Simon Thrush, Director, Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand,Judi Hewitt, Principal Scientist and Professor, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Hamilton and Department of Statistics, University of Auckland, New Zealand,Conrad Pilditch, Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, New Zealand,Alf Norkko, Professor, Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Finland

Simon Thrush is Director of the Institute of Marine Science and Director of the George Mason Centre for the Natural Environment at the University of Auckland, New Zealand with research interests in marine ecology, marine ecosystem services, resilience and tipping points in marine ecosystems and human impacts on the environment. He has over 30 years' experience in the development and implementation of strategic ecological research to influence resource management and improve societal valuation of marine ecosystems. He has worked in New Zealand, Europe, USA and Antarctica, has contributed to over 200 publications in the peer reviewed scientific literature, and collaborates with colleagues around the world.

Judi Hewitt is a programme leader in New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. She is a Professor in the Department of Statistics University of Auckland and is a docent in Marine Biology at the University of Helsinki. She has over 30 years of experience in marine research. Her interests include: statistical ecology; scale dependent processes in heterogeneous environments; design and analysis of spatial and temporal variation in populations and communities; measurement and conservation of functional, community and habitat biodiversity; biological and ecological mapping; ecological monitoring; functional, community and habitat biodiversity; ecological risk assessment, particularly of cumulative and multiple stressors. She has contributed to over 140 publications in the peer reviewed scientific literature.

Conrad Pilditch is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. His area of speciality is benthic oceanography/ecology focusing on the processes that influence the structure and function of soft-sediment communities. Specifically, he is interested in how hydrodynamics and benthic organisms interact to affect sediment transport, recruitment, nutrient fluxes, and food supply. He has conducted experiments in a wide range of environments ranging from the inter-tidal to the deep sea, a reflection of the extensive occurrence of soft-sediment habitats and resulting in over 144 publications.

Alf Norkko is Professor at the Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Finland and Guest Professor at the Baltic Sea Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden. He has has more than 20 years of marine ecological research in Finland, Sweden, and New Zealand. He is now Professor in Baltic Sea research at Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki and Guest Professor at the Baltic Sea Centre at Stockholm University. His interests in ecology and environmental science are broad. He has worked on understanding marine ecosystem processes in general and the ecology of seafloor habitats in particular. He is broadly interested in community ecology, exploring the value of biodiversity and the mechanisms important for its maintenance, which has resulted in more than 125 publications.