Meet the Boffa Miskell Biosecurity team: Dr Helen Nathan

Helen is playing an integral role in protecting Northland’s biodiversity.

Dr Helen Nathan joined Boffa Miskell’s Whangarei office in early 2023, after six years working in Wellington for a research and development entity.

“I grew up in Dargaville, so the return to Northland was something of a homecoming for me,” Helen says.

“I have always been interested in conservation — ever since doing a school project on Kakapo when I was about10 years old,” she continues. “During my studies at University, this developed into a fascination for the ecology and behaviour of the invasive mammalian predators that are at the root of so much of our biodiversity decline.”

Helen earned her doctorate at the University of Auckland. During her time there, she was able to contribute to the successful eradication of mammalian pests from Antipodes Island, working as a research assistant for her PhD supervisor.

“This was the experience of a lifetime!” Helen says. “We travelled from Christchurch to the island on the 15-foot yacht Tiama, then spent a chilly three weeks on the island carrying out pilot trials in preparation for a planned mouse eradication. We were the last team to stay in a storied DOC cabin, which was wiped out the following year by a landslide.”

Helen was involved with a bait uptake trial, which distributed non-toxic baits containing the biomarker pyranine, then trapped mice to see how many of them had eaten the bait (the biomarker stains their digestive tract with a dye that fluoresces bright green under UV light).

“The landscape on Antipodes Island is like nothing else I’ve ever seen – sparse and windswept and coloured in muted greens and browns,” Helen says. “I was privileged to observe Antipodean wandering albatross chicks on the nest and see adult pairs performing complex dances as they greeted each other. Walking through the thigh-high tussocks, you would often get a fright as you disturbed seals that would shout loudly and waddle away at top speed.”

The eradication operation was carried out in 2016, and was declared successful after intensive monitoring in 2018, leaving Antipodes Island completely free of mammalian pests.

Helen says the diversity of project work at Boffa Miskell is a welcome opportunity to interact with a variety of clients with very different needs and goals. Among her current project work, Helen is working on feasibility studies looking at the potential for predator-fencing to protect biodiversity at two Northland locations.

“The work in Northland is quite diverse,” she explains. “Boffa Miskell biosecurity consultants work on advising projects from all over the motu – for example, we have worked with pest eradication projects close to home such as Predator Free Pēwhairangi-Whānui (Bay of Islands), but also further afield such as the Rongomaiwahine Iwi Trust in Mahia Peninsula.

“Recently, the highly invasive caulerpa seaweed has been found in the Bay of Islands. I’m not part of the team involved with that work, but it’s certainly a highly topical biosecurity issue in Northland right now.”

Outside of the office, Helen’s two young daughters take up much of her time. “You’ll most likely find me at the local playground or swimming pool,” she says. 

“I’m a lifelong bookworm, so when I do get a moment to myself, you’ll see me with my nose buried deep in a mystery novel. If I didn’t choose this path, I think I might have liked to be a librarian or some kind of writer.”