Ko Maungapohatu te maunga. Ko Tauranga te awa Ko Mataatua te waka. Ko Tuhoe me Wahkatohea me Whanau-a-Apanui te iwi. Ko Amanda Black ahau. Tena koutou.

I was born and bred in Whakatane, before moving to Dunedin to start my University degree (The University of Otago). Completely undecided in what I would study, I chose a mixture of science and arts. However, it was the science that captured my attention. In 1997, I completed a BSc majoring in Geology, with additional papers in Zoology, Chemistry and Plant Physiology. Not content to continue in any of the traditional disciplines, I chose a Postgraduate Course, Environmental Science, had just opened up the year before. I completed my MSc in Environmental Science in 2000, where I researched the environmental impacts of coal mining in Otago. Since graduating in 2000, I have held three jobs (Otago Regional Council – Contaminated Sites; The University of Otago – Research Officer; CRL Ltd – Environmental Scientist – FRST and industry research), before being lured back to university to begin a PhD in a slightly different field of environmental science. My current thesis and research interests include metal bioavailability soil and water, with an emphasis on contamination and risk assessment. My research is currently funded by ESR and I am based at Lincoln University.