17 January 2022 – Rebecca Strang, Land Infrastructure and Geospatial Capability Leader and Andrew Perry, Principal Land Infrastructure have been recognised as industry leaders in the NZ survey and spatial profession.

Rebecca has been named a Fellow of Survey and Spatial New Zealand (S+SNZ), while Andrew has been appointed the industry body’s Vice President for 2021/2022.

About Rebecca

Rebecca’s fellowship recognises her significant contribution to the sector, as the first female president of Survey and Spatial New Zealand and founding member of the body’s Young Professionals Group.

During her time as president, Rebecca made meaningful changes to the structure and culture of the body to position it for the future, including increasing the diversity of the Council and driving the rebrand from its former name NZ Institute of Surveyors, in recognition of the profession’s increasing focus on spatial.

Being the second ever female Fellow appointed by Survey and Spatial New Zealand, Rebecca said it was a real honour to have her career acknowledged by the sector.

“As survey and spatial professionals, we have a rare opportunity to really influence how our cities are shaped and have a meaningful impact on issues such as climate change and the housing crisis. It’s such an exciting sector to work in and Aurecon has really supported me to balance the leadership responsibilities I had with Survey and Spatial New Zealand with my Aurecon roles,” Rebecca says.

Rebecca joined Aurecon as an undergraduate in 2001 and since then has developed broad capabilities across geospatial, land infrastructure and digital transformation. She was appointed Digital Practice Leader for Aurecon NZ in 2016, before stepping into her current Land Infrastructure and Geospatial Capability Leader role in 2019.

Here she leads communities of practice across New Zealand, Australia and Asia to ensure knowledge around technical best practice is shared, and our people have the necessary skills to help clients and communities address challenges such as ageing infrastructure, increased urban density and digitisation of assets and processes.

About Andrew

Andrew has been heavily involved with Survey and Spatial New Zealand throughout his career, as a student member while at university, Wellington branch executive member, a founding member of the Young Professionals Group, and President of the latter from 2008 to 2011.

Since moving to Tauranga, Andrew has been an executive member of the Rotorua/Bay of Plenty Branch, and was appointed Branch Chair in 2017, a position he held until March 2021. He was elected to the S+SNZ Council in January 2020 and has served on Council through to the recent appointment as Vice President.

He is looking forward to stepping into the Vice Presidency role, to mentor and support emerging surveyors coming through and further raise the profile of the profession.

“As spatial information has become more widely accessible – with Google Maps and Council GIS and the like, there is increasing public understanding and appreciation of what we do as surveyors and spatial professionals. As our cities become more complex, having access to accurate spatial information will only become more important, enabling everyone – from local authorities to developers and contractors, right through to private property owners – to make more informed decisions about our environments and what the future looks like. We really have an influence on every step of the project lifecycle,” he says.

Aurecon has a long history of contribution to Survey and Spatial New Zealand. In addition to Rebecca and Andrew’s positions, current president Kathryn Salm is a former Aurecon employee and was elected during her tenure with Aurecon.

Several current and former Aurecon leaders have played key roles in the ethics and legislation committees, Cassie Hardie and Gareth Mitchell sit on branch executives, and Dave Robinson currently chairs the Christchurch branch. Survey and Spatial New Zealand’s first female Fellow Vicky Nalder previously led Aurecon’s former Blenheim office.