Let us introduce
ourselves.

Grant is DSI’s General Manager having taken on the role in May 2026. Grant is a transformation leader with more than two decades of experience delivering complex, high‑value programmes across energy, financial services, infrastructure, and technology. Specialising in turning strategy into practical, commercial outcomes — from multiple new business start-ups to digital modernisation and reshaping operating models. Grant has worked extensively across the NZ and Australian energy markets for organisations such as Meridian Energy, AGL, Z Energy, Transpower, Vector and NGC. Grant has also worked in Financial Services and Fintech in the United Kingdom.

Dan is Dam Safety Intelligence’s Growth and Innovation Lead and an industry leader advancing national and international dam safety practice. Dan has over 24 years’ dam safety experience, as owner and practitioner, in New Zealand, Australia, North America, and Sweden. Dan has key expertise in dam safety policy, governance, management systems, risk communication, and advisory. Dan is a trusted advisor to dam safety managers, executives and boards, and facilitates dam safety program maturity evaluations, benchmarking and improvement plans. He is Panel Chair for a large Canadian dam owner that leads state of practice in many areas. Dan was a contributing author of the New Zealand Dam Safety Guidelines (2015, 2024 update), a Past Chair of the NZ Society on Large Dams (NZSOLD), and technical adviser to Government supporting the development of NZ’s Dam Safety Regulations. Dan is a Dam Safety Recognised Engineer and Practice Area Assessor, supporting owners and practitioners to meet regulatory Dam Classification and Dam Safety Assurance Programmes (DSAP) certification and compliance requirements.

Katy is a Chartered Professional Engineer with over 15 years’ consulting experience spanning across North America, South America, and New Zealand. Her experience with dams encompasses the entire life cycle – from the feasibility stage through design, monitoring, operation, and reclamation in a variety of regulatory operating environments. Katy joined Dam Safety Intelligence in 2022 and is primarily responsible for dam safety reviews, dam surveillance, risk-informed decision making and training.

Nicky’s career has seen her work with, and lead, large and small teams across the UK and Europe, Australia and Aotearoa. Prior to joining Dam Safety Intelligence in 2021, she worked for over 10 years as a geologist in the mining, construction and quarrying sectors. At DSI, Nicky leads dam safety surveillance, inspections and dam safety reviews as well as supporting analysts and engineers within the team as a Team Leader. Her skills and experience include risk management compliance, governance, safety management systems, ground investigations, construction monitoring and testing, data analysis, design and installation of instrumentation and project management with a passion for asking questions and solving problems.

Sophie trained as a geologist and joined Dam Safety Intelligence in 2018. Her role at DSI primarily involves leading dam surveillance monitoring for clients’ dams and carrying out dam safety reviews. Sophie also has experience in dam safety programme maturity evaluations and benchmarking for local and international dam owners. As a Dam Safety Analyst, Sophie enjoys problem solving and building strong client relationships.

Alastair is a chartered civil engineer with 35 years’ water industry experience, including 20 years on dam engineering and dam safety. He has designed and supervised construction of works in the interests of safety at Scottish Water dams including freeboard studies, crest raising and spillway upgrades. This includes construction supervision of Kingairloch hydro power scheme. He was appointed a Supervising Engineer under the UK Reservoirs Act in 2003. He subsequently undertook annual inspections and reporting for 22 dams for Scottish Water over the next 9 years. Alastair moved to New Zealand in 2014 and has undertaken IDSR and CDSR inspections and reporting on water supply, wastewater, and hydropower dams across the country and overseas in the Philippines. He has experience facilitating failure modes and effects workshops and also working to resolve dam safety issues across asset portfolios.

Effjay has over 25 years’ experience in the dam industry and has worked on all aspects of dam engineering and dam safety since 1990. His experience includes geotechnical and dam engineering, construction quality control as well as dam safety. Effjay has carried out detailed inspections of over 100 embankment and concrete dams in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Lesotho, Fiji and Pakistan. Effjay’s expertise includes use of failure modes and effects analysis to identify critical project uncertainties for geotechnical and dam safety risk assessment. Effjay has supported Dam Safety Intelligence since 2020 with his expertise in dam safety programmes, dam safety reviews, surveillance, emergency preparedness and training.

Tim has almost 40 years’ experience with site investigations, instrumentation and performance assessments for dams and other major engineering projects related to landslides, groundwater, bridges, highways wind farms and ports. Tim has been with Dam Safety Intelligence since its inception in 2016 and is primarily responsible for dam safety reviews, quality management of dam safety systems, failure modes assessments and dam safety training. His broad experience provides insights for assessing performance of dams and their associated monitoring programmes, which has been applied to projects in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Samoa and the Philippines. Tim also has specialist expertise in vibration impact assessment and the evaluation of soil and backfill thermal resistivity for installation of underground HV power cables.

Miguel joined Dam Safety Intelligence in 2025 after nearly 30 years with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, where he held senior leadership roles in dam safety and infrastructure risk management. He is a civil engineer and certified project management professional with extensive experience overseeing dam safety programs, managing a portfolio of over 360 dams, and leading national policy development. Miguel has worked across the United States on dam safety modifications, seismic risk assessments, and asset management. He has represented Reclamation in national and international dam safety forums. His expertise includes risk-informed decision-making, asset management, and program execution for dams that could lead to life loss. He has also contributed to public protection guidelines that established a risk informed decision-making framework for the Bureau of Reclamation. Miguel values collaborative partnerships and brings a strategic, systems-level perspective to dam safety reviews, risk assessments, and performance monitoring and assessment.

Grant joined Dam Safety Intelligence in 2019. He is a geologist and geophysicist (MSc) with ten years’ experience in industry and research institutes, and a previous career in fabrication. Grant has experience in marine, airborne and land-based surveys with expertise in data analysis, software, GIS and modelling. During previous research he extensively investigated the landslide groundwater systems and seismic hazards surrounding Clyde Dam and Cromwell Gorge, advancing the understanding of the mechanisms enabling hydraulic change. Grant values building collaborative relationships with DSI’s partners and leads dam safety reviews, instrumentation assessments, surveillance and monitoring.

Mike joined Dam Safety Intelligence in 2021 and leads dam safety performance reviews, surveillance, and training. Prior to joining DSI Mike had eight years industry experience in the oil & gas, geotechnical, and academic sectors in New Zealand and Australia. Mike values building strong client relationships and a collaborative approach to dam safety management and enjoys contributing to the safe operation of dams as part of the DSI team.

Claudia is a civil engineer with seven years' experience in the stormwater sector across New Zealand, Australia and Ireland. Claudia has joined Dam Safety Intelligence (DSI) in 2024. Her role at DSI primarily involves intermediate and comprehensive dam safety reviews, dam inspection, monitoring and surveillance, client management and dam safety assurance programme support. Claudia's previous experience includes stormwater drainage system design, hydraulic and hydrological modelling, model calibration, conceptualisation and implementation of flood mitigation strategies, dam break assessment and dam impact classification. Claudia is passionate about understanding dam behaviour through the application of fundamental principles and industry experience and enjoys the detective work dam safety engineering brings to her life.

Daniel joined DSI in 2024 following four years working as a design engineer in the New Zealand hydro generation industry. His work on water retaining structures, including gates, penstocks and stoplogs provides a relevant technical foundation for his role as a Dam Safety Engineer. Daniel's work with DSI includes dam safety surveillance, inspections, dam safety assurance program development and dam safety reviews. His engineering background and design experience bring a solutions-based approach to his work at DSI.

Tiffany has 25 years experience in civil engineering, including condition assessment, asset management investigations, and advisory work. She enjoys understanding dam safety as an integrated system and contributes to surveillance, assessment, and supporting dam safety improvements.

Matthew joined Dam Safety Intelligence in 2022 as a Graduate Dam Safety Analyst. Matthew brings valuable knowledge and experience in the earth sciences, particularly in hydrology. With a BSc (Tech) in Biological Sciences and a Postgraduate Diploma in Cell and Molecular Bioscience, he has extensive experience relevant to the dam safety analyst role including scientific graphing, statistical analysis, and data organisation. Matthew values communication, giving clients the best service, creating new relationships and maintaining tight bonds with current clients. Within DSI, he applies his technical skills to the dam industry, working on dam safety surveillance, inspections, and dam safety reviews.

Nicola joined Dam Safety Intelligence in 2023 as a Graduate Dam Safety Analyst. Her primary responsibilities at DSI includes dam safety reviews and dam surveillance. Prior to joining DSI Nicola completed a Bachelor of Science majoring in Geology and a Master of Science focusing on new methods of collecting and quantifying sulphur dioxide gas flux data from Mount Ruapehu. Nicola’s role at DSI combines the valuable skills she has acquired from her investigative studies that involved a focus on risk management with her passion for the outdoors and making meaningful connections.

Ella joined Dam Safety Intelligence as Business Administrator in 2021 with over five years' prior administration experience in the power industry. Ella combines her passion of sustainable energy and workplace efficiency in her role at DSI. Ella is responsible for creating and implementing effective administrative systems for our DSI whānau, particularly aimed towards increasing efficiency and making day-to-day processes easier for the team.

Holly joins the DSI team, bringing with her a wealth of experience in executive support, administration, travel knowledge, and customer service. She is responsible for providing key support to the DSI General Manager and the wider leadership team. Passionate about efficiency, Holly is dedicated to creating and enhancing internal administrative systems and processes, ensuring a seamless operating environment for the leadership and the wider DSI team.

Jacqui joined Dam Safety Intelligence as Business Systems Manager in 2023. Jacqui’s previous experience working with IT systems and processes, including business analysis and project management, provide her with a solid background to support the DSI team with their strategic business process and system improvements. Jacqui’s role within DSI involves contributing to the day-to-day business with a view to enhancing long term sustainability and growth.

Fi joined the DSI team in February 2026 on a one-year contract, bringing more than 20 years of experience across office operations, finance, project management, coordination, and event management. Being solutions-focused with a genuine interest in supporting and assisting others to deliver, she plays a key role in keeping the team run effectively. In her role with DSI, Fi provides business system administration, financial accounting and reporting and project delivery support. She has a strong interest in reviewing and refining processes to ensure that are fit for purpose, to enhance productivity and effectiveness and to make a meaningful, positive difference.