Who We Are
The Two Founding Trustees
NZBCT is a small charity organization founded in 2016 by two volunteer trustees:
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.
Helen Johnson - was our previous co-founder but is no longer with the organisation.
We are so proud to have two other volunteer Board Members:
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.
Liz Brunsden is our Secretary outside of the Board and Cat McLeod is a wonderful volunteer.
Our Bumblebee Expert
Nelson Pomeroy
Nelson’s life has revolved around bumblebees: From a teenager, keeping a nest of the long-tongued Bombus ruderatus in a glass topped box, foraging through a hole in the wall of the family home, to keeping nest-starting queens in his student hostel room at Massey. His graduate theses were on how bumblebee colonies grow and decline. His work has been practically oriented – developing observation hives that allow unimpeded observation of a colony’s growth cycle, to designing a commercial rearing system that has been used internationally for crop pollination. He has peer-reviewed international scientific articles on bumblebees.
Education is Nelson’s strong passion – he made a late career change to teach high school science. He believes that while instilling environmentally ethical values is important, our tamariki will have a stronger respect for “the children of Tāne” if they have learned the detailed natural history – the story – of the creatures around them. He looks forward to working with the NZBCT to further understanding of our local species, and assisting with resources so school children can observe and work with these amazing insects.
NZBCT is a Registered Conservation Trust CC53277
