Poutokomanawa

Meet our co-directors Samara Nicholas and Kim Jones

The Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust has been guided for over 20 years by our dedicated directors, whose passion for freshwater and marine conservation continues to shape our journey. Samara and Kim's collective vision and leadership have been instrumental in building a strong, community-based foundation for our work across Aotearoa. Their ongoing commitment ensures that our kaupapa remains grounded, collaborative, and future-focused—nurturing the next generation of kaitiaki.

Samara Nicholas and Kim Jones met in Year 11 at Kamo High School. Kim had transferred to Kamo for their performing arts programme and Samara had transferred from West Auckland with her family to settle in Whananaki. Samara and Kim quickly connected through their shared interests in drama and geography. They were taught by Warren Farrelly, an inspiring teacher who guided students in developing a proposal for a marine reserve and remarkably the only student-led one in Aotearoa to become official.

Samara Nicholas and Kim Jones met at Kamo High School when they were in Year 11. This photo was taken around 2006, a couple of years after Kim joined Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust.

Warren also taught many students there how to SCUBA Dive, including Kim, offering a CMAS Open Water Dive Certification through the high school. After high school, Kim completed Year 12 and spent time traveling and gaining work and life experience. Later on, wanting more meaningful work and inspired by becoming a mother, Kim enrolled in the Diploma in Environmental Management and Conservation at NorthTec, the course started by Vince Kerr and completed by Samara earlier.

Meet Samara Nicholas

Samara Nicholas’ passion for the ocean began during her time as head prefect at Kamo High School in 1998, when her Year 13 geography class contributed to a marine reserve application in Whangārei Harbour. Inspired by the marine biodiversity around Motukaroro, this experience sparked a lifelong dedication to marine conservation.

After earning a Diploma in Environmental Management, Samara founded the Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR) programme in 2001. She was a founding trustee of the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, serving from 2002 to 2019. Now, as Poutokomanawa of the Trust, she focuses on management and strategy—while still making time to get in the water whenever possible.

Samara holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree (2005), PADI Divemaster and NAUI Skin Diving Instructor certifications, and is an experienced public speaker. Her favourite marine creature is the nudibranch.

A proud mother to Blaze and wife to Shane, Samara is an active member of the Whananaki community. In her spare time, she enjoys snorkelling, diving, surfing, horse riding, and gardening.

Samara’s career highlights include sailing to the Kermadec Islands as a crew member with Young Blake Expeditions in 2012 and 2018. In 2014, she MC’d the New Zealand Dolphin Underwater Club’s 60th anniversary and received the Leo Ducker Award for her contributions to diving. In 2018, she was named Seaweek Ocean Champion and was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to marine education and conservation.

Meet Kim Jones

Kim has been involved in environmental education since 2003, with a passion for taking learning outdoors into nature’s classroom. She is an experienced coordinator of the Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR) programme, sister to Whitebait Connection, and the founder of the Whangārei Drains to Harbour stormwater awareness campaign and the Mangrove Discovery Programme.

With qualifications in Environmental Management, Conservation, Business Administration, and Computing, Kim studied in Northland where she lived and worked with her husband Blair and their children, Zayne and Oceana, until relocating to Warkworth in 2014. They returned to Whangārei in 2018. Kim now works across Northland and Auckland at a regional level, while also supporting the national growth and delivery of the Trust’s programmes across Aotearoa.

Kim is a seasoned project manager with over 16 years of experience across all of the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust’s initiatives. She champions integrated catchment management through a holistic 'mountains to sea' lens and has led the development of the Trust’s National Īnanga Spawning Programme. As project executive for the Northland Īnanga Spawning Habitat Restoration project, Kim draws on eight years of hands-on experience in Northland and Auckland to scale up this vital mahi. She plays a key role in building stakeholder capacity and capability, ensuring more communities can engage with and lead this important work into the future.