Mr Geoff Howard

• ex-officio
• from Wellington
• first appointed on 29 April 2009 by the Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand (LINZ)
• appointment to the Board on-going.

Mr Geoff Howard joined the Board as the LINZ official responsible for hydrographic information standards, as required by clause 1(1) of schedule 1 of the New Zealand Geographic Board (Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008.

He is the current operational manager responsible for hydrographic surveying and charting.

He has also worked as a cartographer and manager within DSIR for the Oceanographic Institute, now National Insitute of Weather and Atmospheric Research, in the production of oceanographic charts.

He is therefore very familiar with the process around the existing undersea names and the use of current hydrographic names on charts.

As the LINZ business owner for the Continental Shelf he developed a network of International contacts on Law of the Sea and the requirements of GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans).

Geoff has previously held roles that included director digital topography in the Department of Survey and Land Information (DOSLI), and General Manager Topographic/Hydrographic Information in LINZ, which included amongst other things the responsibility and functions of the Secretary of the NZ Geographic Board.

As a result he brings a knowledge and understanding of the Board process and a knowledge and experience of topographic names as used on maps.