Meet The Team
Passionate Involvement in the AUT CGIs
Niven Winder
Grounds Maintenance Supervisor
North, South and City Campus
Niven is the eyes and ears behind the whole operation. He knows the gardens back to front and has extensive knowledge on gardening and adopting sustainable gardening practices. If you're looking to get involved with the gardens across the 3 campuses -Niven is your man
Rory Chacko
Estates Operations Manager
North, South and City Campus
Rory is passionate about sustainability and providing support to students who want to take on sustainable initiatives in and around AUT. Rory was a driver of the bee hotel and raised garden beds at North Campus, with various other sustainable projects in the pipeline.
The Nutrition Team
Dr. Caryn Zinn (feautred), Professor Grant Schofield and Dr. Carolyn Cairncross
North Campus
The design, implementation and maintenance of the gardens was a key practical component of the year 3 Lifestyle Nutrition paper, led by Caryn, Carolyn and Grant. Together, they were the driving force for the North gardens which were initiated in 2019. The nutrition team hope students gain an insight into the "bigger picture" concerning nutrition, sustainability and holistic well-being from being immersed in the gardens.
Tammi Wilson Uluinayau
Māori equity academic
Founder of Matariki gardens
North Campus
Tammi established the Matariki gardens in 2019 in celebration of Matariki (Māori new year). She holds an annual Matariki planting day in the gardens each year and is passionate about teaching students about Rongoā Māori (traditional Māori medicine).
Mark Jones
Senior lecturer
Founder of the Outdoor Classroom
North Campus
Mark established the Outdoor Classroom in 2019 as a suitable space for outdoor practitioners to learn and practise foundational outdoor skills such as cooking on fire, crafting with flax or making items with axe/ knife. He hopes the Outdoor Classroom becomes a place that students feel comfortable claiming as their own and have the freedom to cook, build and socialise there whenever it is not being used for structured teaching sessions.
Kayla, Justine & Sacha
Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Students
North Campus
Kayla Eybers, Justine Vincent and Sacha O'Reilly are present and past students from the BSR degree and garden enthusiasts, who were the first to recognise the need for communication platform to connect the three campus gardens. Together, they designed and developed the AUT CGI website to promote the initiative and enhance communication between key stakeholders.