James has an 18 year career in the infrastructure and environmental sectors - participating in a wide variety of projects ranging from major civil engineering projects (design and construction) through to strategic studies focusing on the areas of resilience to hazards (including climate change), risk assessments and also project sustainability considerations. James is a certified practitioner of the ISCA (Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australasia) Rating tool, and was involved in the verification of New Zealand’s first rating application (Waterfront Auckland) in 2015.

His recent work in the risk and resilience fields includes projects focussing on both urban and infrastructure resilience. These include: the Rockefeller 100 Resilient Cities Project, advice to NZTA and Los Angeles Metro Authority on developing resilience measurement tools, and lead author of risk management scoping guidance for the proposed Local Government Risk Agency. In late 2016 James was appointed to The Ministry for the Environment’s Climate Change Technical Advisory Group, and he will be participating in this for 2017 and 2018.

He has been involved in the National Science Challenges, works closely with the University of Auckland and regularly speaks and presents at Climate/resilience conferences and seminars.