Lee Burbery

Lee joined DairyNZ as a senior water quality scientist in 2021. He brings expertise in groundwater science and edge of field mitigation practices.

Lee has a comprehensive knowledge of New Zealand’s groundwater systems and a passion for hydrological science.

“I enjoy understanding and building industry knowledge on groundwater systems, including how they relate to dairy farming practices, and patterns in historical groundwater nitrate data,” says Lee. “I seek to accurately quantify the impact of nitrogen from dairying on water quality and relate this to farm systems so that when we get to the regional planning stage, we will be able to have an informed discussion.”

Lee is proud of his involvement in an edge of field mitigation project which investigated the use of woodchip walls to remove nitrate from a gravel aquifer with positive results. He is involved in an investigation of nitrate under dairy land use in the Fairlie Basin, researching where shallow water table conditions and low aquifer storage capacity reduce the time lag when studying nitrate impacts. This research enables scientists to directly establish cause and effect relationships between land use activities and the magnitude and timing of groundwater nitrate impacts at a catchment-scale. The results from this research will help make the association between farming practices and nitrogen losses at scale, for a typical Canterbury typology, simplifying the need to make lots of mathematical assumptions about hydrological and land use complexities.

Lee is originally from the United Kingdom where he completed a PhD and Bachelor of Science with Honors in Environmental Science.