Erica (Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Pikiao, Te Whānau ā Apanui) started at NIWA in 1995. After completing a MSc (University of Waikato) developing a blue mussel embryo-larval toxicity test, she spent a number of years in the NIWA freshwater fisheries team. Here she gained skills in fish population studies, the downstream migration adult eels and fish passage through culverts.