Chris is a geologist and paleontologist with over 30 years’ experience as a research scientist and over much of this time has led or promoted GNS initiatives in field-based geoscience education and community engagement.

Chris worked at GNS Science for most of his career and specialised in the geological record of climate change, the environmental impacts of extinction events, and the geological record of a group of microscopic marine plankton called radiolarians. While at GNS Science, he helped establish several field-based outreach and engagement initiatives with schools and iwi groups, as well as the GNS Māori student internship programme.

Chris also played a lead role in securing New Zealand’s membership to the International Ocean Discovery Programme (IODP), the world’s largest geoscience programme. He has participated in two IODP expeditions himself and organised several outreach projects linked to IODP, including the first onshore version of IODP’s School of Rock , Te Kura Kohatu.