Becs Gibson

Born and raised in the Nelson Tasman area, Becs Gibson spent a large part of her childhood tramping and fishing with her family throughout the region.

Making the decision to study ecology was a natural progression for Becs. She graduated with a Degree in Resource Management from Lincoln University in 1996 and remained on as a tutor.

“I tutored ecology at Lincoln University and had a hand in developing educational resources for various organisations with New Zealand flora and fauna focuses,” says Becs.

Becs later worked as a tour guide throughout New Zealand and Iceland before joining the Department of Conservation where she has spent 20 years working in a variety of roles including pest control, community relations, and education.

“I worked for DOC in various locations around the country, including Rakiura (Stewart Island) and Aotea (Great Barrier Island), mainly in biodiversity threats and community education roles,” says Becs.

Becs joined NMIT as a conservation tutor after being approached by Trainee Ranger programme coordinator Geoff Button to see if she would be interested in delivering NMIT’s conservation field skills short courses.

Becs is currently facilitating a number of introductory conservation short courses including weed management, predator trapping methods, and Plan ID conservation field skills.

“I also coordinate with other facilitators and DOC staff to deliver the predator trapping courses, throughout the country,” says Becs.

NMIT conservation field skills short courses are regularly run throughout New Zealand. With a hands-on focus, they provide participants with a valuable set of practical tools to enable them to improve the projects they are involved in or begin new ones.

Becs believes teaching conservation is a two-way street.

“We all learn from each other, and I love to interact with and use the outdoor environment to its full advantage where possible.”