Alison Collins Establishment Advisory Group member, Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform

Alison has a background in geomorphology, having studied in the UK, Europe, and Mississippi before moving to New Zealand 20 years ago. She spent 12 years at Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, where she oversaw research in ecosystems, soils, land use, and informatics. She collaborated extensively with councils and central government to understand and prioritise science needs, as well as with the science community to find strategies to improve science uptake and utilisation. In this role, she founded and became director of a centre for integrating and disseminating data and science-based tools. Alison began working at the Ministry for the Environment as Departmental Chief Science Advisor in August 2017. Her position focuses on translating science and navigating the science system so decision-makers can better access and use research.