Nicky is one of two directors within the M.E Research team. She has some 15 years’ experience, mainly in research and consulting at M.E but also in planning at the local government level. Nicky is broadly interested in assisting communities to improve their wellbeing, including through enhancement of ecological sustainability and resilience to natural hazards. These interests are reflected in her chosen academic background in geography, law and, more recently, a PhD completed in ecological economics and supported through a Bright Futures scholarship.

During her time at M.E, Nicky has worked on a range of exciting and cutting-edge projects. These include the creation a of new modelling tool, MERIT, that simulates economic systems disrupted by infrastructure outages or natural hazards, development of a framework for valuing the benefits of different types of water demand management and assisting local government and stakeholders to assess alternative transition pathways towards improved freshwater quality. She has expertise in complex system enquiry and economic evaluation frameworks and methods. Nicky is currently a Research Aim leader within the ‘Transitioning Taranaki to Volcanic Futures’ Endeavour research programme.