Fiona Gower
Taxonomy Team Leader – Marine and Freshwater Taxonomy
Qualifications
- BSc (Hons, Zoology/Marine Zoology)
Role at Cawthron
Fiona is Cawthron's Taxonomy Team Leader and Coastal and Freshwater research laboratory manager. She leads a team of specialist taxonomy scientists and technicians who are responsible for identifying marine, estuarine and freshwater invertebrates as an indicator of environmental health.
Fiona and her team play a vital role in supporting Cawthron's environmental research and monitoring work. They also work closely with industry and Government clients providing taxonomy support for regulatory and legislative aspects of environmental planning and developments.
Technical skills, experience and interests
- Taxonomy of marine, estuarine and freshwater invertebrates
- SCUBA diving to collect marine and freshwater species
- Preservation and archive of biological specimens
- Sampling of horticultural and industrial contaminants
- IANZ-certified microbiological techniques
- Design and maintenance of a wide range of aquatic environments with specialisation in aquarium environments
Publication links
- Clusa L, Ardura A, Gower FJ, Miralles L, Tsartsianidou V, Zaiko A and Garcia-Vazquez E 2016. An Easy Phylogenetically Informative Method to Trace the Globally Invasive Potamopyrgus Mud Snail from River’s eDNA. PLoS ONE. Volume 11, Issue 10. e0162899.
- Ellis J, Clark D, Sinner J, Asher R, Gower FJ and others 2013. Ecological Survey of Tauranga Harbour. Cawthron Report 2321. Prepared for Manaaki Taha Moana, Manaaki Taha Moana Research Report 13. 56 pages plus appendices.

+64 3 548 2319
[email protected]