Gundula Winter is a senior advisor and researcher for sea level rise impact assessments and coastal adaptation, and a key developer of end-user oriented tools for adaptation planning at Deltares. In her work, she is most excited about bridging the gap between quantitative adaptation assessments and long-term pathways thinking.

Associate Professor Silvia Serrao-Neumann receives funding from MBIE Endeavour project 'Reducing flood inundation hazard and risk across Aotearoa-New Zealand', and Toka Tū Ake the Natural Hazards Commission. She has published widely on topics related to water resource management, climate change adaptation, and urban and regional planning.

Giesberta's PhD research focuses on the effectiveness of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for Disaster Risk Reduction in Namibia’s informal settlements, targeting flood mitigation, heat stress relief, and erosion control. Passionate about urban resilience, she conducted engineering geological mapping to ensure safe and stable foundations for mass housing projects in Namibia.

Ruth Lewellen is a doctoral student investigating the intersection of policy, economics, and power in climate adaptation decision-making. With a background in natural sciences – focusing in mathematical modelling of ecological systems – she now applies a social science lens to explore how governance and institutional dynamics shape environmental outcomes in a changing climate.

Dr Cathy Bebelman is scientist with expertise in environmental sustainability and transport infrastructure. In her current role she provides thought leadership to position Auckland for a lower carbon and resilient future. As the Chief Scientist, Cathy leads the environment, climate and social equity work for Auckland Transport. Chris Armstrong is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer and the New Zealand Geotechnical Leader for Tetra Tech Coffey. He has consultancy experience in roads, rail, water, property and infrastructure projects and is a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng). He has worked on numerous high-profile projects in New Zealand, the UK and Pacific.

Baye Massene Diallo, an international student from Senegal, is pursuing an M.S. in Economics and a Graduate Certificate in Economic Analytics at Boise State University. With dual bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Business Administration, his research focuses on environmental economics, contributing to projects addressing related challenges.

Sociologist, PhD in Environment and Society, and former visiting researcher at San Francisco State University, the Institute of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences at Fudan University, China, and the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, Canada.

Emily is a principal scientist in natural hazards and hydrodynamic focusing on flood, tsunami and storm surge inundation. She currently leads Mā te haumaru ō te wai - an Endeavour programme focussed on understanding Aotearoa's flood inundation hazard and risk at a national level to improve our resilience to flooding.