Our People: Trustees and Office Holders
Co-founder and Trustee; Trust Chair
MSc in Wildlife Management, University of Otago
Danilo is a scientist, entomologist, wildlife photographer and a keen outdoors person. He is part of the expert panel advising the Department of Conservation on the conservation status of New Zealand Orthoptera. In recent years, he has been working on the taxonomy of New Zealand Rhaphidophoridae (‘cave wētā’), and has been surveying giant wētā around the South Island.
Co-founder and Trustee; Trust Secretary
MSc in Wildlife Management, University of Otago
Maddy is an entomologist passionate about the conservation of New Zealand insects. She has worked on the endangered Tekapo ground wētā and robust grasshopper in the Mackenzie District.
Co-founder and Trustee; Trust Treasurer
Team Leader and Ranger, Driving Creek Conservation Park (Coromandel)
Originally trained as an architect and forged in the fires of German efficiency, Saskia has been working in NZ conservation since 2017, protecting Aotearoa’s unique flora and fauna, from ancient invertebrates to fragile native plants, and sharing that knowledge through community education.
Based in Coromandel, she works on local biodiversity and community projects, while also heading off to offshore islands or other parts of the country whenever there’s a chance to get her hands dirty and widen her knowledge. When she’s not in the bush or behind a desk, she’s camping in places her mother would disapprove of, cycle touring or hiking questionable tracks, or building odd things that might one day be useful.
Trustee, appointed 1 Sept. 2026
Senior Zookeeper
Paul is a qualified senior zookeeper whose career has spanned 44 years. He has looked after a plethora of taxa, including birds, mammals, reptiles, fish and various invertebrates. Paul initiated a programme involving wētā in 1986 and has been working professionally with these insects to the present day. He has been intrinsically involved in the conservation enhancement of three threatened species.
Trustee, appointed 1 Sept. 2026
