Shelley McMurtrie
EOS Ecology
Shelley McMurtrie is an aquatic ecologist, science communicator, co-founder of EOS Ecology, and recipient of the 2026 New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society Medal. For more than 25 years she has devoted her career to understanding, enhancing, and championing freshwater ecosystems across Aotearoa New Zealand.
From the remote streams and wetlands of the Subantarctic to some of Aotearoa New Zealand's most ambitious urban river regeneration projects, Shelley has built a career that combines science, innovation, design, and community action. Her work has included discovering species new to science, creating habitat for threatened freshwater fish, helping shape nationally significant urban river revitalisation projects, developing catchment-scale solutions for waterways, championing innovative approaches to eDNA interpretation and freshwater monitoring, and empowering communities, schools, and catchment groups to become active kaitiaki of their local awa.
Shelley is widely recognised for making freshwater science accessible, relevant, and actionable. Throughout her career she has combined scientific excellence with a passion for restoration, innovation, education, and environmental stewardship, helping translate knowledge into practical action and meaningful environmental outcomes. Her work demonstrates that the greatest impact of science is not simply in generating knowledge, but in inspiring people to use that knowledge to create lasting environmental change.
Beyond the Business Case: 25 Years of Environmental Passion Projects
For 25 years, EOS Ecology has operated as a small, independent New Zealand science systems consultancy guided by a simple principle: do what is best for the environment, not what is best for the bottom line. As co-founder and co-owner of the company, many of the projects I am most proud of are not those that generated the greatest financial return, but those that existed only because we made a conscious decision to invest our own time, resources, and profits into making them happen.
This plenary explores a series of environmental "passion projects" that have emerged from that philosophy. These include initiatives such as the Campbell Island Bicentennial Expedition, one of the largest multidisciplinary scientific expeditions to Aotearoa New Zealand's subantarctic islands in decades; Nature Agents, Waitaha Canterbury’s science-led stream monitoring programme for schools; Whaka Īnaka, a collaborative programme supporting urban īnanga populations; the Focus Catchment Map Series developed through the Wai Connection programme, which transformed the accessibility and communication of catchment-scale freshwater information; eDNA Insights™, which translates complex environmental DNA data into practical insights readily understood and applied by practitioners and communities; and a range of other initiatives advancing freshwater monitoring, catchment management, environmental education, biodiversity conservation, and environmental technology. While diverse in scope, each began with the same question: what needs to exist to create meaningful environmental change, and how can we help make it happen?
Underlying this work is the concept of "science systems" – recognising that good science alone rarely delivers meaningful environmental change. Achieving meaningful environmental improvement requires connecting science with people, communities, educators, iwi, decision-makers, technology, and effective communication. Whether mapping freshwater catchments, supporting school-based environmental monitoring, protecting threatened species, exploring some of New Zealand's most remote ecosystems, or teasing out meaning from complex environmental datasets, the goal has been not simply to generate knowledge, but to create pathways for that knowledge to inform action.
This presentation reflects on the opportunities and challenges of pursuing this approach within a small New Zealand-owned business. It explores the balancing act of investing in projects with limited financial returns, the importance of surrounding yourself with passionate and talented people, and the role that independent organisations can play in driving innovation. It is also a story of a company that has consistently punched above its weight, not because it was the biggest organisation in the room, but because it was prepared to back ideas that others considered too difficult, too risky, or too far beyond the business case.
Ultimately, this plenary is a reflection on what can happen when environmental outcomes are treated as the measure of success. It is also a challenge to our sector: if many of the advances we celebrate emerge from individuals and organisations willing to invest beyond the business case, are we doing enough to support the scientists, communities, iwi, organisations and knowledge systems that help drive change?