Asha Andersen
Asha Andersen is keen to provide impactful advocacy for core Soil & Health values, particularly on pesticides, GMOs and a healthy environment.
She has years of experience at a grassroots level building community resilience, both as a volunteer and coordinator, including hosting crop swap gatherings, publishing regular newsletters and developing a community garden educational hub, where all ages can learn to garden and connect with nature.
She is a trustee and committee member for the Far North Resilient Communities Charitable Trust and Flora and Fauna of Aotearoa.
Richard Wallis
After a long career in law, Richard changed his focus to composting. He designed and patented the CarbonCycle composting system which is currently in use in nearly 80 schools around New Zealand as a teaching aide for ecosystem function and to provide compost in schools to enhance the soil biology and productivity of school kitchen gardens.
Charles Hyland
Charles is a soil biogeochemist with over 25 years of experience in agricultural and environmental sustainability. Originally from the US, he worked for more than a decade at Cornell University, where he conducted research on soil microbial ecology, nutrient cycling, soil health, and carbon-negative bioenergy. He initiated Cornell’s first biochar field trial in North America and is a founding member of the International Biochar Initiative.
Since moving to Aotearoa in 2012, Charles has worked as a scientific consultant advising farmers, iwi, and industry on soil health, freshwater quality, commercial composting, and sustainable land use. He is managing director of Farmetrics Limited, a soil and water science consulting company. As chair of Soil & Health, he focuses on bringing credible science to public discourse, supporting organic consumers and producers, and developing a resilient, future-focused organic sector that not only upholds rigorous certification standards but also leads on climate mitigation, soil regeneration, biodiversity protection, and other emerging environmental challenges.
Di Maxwell
Di brings a wide variety of life experiences to Soil & Health, including beef cattle farming, business management, and governance, having served on the Far North District Council from 2007-2016. She lives on a lifestyle block near Kerikeri. Di has a post-grad qualification in sustainable leadership, and is the chair and founder of the Far North Resilient Communities Charitable Trust.
A keen gardener who enjoys the outdoors, she is passionate about self-sufficiency and organics. Di will focus on supporting Soil & Health’s campaigns against pesticides.
David McNeill
David is passionate about organic farming, healthy soil, clean waterways, and protecting native forests. He has experience developing a productive lifestyle block with avocados, orchards, regeneration plantings, vegetable gardens, and waterways, along with the many tasks of transforming land into a sustainable home. In addition to his rural interests, David runs an IT service business, which helps fund his land management. With a strong background in accounting and financial management, supported by his degree, he brings valuable skills in business software and financial strategy.
Rebecka Keeling
Rebecka shares her time between Slow Blooms flower farm in Matakana and a PR consultancy in Auckland. Rebecka is the co-founder of Permaculture Mahurangi, a freelance writer, and an advocate for produce grown locally, in its natural season, with care for the earth.
