Advisory Committee

Sterna’s projects are guided by institutional excellence

Chair, Technical Steering Committee

Dr Stuart Henrys (CRSNZ)

Dr Stuart Henrys is an Emeritus Scientist at Earth Sciences New Zealand with extensive experience in offshore and onshore subsurface imaging, basin characterisation, and the integration of multidisciplinary geophysical datasets. Over a multi-decade career he has contributed to numerous large scale national geophysical programmes, helping to improve New Zealand’s understanding of its offshore basins, natural resources, and associated geological risks.

Stuart has played significant roles in advising and supporting government led open-file seismic initiatives, including early MED seismic campaigns that helped stimulate commercial interest in basins including Northland, Raukumara, and the East Coast–Pegasus region. His research also includes substantial work on New Zealand’s offshore gas hydrates, examining their potential economic significance alongside their wider environmental context, including climate change scenarios, methane release sensitivity, and influences on seafloor biological communities and ocean biogeochemistry. Internationally recognised for his contributions to public-good geoscience, Stuart is a Companion of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

His leadership in major hazard focused geophysical investigations of the Hikurangi subduction margin has strengthened New Zealand’s capacity to model earthquake rupture, assess tsunami hazards, and understand subduction zone processes. He also played a key role in establishing GeoDiscoveryNZ, supporting international scientific drilling and collaborative subsurface research. Stuart brings deep technical expertise, programme governance experience, and a long history of translating complex geophysical data into actionable insights for national-scale decision making.

Photo: RNZ

Independent CSEM Specialist, Technical Steering Committee

Dr Rob Evans

Rob Evans is currently a Senior Scientist in the Department of Geology and Geophysics. Over the last ~9 years he has served WHOI in two leadership roles, as Interim VP for Academic Programs and Dean, and as Department Chair. Rob’s expertise is in the use of electromagnetic (EM) methods for imaging into the earth, both on the seafloor and on land.

Rob has studied a wide variety of settings including mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones and, most recently, transform faults. Rob has also led the use of EM methods to locate bodies of offshore freshened groundwater. Rob has published more than 90 peer reviewed publications and has participated in 32 research cruises worldwide, including both academic and industry CSEM expeditions. He has also carried out extensive field work in central and southern Africa. Rob has served on numerous national committees including long-time service for the IRIS and Earthscope geophysical programs.

Rob brings Sterna Ltd a wealth of subject matter expertise over his >35-year-long career, contributing through his first-hand understanding of CSEM cruises and their effectiveness in determining the subsurface pore fluid regime. While independent of Scripps UCSD, Rob is familiar with the Scripps equipment and its capabilities, and understands the Scripps team’s value and proven scientific rigour demonstrated as a CSEM operator.

Photo: WHOI

Independent Petroleum Systems Specialist, Technical Steering Committee

Dr Karsten Kroeger

Dr Karsten Kroeger is a petroleum systems scientist and basin modelling specialist with extensive experience in sedimentary basin analysis, hydrocarbon generation and migration modelling, and subsurface fluid systems. He was a former Senior Researcher at GNS Science, where his work focused on integrating geological, geochemical, and geophysical datasets to understand petroleum systems evolution in New Zealand and other sedimentary basins worldwide. Today, Karsten is a Scientist at BGE Germany, working on the safety assessment of nuclear waste storage sites.

Karsten has authored 37 peer-reviewed publications spanning petroleum geology, basin modelling, sedimentology, and gas hydrate systems. His research has addressed topics including thermal basin evolution, hydrocarbon generation and migration, fluid flow through structurally complex basins, and the interaction between tectonics, magmatism, and petroleum systems.

Much of his work has focused on New Zealand’s offshore basins and active plate-margin settings, including the Taranaki Basin and the Hikurangi Margin, where he has contributed to advanced petroleum systems models and studies of methane generation, migration pathways, and gas hydrate formation. These studies integrate seismic interpretation, structural geology, and numerical basin modelling to evaluate subsurface fluid systems and hydrocarbon prospectivity in tectonically complex environments.

Karsten has also worked internationally on petroleum systems modelling projects in basins such as the Mackenzie Basin in Arctic Canada and sedimentary systems in Europe, providing experience across a wide range of geological settings. His work has contributed to improved understanding of the thermal and structural controls on hydrocarbon generation and accumulation within evolving sedimentary basins.

At Sterna Ltd, Karsten contributes independent expertise in petroleum systems analysis and basin modelling, providing technical guidance on charge risk, fluid migration pathways, and the integration of geological and geophysical data within the programme’s subsurface de-risking framework.

Photo: LinkedIn

Data Promotion & Commercial Advisor

Tanya Johnstone

Tanya Johnstone is a senior energy-sector commercial and business development professional with over 30 years’ experience across Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific. Her expertise spans the full upstream lifecycle, including opportunity identification, commercial structuring, proposal development, contract negotiation, and delivery.

She spent more than two decades with TGS, most recently as Director and Business Manager for Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, where she led regional business development and project execution. She has a strong track record in securing and negotiating major geophysical data projects, working across technical, legal, and financial teams, and engaging both industry and government stakeholders.