
Who We Are
The Two Founding Trustees
NZBCT is a small charity organization founded in 2016 by two trustees:
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Geoff Brunsden
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Nationally recognised as an expert on exotic wildflower culture in NZ. Numerous television garden shows and event attendances as keynote speaker.
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Co-authored and published handbook on “Wildflowers of New Zealand”.
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Instigated the creation of a “home gardener,” a bumblebee hive which people can buy, establish and observe as a working hive at their place. Researched here and in the UK, the whole concept of how a similar type Bumblebee Trust could work here in NZ.
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Helen Johnson - was our previous co-founder but is no longer with the organisation.
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We are so proud to have two other Board Members:
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Rachel Weston - Rachel is a children's author and amongst her large repertoire has written two bumblebee books. Both are available in our online store.
Debbie Ireland - Debbie's has a business DW Results here in Tauranga and helps out with all our IT.
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Liz Brunsden is our Secretary outside of the Board.
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Our Bee Expert
The late Dr Barry J. Donovan first became interested in bumble bees over 50 years ago.
He had a B.Sc. in Zoology and an M.Sc. in Entomology form Auckland University, and a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of California, Davis.
Barry practiced entomology, mainly to do with bees and wasps, at the Canterbury Agriculture and Science Centre at Lincoln since 1969. Up to 350 nest boxes for bumble bees are managed annually. A recent project was the transference of queens of the uncommon Bombus subterraneus from Central Otago to the Christchurch area each spring in an attempt to establish the species in the area.

NZBCT is a Registered Conservation Trust CC53277
