Jack, an Associate Professor with the School of Earth Sciences at Victoria University, has a long association with outdoor recreation, and the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council. His involvement is typical of many volunteer instructors. He started his outdoor recreation with the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club; being active in tramping, hunting, and transalpine trips through the Southern Alps. This led to him instructing on club bushcraft and mountaincraft courses, and then working with Mountain Safety Wellington of which he was Chairperson for 3 years. He served as an FMC nominee on Council, was the convener of the bushcraft committee, and Chairperson of the Executive before serving as Council Chair. Jack became Convener of the Firearms' Committee just in time for the Thorp review of the Arm's legislation. Jack's vision is that every New Zealander should have access to the information, resources, and training necessary to enjoy their outdoor recreation safely. By participating safely he hopes others get as much from their experiences as he has over the years.
In the 'real world', Jack's expertise is in the spatial and temporal variability of a wide range of physical environmental processes, and their interaction with human activity. His particular foci are on hydrology, slope instability, and natural hazards.
