Jenny North Tutor and Coordinator | Conservation
Jenny was born in Wellington and spent her early years in nature, in the bush, on beaches and on many family camping trips by rivers and lakes. She emigrated to England with her family at the age of 7 and lived there for the next 25 years until her return to her New Zealand home.
While in the UK, Jenny completed an Honours Degree in Environmental Biology at Liverpool University and later completed a Master at Aberystwyth University in Environmental Impact Assessment. This was followed by a study programme in China on Ecological Agriculture, which provided a new vocational path that included setting up her own organic market garden business in the heart of Wales, for the next 5 years.
On her return to New Zealand, Jenny pursued a teaching career in Land-based Studies, Native Plant Restoration and Horticulture at NMIT for 5 years, followed by 10 years with Agriculture New Zealand, before returning to teaching and coordinating programmes at NMIT in 2016, working in our Horticulture and more recently our Conservation programme area, with the Trainee Ranger Programme.
“Conservation has never been far from my radar, living closely with our land and having a family of ecologists on tap. I have owned land for over 15 years in North Nelson and we have planted over 5000 native trees on a retired forestry block”
Jenny was nominated for the MPI Grow Native Forest Champions by Nelson City Council (NCC) in 2025, and again in 2026 for the restoration work on her own land.
NMIT offers such great flexibility for study, and we have a dedicated team that has successfully blended online, classroom and off-site programmes in these areas of study. We are based at the Richmond Campus, close to many areas of fieldwork.
“I am passionate about teaching and facilitating the sharing of knowledge and supporting students with their learning. Our training is very hands-on and team focused. It’s wonderful to see students come alive in the outdoors and buzz on working together.”
Conservation is becoming increasingly critical in our rapidly changing world, and we have a unique natural world here in NZ that really needs both the academic and the practical skills gained at NMIT. We are also very closely linked to industry to help learners on their career path.
Jenny spends her free time tramping, cycling and looking after her bush block.
