The Council - New Zealand Speleological Society

NZSS COUNCIL

Council members and contributors

COUNCIL MEMBERS

John "Oz" Patterson

NZSS President

nzss-president@caves.org.nz

Oz has been caving for many years and has achieved so many goals for NZSS that he has been granted Honorary membership. Oz stepped in as President as no other person was willing to take on the job and it was going to be vacant for a second term.

Rod Murray

Business Manager

nzss-business@caves.org.nz

The first time I went caving was on Rangitoto Island in 2018, and I quickly got hooked and learnt how important good knee pads are! I am a professional engineer, and a relative newcomer to the sport of caving and all things associated.

As a real fan of the technical side and also of “the business” of caving, I also support Auckland Speleo Group (ASG) as their Secretary. Yes, I am also a fan of muffins so squeezes can be a real challenge.

Have also joined HTG so I can use their flush loos when in Waitomo. Delighted to be able to join NZSS on the Council and support all the members and the six NZ regional clubs where possible. Great times and opportunities abound underground, aboveground, and ahead.

I love the ol’ saying of: “… if we do the same thing today as we did yesterday then we’ll get the same result tomorrow”. So, let’s embrace the future with positivity and a sense of fun.

See you underground.

“Deep down there’s a bit of good in all of us 😊”

Jonathan Davies

Secretary

nzss-secretary@caves.org.nz

Johnathon is an active caver and is involved in all aspects from CaveSAR to Sump Rescue. Committee positions on HTG and stepped in as the NZSS Secretary as this position was left vacant for too long and loading the existing members.

Anna Stewart

Research & Conservation Coordinator

nzss-conservation@caves.org.nz

The first time I went into a cave was to get out of the rain and have my coffee - things haven't changed much since then. Sitting around I saw lots of cool cave critters and got hooked on cave ecology and karst conservation. My future dream is to see the google search for 'cave beetles in NZ and that our amazing caves and karst area are looked after and treasured as they deserve to be.

Vacant

Training & Safety Coordinator

nzss-trainingandsafety@caves.org.nz

This can be a challenging position if the person does not have the skill sets,. Currently NZSS have been utilizing our usual training providers.

Lindsay Main

Information Officer | 03 337 1256

nzss-information@caves.org.nz

I started caving quite a while ago and have been involved in a lot of cave exploration, particularly in Bulmer Cavern, and at Charleston on the West Coast. Previously I’ve held the same NZSS positions, so I haven’t made much progress in the past 20 years.

Recently NZSS has been building up the online information repository, and I’m keen to support and increase this approach. The key project now is to collect information on South Island caves and make this available to NZSS members through a secure website. I’m also interested in the possibility of NZSS eventually owning the land that contains some of our major caves that are currently on private land.

Justin Hall

SAR Coordinator

021 0271 0837

An avid caver; helping home the lost, missing and injured from their adventures.

Robert Martelletti

Membership Coordinator | 06 354 2088

nzss-membership@caves.org.nz

I started caving at the age of 16 by joining the Taranaki Caving Club. After 40 years of caving, I am still scared of heights, tight places and don’t mind the dark if I have not seen a horror movie for several months. I then became a member of the Manawatu Speleological Group and increased my diversity in karst areas and my waist line I am generally very quiet and rather difficult to extract a conversation from, however this has not prevented me from dedicating time to a Society that has benefited me so much over the years.

NON COUNCIL OFFICERS