Rod Asher
Consultant Marine & Freshwater Taxonomist.
Rod has a diverse range of experience in coastal and freshwater ecological projects. After 38 years at Cawthron Institute in Nelson, and becoming manager of the Coastal and Freshwater Taxonomy Laboratory, Rod is now working privately as a consultant taxonomist. This is a life style choice and allows him to focus more on the work he loves. Rod has been a key figure in research and client based projects through all aspects, from planning, fieldwork, laboratory analysis, interpretation to communicating the findings. He has been co-author in 18 refereed research papers and 45+ client reports.
Rod has been especially involved in all Cawthron’s projects requiring taxonomy components. This includes helping develop, The National Protocol for Estuarine Environmental Assessment and Monitoring, researched and written for supporting Councils and Ministry for the Environment.
Other major projects include assessments of new, and monitoring of established marine farms (mussel and salmon), which includes advising Nigel Keeley on taxonomic identifications and species characteristics for his benthic enrichment model. Also biosecurity issues involving marine invasive species have been studied extensively. Lately rod has given attention to the benthic communities around, and fouling organisms on, oil platforms and associated structures. In Sept to Nov 2014 he was an expert witness on the subject for the OMV Maari platform giving evidence to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) hearing.
By working privately Rod is now able to concentrate more on taxonomy of invertebrates with less of the distractions associated with a larger corporate organisation as well as associate with a wider range of clients.