseases) and by developing closer relations with the government and people of Tonga culminating with the recent visit to UC by the Minister of Education.

Research Project Manager - University of Canterbury/EcoCARE. With funding secured from CEPF (Critical Ecological Protection Fund) we were able investigate invasive mosquitoes and mosquito-vectored diseases in Tonga. I subsequently managed all aspects of the project; including coordinating 6 research staff, financial administration, logistics within the Tongan archipelago, establishment of outreach programmes, liaison with government, local dignitaries and community, as well as media promotion in Tonga and NZ. Scientific duties included sample processing, data analysis and collaborative report and journal article writing.

In addition to my involvement in university research and teaching, I am actively involved in environmental research and conservation outside the university, both commercially and voluntarily. As a founding director of the environmental consulting company, C.I.B.E.R. (Cheiron Institute of Biological and Environmental Research) I regularly consult to Golder Kingett Mitchell and Montgomery Watson.

With my co-director, C.I.B.E.R. conceptualised and designed a unique eco-tourism venture of a tree-top walk and resort in Franz Josef.  In my own time, I have been involved in the restoration of urban streams and I am currently in the final stages of co-authoring a taxonomic guide to New Zealand beetles.

I have initiated and am coordinating a national science competition for 5th, 6th and 7th form students in Tonga with prizes awarded for the top three projects as determined by myself and other staff members at the University of Canterbury.

ECoCARE Pacific Trust web address; www.freewebs.com/russellt

Publications

•     J.S Harding, C. Brown, F. Jones R. Taylor, (2007) Mosquitoes are a significant pest and human health issue in the Kingdom of Tonga. Australian Journal of Entomology 46, 332–338

•     J.S. Harding, C. Brown, F. Brown, R.C. Taylor (2006) A preliminary assessment of the distribution of mosquitoes in the kingdom of Tonga: potential threats to biodiversity through invasive pathogens. School of Biological Sciences Research Report

•     Taylor, R.C., R.M. Ewers (2003) The invertebrate fauna inhabiting tree holes in a red beech (Nothofagus fusca) tree. The Weta, 25, 24-27

•     Milner, A.M.; Taylor, R.C.; Winterbourn, M.J. (2001) Longitudinal distribution of macroinvertebrates in two glacier-fed New Zealand Rivers. Freshwater Biology 46: 1765-1775

•     Taylor R.C. (2001) Macroinvertebrate community structure of glacial and non-glacial streams in South Westland. M.Sc. Thesis University of Canterbury.