Date: 14th April 2025
An interest in modern learning design sent Chris from New York to Auckland, and a desire to share his love for the outdoors with others landed him here Queenstown.
Welcome to the role of Education & Outreach Officer, Chris! How did you get here? Tell us a little about yourself.
Hi Queenstown! I am a New Yorker by birth but moved to New Zealand in 2018 to be a primary school teacher here after teaching for 2 years in the Bronx, NYC.
I wanted to come to New Zealand to learn from and be a part of an educational system, which from an American perspective, is considered very progressive, with open plan classrooms, lots of collaboration and a place-based approach to curriculum design.
After reading about how well New Zealand schools combined modern, collaborative teaching styles with a focus on getting kids outdoors in their local environments, I wanted to be part of it.
My plan originally was to take lessons from the “New Zealand way” back to New York and help schools implement some of what New Zealand offers.
But while teaching up in Auckland, I spent a lot of time outdoors, hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding and built a photography business on the side, working with outdoor brands all across the country. I pivoted away from my research idea to pursue photography and relief teaching instead.
I had the chance to visit Queenstown/Wānaka several times and do some work here for various events. I knew this was the place I would rather be, with people that pursued an outdoor lifestyle.
So after 6 years in Auckland, I made the move with my partner and we haven’t looked back!
I feel grateful to have found this role, where I get to share my love for nature and contribute to the Queenstown community in a tangible way.
When I am not working, you can find me running and biking all over the Queenstown trails, or getting into the backcountry on my splitboard in winter getting… all with my camera in hand!
Where did you grow up? Which trees are prominent in your childhood memories?
I grew up in a small town in Bergen County, New Jersey (about an hour’s drive from NYC). Being in the suburbs, we were lucky to grow up with a bit of land and space, so I was always playing outside on the lawn or in the woods after school until it got dark and I had to come in for dinner.
We were surrounded by beautiful maple trees, evergreen North American pines and Japanese maple trees. So our backyard was always very colourful during summer and autumn.
We had this one beautifully tall pine tree in our front yard (maybe 15-20 meters tall!) and I would always climb up there as high as I could to look over the top of my house and around the neighbourhood – until I grew to be too heavy and eventually started snapping branches!
I was always a tree-climbing kid, and I still do that as an adult, any chance I get!
What are you looking forward to about the role? What skills do you bring to it?
I am really looking forward to blending my classroom teaching experience with my outdoor education experience! I have a strong background in NZ educational curriculum design, after 7 years teaching here so far, and I have racked up many hours as a volunteer outdoor guide when I was living in Auckland. So I am eager to combine those two things to help people feel comfortable engaging with the Trust to make a difference to native biodiversity.
Something I want to bring into the role from my teaching experience is to help people learn how to be curious. I fundamentally believe curiosity can be learned, and when curiosity is nurtured, it turns into passion and purpose.
I believe that since the WRT is a community-minded organisation, it’s more important than ever to share your curiosity with other people after a nursery session or tree planting day, because your curiosity and genuine interest is what will convince others to care as well.
When helping out at the nursery, which job are you most likely to be found doing?
I’ll probably be moving a lot of the heavy things since I am a big guy! (6’5″).
I really enjoy doing the weeding of plants actually, before they are ready to go out to site. There is something very cathartic and relaxing about it, and it is a necessary job that makes a huge difference in the success of plants once they get to their new home.
Which WRT keystone site is your favourite? (We’ve all got one…)
Right now, it has to be Slope Hill Road. It is an incredibly vast site with almost 360 degree views of the Queenstown basin, and standing up top looking down at that site makes me realise what’s truly possible with ecological restoration if we put our minds to it.
What do you hope to achieve in the new role?
I hope to work myself out of a job in some ways!
I believe that if an educational program is designed well enough, then the people you teach it to should come away feeling well equipped to share the message with others.
So I hope to continue the development of a comprehensive program that reflects that and educates, while making people feel like they really are making a difference in the world.
By focusing on that, I believe the Educate For Nature program will become naturally self-sustaining and continue to make a long term difference in the community.
In the short term, I hope to develop some more interest in the Educate For Nature Program by just promoting the amazing work that has gone on in the past few years. I hope to sign on a couple more schools to develop their own planting programs, and to assist in finding new spaces in which to share the Trust’s work.
Favourite native plant and why?
Has to be the lancewood (Pseudopanax crassifolius). They are tall like me, and just go through the coolest transformation from a spiky, skinny plant into a beautiful, dense tree!
Which native bird gets your vote for Bird of the Year in 2025?
Hmmmm…. the New Zealand Scaup (pāpango). I love watching them around the lakefront diving around for food. Their dark feathers and bright eyes make them look very intense!
Imagine you’ve got an unlimited budget to take young people on an exploration of native biodiversity in the basin – where do you go?
Probably around the back of The Remarkables (The Doolans) to look at the alpine/subalpine region and the changes in flora up there in such a dynamic and sometimes harsh environment. I would go on two trips in summer and early winter so they can see how plants adapt to changes in temperatures as well.
To contact Chris and learn more about the Educate For Nature programme, email him at educate@wrtqt.org.nz
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