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| Ocean and Islands Programme - Staff |
 | Dr. Arthur Webb Manager, Ocean & Islands Programme and Coastal Processes Adviser Arthur is English / Australian and has spent the larger part of his working life in the South Pacific region. Originally from an agro-forestry background where he worked throughout the atolls of Kiribati for some 10 years. Since the early 1990’s he has been predominantly involved in coastal processes, analysis and research in sub tropical east Australia and the South Pacific. He holds a bachelor’s degree with a first class research honours in Coastal Management and Processes and a PhD in Coastal biogeochemistry and ecological processes from the School of Resource Science & Management, Southern Cross University, Australia.
| | Prior to starting with SOPAC in 2004 he worked in full time research with the Centre for Coastal Processes & Biogeochemistry at Southern Cross Uni., Australia. Arthur’s main areas of responsibility within SOPAC has been the assessment and analysis of shoreline erosion, marine water quality issues, assessment of the impacts of dredging and a diverse range of other coastal resource use problems throughout the region. |
 | Robert Smith Marine Geophysicist Robert joined SOPAC in 1998. Prior to starting with SOPAC he worked as Senior Scientific Officer Marine Geology/Geophysics for Mineral Resources Department, Fiji Government.He holds a BSc degree in Geophysics, West Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), Western Australia. |
 | Paula Holland Manager, Natural Resources Governance Paula has been involved in natural resource management for 15 years. Originally trained as a natural resource economist, she has extensive experience in researching and developing natural resource policy in the Pacific, Australia and northern Europe. Paula’s experience includes policy research and development with governments as well as academic institutions. Her expertise in natural resources governance covers a number of sectors including fisheries, waste management, water and conservation. Before joining SOPAC, Paula was a natural resource economist with South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) based in Samoa (2002-2005). Paula has a Masters in Rural Resources and Environmental Policy as well as an honours degree in Economics and Geography. |
 | Akuila Tawake Aggregates Geologist After spending more than 6 years in the mineral exploration and mining industry, Akuila joined SOPAC in October 2003 as the Aggregates Geologist for the SOPAC-EU Project. In the past two years he had been visiting several Pacific Island Countries on fact-finding missions and the actual implementation of identified aggregates-related tasks in each of those countries. Akuila also assists Pacific communities toward optimising their opportunities and to meeting their objectives for achieving sustainable development. |
 | Jens Kruger Physical Oceanographer Jens Kruger is the Physical Oceanographer, a position he has held since 2004. Prior to joining SOPAC he worked several years with Gardline Geosurvey, U.K., as a Marine Geophysicist in the offshore oil and gas survey industry. He has also worked as a Coastal Geologist in New Zealand. |
 | Peni Musunamasi Electronic Engineer Peni joined SOPAC in the UN ESCAP days in 1989 as the Electronic Technician. He graduated from Fiji Institute of Technology with an Electronic Trade Certificate in 1983 and has worked in Industrial Electronics areas such as Fiji Sugar Corporation where he did his apprentice, with AWA (NZ) Ltd and also on Salvage Pacific (Australia) Ltd working on Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVS) and underwater electronically operated Crane. Has had training with the Bureau of Meteorology in Adelaide, Australia on the Calibration and Maintenance of the Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Sea Frames installed on 14 PIC. Peni also holds a Level 2 Team management Certificate from the NZ Rugby League. |
 | Andrick Lal Senior Project Officer [Surveying] Andrick joined SOPAC in Sept 2001 and is responsible for the technical support for outputs under the AusAID South Pacific Sea Level & Climate Monitoring Project (SPSLCMP). He plays an important role to support pacific island coastal states, determine their maritime boundaries, as well as other activities requiring surveying skills and expertise to other members of the programme. Develop, plan and implement programmes of work having relevance and significance to the peoples and governments of SOPAC member countries.. |
 | Emily Artack Maritime Boundaries Project Officer Emily Artack holds a Bachelor Degree with First class Honours in Multimedia Cartography from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne, Australia.She joined SOPAC in April 2003 as Materials Development Specialist under the Pacific Disaster Training Programme (PDTP), a programme funded by The Asia Foundation & Office of the U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance based in SOPAC.
| | Emily joined the Ocean and Islands Programme in May 2004 as Project Officer and provides technical support and assistance to the project member countries in their maritime boundaries initiatives. Part of her duties also includes providing support for those countries with extended Continental Shelf (eCS) issues, and the maintenance of the Marine Scientific Research Cruise database within the Ocean & Islands Programme. |
 | Ashishika Sharma Technical Officer EU EDF Project Prior to working here in SOPAC, she was employed at the Mineral Resources Department as Scientific Officer in the Offshore Geology Section. Ashishika graduated from the University of the South Pacific with a bachelor’s degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Marine Science, an recently submitted her MSc. thesis in Marine Geology. Her position as a Technical Officer concentrates on bathymetric survey of Pacific ACP countries, carrying out surveys and post processing data in the office from previous and current surveys. |
 | Salesh Kumar Technical Officer EU EDF Project Previous employment was with the Mineral Resources Department as Mapping Geologist. Salesh graduated from University of the South Pacific with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Earth Science and Chemistry. His work with the SOPAC/EU EDF Project involves carrying out bathymetric surveys in Pacific ACP countries and post processing data obtained from surveys. |
 | Maleli Turagabeci Assistant Electronic Technician Maleli joined SOPAC in 2006. He holds a Diploma in Electronic Engineering from the Fiji Institute of Technology and also a BSc in Environmental Science (Physics Emphasis) from the University of the South Pacific. His interests are embedded in the application of electronic engineering technology into the state-of-the-art environmental-friendly instruments. |
 | Amrit Raj Intern - Technical Assistant Amrit has been employed as an Intern Technical Assistant since April 2007. He received his Diploma in Environmental Science and Certificate in Industrial Laboratory Technology from Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT) in the year 2006 respectively. Currently he is pursuing to further his education by undertaking a Diploma in GIS from University of the South Pacific. Upon undertaking the position as Intern Technical Assistant, Amrit has been involved in analysis of marine sediment samples and creating summary sheets. He is also responsible for uploading relevant data into GIS format using MapInfo? software and Geo referencing and rectification of aerial Photos. |
 | Keleni Raqisia Ocean Information System Support Officer Keleni joined SOPAC as an Student Trainee in April 2008. Before joining SOPAC she was previously employed with the Forestry Department as a GIS Data entry officer . She is currently responsible for the maintaining of Marine and Coastal Data within and outside of OIP and also maintains the catalogue entries in the SOPAC Geonetwork site . Keleni holds a BA Degree in GIS and Land Use Planning and has background in Open GIS software. |
 | Virginia "Ginny" Rokoua Programme Assistant - Ocean & Islands Ginny first joined SOPAC as a Student Attachee with the Finance Dept in Feb 2007 and was later transferred to Ocean & Islands Programme to assist with logistics for the GeoHab2007? Workshop held in Noumea, New Caledonia. She has since remained with Ocean & Islands Programme and became PA in March 2008. |
 | Tagaloa Cooper-Halo Regional Communications and Coordination Adviser - South Pacific SeaLevel and Climate Monitoring Project |
 | Avitesh Ram Technical Officer 1 After gaining some work experience in the Furniture manufacturing and Sugar production industries, Avi joined SOPAC as a Trainee Attachee in the year 2008 after completing a Bachelors Degree In Engineering Technology from The University of the South Pacific majoring in Electrical/Electronic Engineering. His position as a Technical Officer requires technical expertise to service, troubleshoot and maintain the state of the art high performing Electronic Marine, Land And Communication Equipments that are used for surveys across all 3 programmes at SOPAC. Avi is currently pursuing a PG Dip in Electronic/Communication to learn more about Wireless communication and its applications that makes life easier and more convenient. |
 | Herve Damlamian Coastal Hydrodynamic Modeller Herve is originally from France. He joined SOPAC in 2005 for a 6 month internship to complete his Masters in Coastal Engineering from Centrale Marseille. Since his internship he has taken up the position of Coastal Hydrodynamic Modeller, where he is responsible for developing models to look at lagoon water circulation, waves, tsunami inundation etc. |
 | Vira Atalifo Student Attachee Vira joined SOPAC in September of 2009. She works closely with the Maritime Boundaries and Geonetwork teams and is responsible for managing the Ocean & Islands Map database and assisting in the Geo-referencing and rectification of maps. Vira holds a BA in Marine Affairs and Tourism Studies from the University of the South Pacific. |
 | Federica Gerber ODI Resource Economist Federica from Switzerland is the ODI Resource Economist for the period November 2009 to November 2011. She hold qualifications of a BSc Environmental Policy with Economics from the London School of Economics, and an MSc Environmental and Resource Economics from University College London. Federica hopes to continue learning about her specialisation across the different and interesting geographical areas and cultures of the Pacific. Her interests lie in conducting Cost-Benefit? Analyses and in relevant stakeholder and community interactions. |
Contributors to this page: virginia
,
paule
,
frances
and
emilya
.
Page last modified on Monday 12 of April, 2010 [03:39:36 UTC] by virginia .
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