Streamlined Environmental Ltd aquatic ecologists Dr Rebecca Eivers and Dr Ngaire Phillips have prepared a report on the applicability of the Stream Ecological Valuation (SEV) methodology as a semi-quantitative framework from which to derive functional scores of Freshwater Ecosystem ... Read More
Ngaire Phillips
16
Feb2021
09
Nov2020
Catchment water quality models were recently developed for both Horizons Regional Council (HRC) and Environment Southland (ES) by Dr Tim Cox. The models simulate the generation, transport, and fate of nutrients through dendritic river networks covering the entirety of each region. Calculated nutrient concentrations at key stream ... Read More
07
Jul2020
Mike Stewart teamed up with Louis Tremblay (Cawthron Institute) to report on potential issues associated with emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) in the Southland region. Examples of EOCs include industrial chemicals (e.g. flame retardants, plasticisers, surfactants, UV ... Read More
06
Jun2020
Water Quality Scientist Chris Dada has moved on from Streamlined Environmental, after 3 years with the company. While with us, we supported Chris to develop his skills in quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), big data analysis and environmental consulting. He also enhanced his skills in data analysis through ... Read More
11
May2020
Dr Rebecca Eivers has been working with farmer Richard Cookson designing and implementing a farm-scale CTW-train (Constructed Treatment Wetland Train) on a watercourse draining an intensive agricultural catchment supporting dairy cow production. The watercourse flows to the Waitoa River on the Hauraki Plains, near Springdale (Waikato). ... Read More
15
Apr2020
Models are used to both make predictions about the future of natural systems and to gain a better understanding of current conditions. Their use in the field of water resources is widespread, for simulating both the quantity and quality of freshwater systems. Models will undoubtedly continue to serve ... Read More
18
Mar2020
Streamlined Environmental Director Dr Ngaire Phillips recently undertook a week-long intensive course run by the Institute of Directors, which explores director's roles and responsibilities. As a Director, shareholder and employee, Ngaire, along with co-owner Mike Stewart, face many of the same challenges in running their small ... Read More
18
Mar2020
Water allocation modelling is relatively new to the scene in New Zealand but it's rapidly becoming a hot topic. Increasing pressures on our freshwater systems from population and industry, and a changing climate, have motivated recent mandates on freshwater quantity accounting. Through the National Policy Statement ... Read More
05
Feb2020
Director and Estuarine, Coastal and Marine Specialist Dr Mal Green has recently left Streamlined Environmental. Having stepped down from Streamlined, he’s joined forces with former Director Dr Jim Cooke at RMAScience, where their focus is on RMA Decision Maker roles. As Mal puts it “Neither of ... Read More
05
Feb2020
We are excited to welcome early career scientist Kendall Leitch to our team at Streamlined Environmental. Kendall has recently completed her MSc in Marine Science at the University of Auckland, where she investigated the effects of anthropogenic noise on marine soundscapes. She is keen to develop ... Read More
19
Dec2019
Streamlined Environmental’s wetland specialist Dr Rebecca Eivers recently presented at an Information Day for Resource Managers, facilitated by NZ Landcare Trust. Rebecca presented on work she has been undertaking on edge of field mitigation options to improve water quality and biodiversity on Cookson Trust Farms in ... Read More
19
Sep2019
Dr Jarrod Walker has left Streamlined Environmental to form his own company – Tātaki Ltd – in Auckland. While at Streamlined, Jarrod has been working on a number of Auckland-based projects involving providing support to mana whenua in various consenting and planning processes, including ecological enhancement of the Downtown Public ... Read More
11
Sep2019
Dr Chris Dada has added to his considerable range of microbiology and water-quality modelling skills by successfully completing a Postgraduate Certificate programme at Massey University with courses on a range of data analysis and modelling methods. During the courses, Chris extensively applied Python, SAS Enterprise Guide and SAS Enterprise ... Read More
29
Aug2019
Environmental science obviously floats my boat, but for sheer drama and WTF, I go to the classics: physics, cosmology and maths. If you are also so inclined, then let me recommend the podcasts of Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time: Science radio series. These are available on the BBC Iplayer Radio ... Read More
28
Jul2019
It is now 50 years since Apollo 11 delivered Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin onto the surface of the Moon. Thinking that NASA’s Apollo program paid its way by giving us such technological marvels as non-stick frypans and pens that write in zero gravity is like thinking Richard Feynman’s greatest creation ... Read More
30
Jun2019
Want to know the median black disc sighting range in lowland rural rivers in the Bay of Plenty region in 2016? How about in all the North Island regions, compared to the South Island regions? Well, check out the Water Quality Interactive Dashboard, which was created by Dr ... Read More
26
Jun2019
Dr Tim Cox developed a catchment water-quality model for the entire Waikato River catchment using Streamlined’s Contaminant Allocation and Simulation Model ( CASM). The model was developed to support, and advance, the technical analysis underpinning Waikato Regional Council’s Plan Change One, which focuses on managing ... Read More
25
Jun2019
The graph speaks for itself: with routine but infrequent water sampling, you can miss many instances of faecal contamination exceeding bathing water standards (BWS). To fill in the gaps, Dr Chris Dada has developed a way to produce swimming risk “nowcasts” which, as the name implies, tells you ... Read More
10
Jun2019
Proving that there is more to life than water quality and the NPSFM, Jim Cooke and Mal Green recently won the prestigious, 2-day Riverside James R Hill Annual Pairs golf tournament. The event was contested by 104 Veterans (old people) from all over the North Island. For those ... Read More
01
Apr2019
Dr Jarrod Walker of Streamlined Environmental Limited is collaborating with University of Auckland (Associate Professor Nick Shears) to restore the mauri of subtidal rocky reefs. Having been provided with Foundation North (GIFT) funding, this project aims to work with mana whenua to investigate ways ... Read More
29
Mar2019
After 43 years as a scientist and science consultant, Dr Jim Cooke, Streamlined Environmental’s founding Director, has decided he wants to slow down a bit, and has left the company. He is not fully retiring, however, and remains available and ready ... Read More
11
Mar2019
Dr Tim Cox, Streamlined Environmental’s Water Resources Modeller, has developed models that address water allocation (SWAM or Simplified Water Allocation Model) and contaminant allocation (CASM or Contaminant Allocation Simulation Model). We are now offering webinars which provide the opportunity ... Read More
25
Feb2019
Streamlined Environmental’s (SEL) Director and Aquatic Ecologist Dr Ngaire Phillips is in Hawkes Bay for the next 2 weeks as a member of a Special Tribunal which has been appointed to consider an application for a Water Conservation Order (WCO) on ... Read More
05
Nov2018
We are delighted to announce that Dr Jarrod Walker has joined Streamlined Environmental as a Marine and Coastal Specialist. Jarrod will be based in Auckland, where he has been deeply involved over the past 10 years with research, management, ... Read More
25
Oct2018
Malcolm Green is currently serving as an independent commissioner on a panel of three convened by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to decide an application by the Port of Napier for resource consents for expanding the port. The other two commissioners are ... Read More
08
Aug2018
Streamlined Environmental’s Ecology and Ecotoxicology Specialist Dr Ngaire Phillips has been re-appointed to the EPA’s HSNO Committee for a further 3 years. The HSNO Committee considers applications for hazardous substances, and for new organisms into New Zealand, ... Read More
28
Jul2018
We are delighted to announce that Christopher Dada has been admitted as a Member of the New Zealand Institute of Environmental Health (NZIEH), having satisfied the requirements of a recognised tertiary qualification and relevant work experience in a field related to ... Read More
22
Feb2018
March 2018, What it will take to fix Kaipara Harbour
A new study by a consortium of researchers led by Streamlined Environmental Ltd has shown that the bulk of the sediment depositing each year in Kaipara Harbour is ... Read More
07
Feb2018
Sharing is caring, but not particularly so, when you must share your favourite bathing spot with bugs that make you sick! Freshwater bodies are susceptible to contamination and can serve as a vehicle for transmission of microbial pathogens. The ... Read More
23
Jan2018
January 2018, Malcolm Green accredited as RMA decision maker
Dr Malcolm Green has recently completed MfE’s Making Good Decisions Programme, and is now accredited as an RMA decision maker.
Under the Resource Management Act, persons must be ... Read More
15
Jan2018
It’s summer, everyone is at the beach, let’s have some fun. Either I was asleep when I was being taught this in school or my senility is progressing much faster than I thought, but the following that I recently read in a book* came as a complete (and delightful) surprise to ... Read More
12
Dec2017
November 2017, Streamlined scientist member of team awarded 5-year MBIE funding
Dr Mike Stewart (Environmental Chemist) is a key researcher in a 5-year project on “Managing the risk of emerging organic contaminants” (EOCs) recently announced by the MBIE.
The ... Read More
12
Dec2017
November 2017, Contaminant load limits and the concept of the “critical point”
Malcolm Green presented a talk on contaminant load limits and the “critical point” at the New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society 2017 Annual Conference held in Hamilton.... Read More
24
Nov2016
November 2016, Waves in Estuaries Presentation
Malcolm Green gave a public talk on “Waves in Estuaries” at the offices of MetOcean Solutions, Raglan, on Friday November 11.
The rise and fall of the tide is the most obvious physical feature ... Read More
15
Nov2016
Maths aside, we cannot ever truly know anything. Science does not prove things – it disproves things. This keeps us all in jobs, of course, arguing about what we think we know and don’t know. (Maths is different – mathematicians can prove things to be true. I don’t know whether ... Read More
24
Sep2016
September 2016 Waves and Sediment Flocculation
In the shallow, largely intertidal estuaries that are typical of New Zealand, wind-lashed, whitecapped waves are important. For instance, they scour intertidal flats of mud that is eroded from the land and ... Read More
24
Jul2016
Measuring “total” contaminant concentrations doesn’t always tell us about the portion that is actually able to be taken up by an organism (bioavailable). It is this bioavailable portion that is potentially toxic. Contaminant concentrations in aquatic organisms such as shellfish have been widely used as a direct measure of the ... Read More
24
Jun2016
Putting PRINCE2 into Practice
Dr Ngaire Phillips recently gained certification as a PRINCE2 Practitioner. PRINCE2 (an acronym for PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a world-class international project management method. It is widely used internationally and is increasingly being adopted by government and private organisations throughout ... Read More
16
Jun2014
I think you’d all agree that protecting our valuable natural resources while enabling social and economic growth is challenging. The recently recommended limit for nitrate in water of 0.8 mg/L proposed for the Tukituki River is ... Read More
09
May2014
Shortly after I posted my last blog about the health significance of nitrate in drinking water, the Guardian website ran a piece by Alex Bellos, author of the recently-published book Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers ... Read More
22
Apr2014
Macroinvertebrates, or stream bugs, have been the focus of much debate amongst New Zealand’s freshwater science fraternity in recent times. To address declining water quality, the New Zealand government has proposed a National Objectives Framework (NOF), which includes a set of national bottom line values ... Read More
07
Apr2014
Every day, we make decisions that affect our health and well-being. Most of these decisions are based on some understanding of science, whether we realize it or not. Should I have that extra piece of cake (biology, chemistry)? Do I have enough time to cross the road before that car ... Read More
24
Mar2014
Reports of nitrate pollution of groundwater, with concentrations above the safe “New Zealand drinking water standard”, or World Health Organisation Guidelines, have been prominent in the media recently. This is particularly the case in Canterbury, where the Medical ... Read More