Introducing Dr Rebecca Eivers

We are delighted to announce that Dr Rebecca Eivers has now joined Streamlined Environmental in a permanent role as Freshwater Ecology & Wetland Specialist. Rebecca will split her working time between her home in Raglan and our Hamilton office.

Rebecca has experience as a researcher, consultant and regional council scientist in the fields of applied freshwater and wetland ecology. Her PhD research at the University of Waikato focused on the efficacy of constructed treatment wetlands, including floating islands, to improve water quality and enhance biodiversity in support of peat lake restoration within intensive agricultural landscapes. Rebecca’s MSc research at the University of Canterbury investigated the response of stream macroinvertebrate communities to the composition of riparian buffers in large-scale production pine forests.

Rebecca’s work focuses on assessing the impacts of land use on aquatic ecosystems, and developing and implementing appropriate and effective mitigation, remediation and/or restoration measures. She has extensive experience with water quality issues associated with nutrient and sediment pollution, as well as the response of aquatic ecosystems (including zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and native fish communities) to land use pressures and habitat restoration.

Rebecca devised, chaired and presented at a special session on agricultural constructed treatment wetlands at the recent 50th NZFSS annual conference in Nelson. The session was closely aligned with the theme of the conference, “Ka mua, ka muri: Looking back, moving forward”, with Rebecca ensuring the presenters focused on what they’ve learnt from their work, what worked and what didn’t, and where research is heading in New Zealand on treatment wetlands in agricultural landscapes.

Since working with Streamlined Rebecca has designed and constructed various treatment wetlands for agricultural runoff for private landowners, regional council land management teams, and NZ Landcare Trust. Rebecca has also been involved in developing a catchment-scale remediation/mitigation prioritisation framework for Living Water, and a project for Fonterra assessing the function and performance of an existing treatment wetland processing irrigated wastewater.

Rebecca can be contacted at rebecca@streamlined.co.nz