Children: Ruby (b.2003) / Dylan (b. 6 November 2004)

Siblings: Michael / Philip / Heather / Kathryn

Department of Conservation botanist and Plant Conservation Network member Phil Knightbridge died on Tuesday 26 April 2011. Many people knew Phil through his work in the department, in the community, as a family person and as a friend. Phil was a big part of the Department of Conservation family on the West Coast and close to 500 people gathered to say goodbye at his funeral.

Phil did a masters degree on the regeneration ecology of northern rata (Metrosideros robusta). He then worked as a science technician at Landcare Research and later shifted to become the conservancy botanist at the Department of Conservation in Hokitika in 1998. In 2007, Phil moved into a new role at the Department with more ‘hands on’ involvement – Team Leader of the Technical Support Monitoring Team.

Phil’s support of the Plant Network manifested itself in several ways. Phil ran conference workshops and was instrumental in preparing the Network’s business case for the establishment of a New Zealand threatened plant seed bank. Phil also contributed data to the Network’s national phenology recording system and provided many of his beautiful plant images to illustrate species pages on the Network’s website. Phil was also a major contributor to the Department of Conservation’s species recovery programme. He led species recovery groups, wrote reports and always willingly contributed his knowledge of plants to those who wished to learn.

Tom Belton, who worked with Phil closely over the last 10 years, said “Phil was an outstanding colleague and friend. There are not enough words to fully describe what a good person he was”. Liam Anderson, who worked with Phil in the monitoring team, said at the funeral, “When people talk about Phil, they all say he was always willing to share information and knowledge and in most situations this is correct but not all. When it came to the vegetable garden he was fiercely competitive and he never shared his expertise on how to grow a winning giant pumpkin. This competitive streak helped Phil to finally wrest the fiercely contested A & P Show Cup for overall winner in the vegetable section from Tom Belton.”