Trustees and Officers

Maurice Mehlhopt popped his first swan plant into his Ponsonby garden and that one plant has now become many. He enjoys it when there is a swirl of monarch butterflies in his garden over the summer.

Having spent all his working life in the strongly logical hard edge of the business world, how a slug shuffles on a green coat and emerges as a butterfly amazes him.

Jacqui lives in Blockhouse Bay, Auckland where she is a freelance writer, desktop publisher, and the persona of ‘Madam Butterfly’ when she visits schools to talk about… butterflies.

Jacqui has been playing with butterflies ever since she can remember; taught all she knew to her two sons and three grandchildren too.

She has had other adventures too, which are on websites www.madambutterfly.co.nz and www.bitbybit.co.nz.

Mark Bateman was the NZ Regional Director of Storage King, working to expand the business throughout NZ. He is a Life Member of the Self Storage Association of Australasia, an industry he has worked in for many years.

While family is his prime interest being a Life Member of Eden Rugby sees him involved in club organisation and watching a lot of rugby during the winter. He also likes classic cars, belonging to the Zephyr Club, and driving a Mark 1 Zephyr as his hobby car.

During the late 90’s, when Auckland was sprayed for the painted apple moth, Mark saw the devastation of monarch butterflies in the Mt Albert area. He says that if he can help bring colour to our gardens then he thinks that it is a good thing. Mark has the responsibility for the development of our National Butterfly Centre / Te Matauranga o nga Pūrerehua o Aotearoa.

Devangi Farah is very passionate about monarch and admiral butterflies and is keen to learn about all the other moths and butterflies found in NZ.

Originally from South Africa, she moved to NZ 15 years ago and is very lucky to live in beautiful Golden Bay on the top of the South Island, where she can tend to the butterflies and hopes to contribute to the conservation of moths and butterflies in the local and wider region.

Connal is a researcher in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago and holds a Master of Science with Distinction in Zoology alongside certifications in Science Communication and Plant Science. His research focuses on the behavioural and cognitive ecology of insects, with some pollination biology and science communication thrown in.

Connal shares a love of the natural world through science outreach and communication, and works as a Science Communicator at the Tūhura Otago Museum and as a board member of the Bug of the Year organising committee through the Entomological Society of New Zealand.

His passion for ecology, conservation, and community representation and engagement with science has given him many opportunities to engage with the public through various projects – most recently being the science advisor for the informative and delightful “Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees” by author Rachel Weston and a collaboration with artists from the Dunedin School of Art on a Participatory Art and Science Project, BEE Creative, funded through Curious Minds by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment.

In his spare time Connal enjoys spending time outdoors, listening to and playing music, and mucking around in the kitchen trying out new recipes.

Franco has been working in business architecture, process management, continuous improvement and project management for more than twenty years. He now works as a principal business architect with a government agency.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, his work has brought him to various parts of the world, including India, the Middle East, Europe, and now NZ. He is based in Wadestown, Wellington.

One passion he has picked up since living in NZ is gardening. He enjoys growing native plants like kohekohe, kākābeak and kawakawa in his garden, and through gardening, he started appreciating the wider ecosystem including moths and butterflies, birds and micro-organisms in soil, which all play an intangible (to human beings) yet important part in keeping the ecosystem intact.

His other interests include restoring period house features such as wooden panelling, writing short stories, and hiking.

Hugh Smith joined the trustees in January 2015. He had been a teacher for 31 years, nineteen years of these as a primary school principal.

Throughout his teaching career, Hugh has used the natural environment as a teaching context and has facilitated numerous camps and field trips believing that students should learn about the world they live in by going out and exploring it. Hugh’s work experience has included accounting, residential childcare, youth work and as field assistant with a wildlife film team. He also volunteers at the butterfly garden at Te Puna Quarry Park, and supports Norm Twigge on the Forest Ringlet Project.

Hugh lives in Omokoroa, just north of Tauranga and also enjoys reading, gardening, kayaking, environmental projects and travel.

Martin has worked in business consulting, marketing, marketing research, strategic planning, sales and in the investment advisory industry for almost 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Management Studies (Hons) from University of Waikato and is a current RMA Commissioner. He has studied German language to Masters level, French to end BA, learned Dutch, two years of te reo and has a Statistics minor. Of late he has consulted to local councils and has served as a Whanganui District Councillor.

He has worked for large multinational and national organisations including AHI/Carter Holt Harvey, American Express/Fletcher Challenge and BNZ. Later he created his own consultancy and several businesses, managing the three-year strategic planning process for American Express and the Bank of New Zealand.

He is on the Gordon’s Park Scenic Reserve Board which, with DoC, administers one of the last stands of kahikatea forest in the lower North Island. Martin has planted and weeded at the reserve as a volunteer twice-monthly for the last 6 or 7 years. Martin has also been on Pakaitore Historic Reserve Board for nine years, leading its strategic planning process.

His various roles have provided him with many contacts amongst Tupoho, but also Tamaupoko, Ngati Apa and Nga Rauru.

Carol Stensness lives in the Far North, having escaped from Auckland (and the traffic), and has had a lifelong interest in Monarchs. She remembers having swan plants at home as a child.

In 2002 she started rearing butterflies in a couple of converted wooden banana boxes, partly to help save the few plants she had, and also to protect the caterpillars from paper wasps. Now she has numerous caterpillar castles and finds them invaluable.

Carol has a background in administrative and accounting support, has been a member of the MBNZT since its inception, and Treasurer since 2010.

Pictured: Carol with her grandson, Riki.

Brian Patrick is a professional butterfly scientist and the author/ photographer for several books on natural history including two that specialised on butterflies.

He has researched Lepidoptera for nearly fifty years in NZ and overseas, producing over 250 publications on the subject. He has served as a Ministerial appointment on the Otago Conservation Board, and as Past President of the New Zealand Entomological Society. Previously he was Project Leader of the Otago Museum’s Tropical Butterfly House development and has also been Director of Central Stories Museum, Alexandra, Central Otago.

With his son Hamish he authored BUTTERFLIES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC in 2012. He has recently retired as a consultant scientist based in Christchurch specialising in insect–plant relationships.