Dr Peter Maddison Academic Support for programme delivery and Directed Research Projects
Peter trained as an entomologist at the Imperial College, London University, U.K. (B.Sc, Zoology, 1964; PhD Applied Entomology, 1968). Peter is an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resources at UNH.
Peter has spent many years working in the Pacific Islands and New Zealand as an entomologist and ecologist. In his position as survey entomologist for the UNDP/FAO- SPEC project, based at the University in Suva, Fiji, his duties involved a survey of all the arthropod pests of all the crops in seven countries - Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Tonga, Tuvalu and Western Samoa. In 1992, Peter was elected City Councillor (Waitakere City). He served as Chair of the Planning Hearings and Water Strategies Committees, Deputy Chair of the City Development Committee (the strategic planning committee), Environmental Management and Healthy City Committees. In 2000, Peter was a lecturer at Unitec (Auckland). Peter is a Research Associate at Landcare Research and is involved in identification of insects and other arthropods for various city councils and government departments (including the Ministries of Agriculture and of Fisheries), as well as for Pacific Island agencies to aid with the management and control of introduced- and pest species.
Peter has been involved with EcoQuest since its first course in 1999, in the role of resource person to support the ecology courses and research work with species classification and identification-taxonomy training for the students. Peter assists with the establishment of reference collections of flora and fauna at EcoQuest. He plays a primary role with Direct Research Projects by helping students plan and evaluate their projects as well as providing academic support for the identification of plants and animals in the various ecosystems the students are studying.