Dr Graeme Elliott, of Nelson, ONZM, for services to wildlife conservation
Dr Graeme Elliott has been employed with the Department of Conservation (DOC) and predecessor organisations since the 1980s. His research has significantly expanded New Zealand’s knowledge of its endangered birds and the threats to them. He is a member of Recovery Groups for Kakapo, Whio (blue duck), Orange-fronted kākāriki and Mohua (Yellowhead), principally as a Science Advisor. His PhD research led to improved predator control to protect threatened birds. He is regarded as a cornerstone of DOC’s large-scale predator control programmes. Dr Elliott and his partner have monitored the health of albatross populations in the subantarctic annually since 1991, much of it in their own time. They discovered both Gibson’s and Antipodean albatross populations were in a critical condition and have worked to alert others and find solutions.