Deidre Vercoe

Along with other members of the National Kakapo Team, Deidre is happy to live and breathe kakapo recovery, blurring the lines between work and play.

Deidre holds everything and everyone together as the Programme Manager - Kakapo.  She also has a technical support role in the team, which means she has to be up to speed with all the bird monitoring programmes on the islands, and helping to implement research objectives. During a breeding season she spends more time on the islands; participating in the Artificial Insemination programme, nest management and any artificial incubation and hand-raising that results.

Deidre started her involvement with kakapo recovery as a KPO herself, in 2002. She loved the hands-on work on the islands and living with other team members and volunteers, but then jumped at a chance to take up a technical support position in the team in 2005.  In 2008 she moved even higher up the ladder, taking on Programme Manager.

”The intensity of life as a KPO is hard to sustain in the long-term. Taking up the technical position allowed me to be more involved in the decision-making, continue to be committed to kakapo recovery – and the team is simply awesome to work with!”