Matthew Dale Australian Society for Limnology Conference 2017

Matthew Dale

Growing up in Gunaikurnai Country in the headwaters of the Gippsland Lakes in SE Victoria, I have always had a strong connection with water. I trained as a freshwater ecologist at La Trobe University before crossing the ditch to Aotearoa (New Zealand) to continue post grad study at the University of Otago (Dunedin). I spent several years working for the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) before spending ten years in local government as a water resource scientist, specialising in freshwater allocation, collaborative resource management, environmental flows, and fisheries monitoring. I am now proud to be working with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu as a Senior Advisor – Freshwater Management, working with Ngāi Tahu whānui to bring together Mātauranga Māori (traditional knowledge) and “western” science to protect and enhance their rights and interests freshwater. Empowering Ngāi Tahu whānui to achieve rangatiratanga (exercise authority) and kaitiakitanga (stewardship) in freshwater helps ensure that our freshwater is managed sustainably into the future Mō tātou, a, mō ka uri, a muri ake nei (for us and our children after us).