Superpower: Dishwasher stacking

Fixations: The Far Side

Adam founded Scarlatti in 2004 and is still very much hands-on and at the wheel. His work for clients spans most of the areas that Scarlatti operates in including extension programme design, market research, workforce research, impact modelling and operations research.

Adam’s idea of a good time consists of interrogating a problem down to its logical roots then working his way back up to find solutions. Much of the time this is useful to Scarlatti’s clients although Adam’s wife and children are less convinced.

Important to Adam, is developing the Scarlatti team by creating opportunities for team members to grow and lead. Scarlatti’s clients also appreciate the strong team culture that Adam has aspired to build.

Adam was previously Chief Operating Officer of Celentis, a commercial science company owned by AgResearch, and before that was a consultant for leading strategy consultancy McKinsey & Company, based in London.

Adam holds a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours) from the University of Auckland and a Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Superpower: Finding glitches in the Matrix

Fixation: The red pill

Dana is Scarlatti’s wellbeing programme design specialist with over 25 years’ experience in the wellbeing space. Her work also spans strategy facilitation, monitoring and evaluation, extension programme design, and impact modelling.

Her farming background, and wellbeing and corporate experience, brings a comprehensive perspective and depth of knowledge to our projects. She initiated the GoodYarn licensing programme and has served over 500 clients in the wellbeing space.

Dana loves questioning the status quo and discovering new ways to approach old dilemmas. These qualities ensure clients do not get tick box programmes but find the right initiatives and solutions for their organisation.

Dana holds a Bachelor of Psychology, with post-graduate studies in physiology. She is a certified personal trainer, fitness instructor and wellness coach. Dana also speaks at conferences and forums on multiple wellbeing topics.

Superpower: Eating chocolate

Fixation: Chocolate

Denise leads our extension programme design work area. Her work also spans strategy facilitation, and monitoring and evaluation.

Denise has worked in the primary sector for over 25 years, in many roles, including extension officer, facilitator, extension researcher, extension programme designer and evaluator. Extension, a tool for facilitating change, has been a constant in her work. Denise believes that at the heart of any project is people and understanding their responses to change will help ensure that it will be effective.

Working at Scarlatti allows Denise to combine research, design and evaluation, to support clients to facilitate change. And the team is awesome!

Denise has a Masters in Commerce and Management from Lincoln University and a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from The University of Melbourne. Her Masters work explored the concept of involvement in people’s response to information. She is a long-time member of the Australasia Pacific Extension Network (APEN), an organisation for extension professionals working with people to enable change and innovation in the primary industries, natural resource management and communities.

Superpower: Flat-pack furniture assembly

Fixation: Crochet

Karen leads our monitoring and evaluation service area and manages Scarlatti’s large-scale projects. She has worked as a researcher and evaluator for over fifteen years and has spent the last decade working largely on evaluation projects within the primary industry.

Within her role, Karen undertakes and evaluates complex change-based projects, enjoys developing dynamic monitoring and evaluation frameworks; and supports our clients and stakeholders to grow their monitoring and evaluation capability and confidence.

Karen loves working with our clients to ensure our monitoring and evaluation projects hit the mark, and enjoys thinking up new and interesting ways to present our evaluation findings.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Sector Evaluation Research from Massey University.

Superpower: Rehoming undervalued farm dogs

Fixation: New Zealand Chardonnay selection

Claudia’s work at Scarlatti spans strategy facilitation, extension programme design, wellbeing programme design, and social and market research. She has experience in community facilitation and regional development project management for central Government. Claudia moved to Whangārei from Wellington to improve her understanding of regional communities and to positively influence programme development and design to maximise both investment and community returns.

Her background of working on pastoral farming systems and in primary industry innovation development keeps Claudia grounded in the realities of the sector. Claudia loves to bridge the gap between aspirational future-focused thinking and practical realities. Claudia loves bringing people together to create a shared vision and enjoys working to consistently incorporate Te Ao Māori in approaching challenges and project development.

Claudia holds a Bachelor of Science, with a first-class honor, majoring in Behavioural and Biological sciences from Waikato University. She is also a certified project manager practitioner in Prince2, Agile and Change Management.

Superpower: Keeping plants alive

Fixation: Keeping plants alive

Hannah leads Scarlatti’s workforce research area, and her work also spans impact modelling and market research.

Hannah’s field of expertise is predominately in statistical modelling and analysis.

While completing her Master’s degree, Hannah worked at Colmar Brunton supporting the client executives with the day-to-day management of survey projects and scripting of data collection and analysis programs.

Hannah holds a Master of Science, majoring in Statistics from the University of Auckland.

Superpower: Using R (programming language)

Fixation: Learning more R

Kenny primarily works in Scarlatti’s impact modelling area on projects to understand the implications of environmental change and environmental policy for society.

Kenny’s expertise is in economic modelling and data analysis, with a focus on causal inference. He enjoys developing models to understand the impacts of climate change on business and building tools to help clients use those models to make better decisions.

He previously worked as a Research Economist at the Crown Research Institute, Manaaki Whenua, for five years.

Kenny holds a Doctorate in Agricultural and Resource Economics from University of California, Berkeley.

Fixation: His vegetable garden

Superpower: Always stepping on rogue Lego

De Wet works in the workforce research area at Scarlatti. He has a strong background in labour market economics and has experience in employee wellbeing research and workforce modelling.

De Wet brings corporate and academic experience, having spent several years working in the telecommunications sector before returning to university to further his research career. As part of his doctoral thesis, De Wet utilised administrative data from Stats NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure to examine the impact of minimum wage increases on teenage employment in New Zealand.

He holds a Bachelor of Business with Honours (First Class), Master of Business with Honours (First Class) and Doctorate in Economics from Auckland University of Technology.

Superpower: Overthinking

Fixation: Cookies and milk

Julie leads our social and market research service area, and her work also spans evaluation and monitoring, and organisational wellbeing. She is experienced in project management, evaluation and marketing.

She has previously worked in the arts and culture, tourism, health and sport and recreation sectors.

Julie holds a Bachelor in Commerce (International Business) from NEOMA Business School in France, an Honours Bachelor in Commerce (Global Management) from the University of Ottawa in Canada, and a Master of Tourism Management, First Class Honours, from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. During her studies, Julie researched social marketing, attitudes and behaviour change.

Superpower: Always finding a bargain

Fixations: Cheese

Kate’s work at Scarlatti spans monitoring and evaluation, strategy facilitation, wellbeing programme design, monitoring and evaluation, and social and market research.

She brings her background in diversity into her work to raise awareness of different groups’ unique features, to ensure that all perspectives are considered. Kate loves the creativity within her job, and how varied her work and clients are.

As part of Kate’s Masters, she interned at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for Immigration New Zealand.

Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Cultural Anthropology and Asian Studies, and a Masters in Migration Studies (with Distinction), both from Victoria University of Wellington. Her research at university focused on critically analysing a wide variety of disparities faced by people around the world, why they may occur, and how they can be alleviated.

Superpower: Hiding sweets in the house

Fixations: Knitting - mostly to donate

Kelly’s work within Scarlatti focuses mostly on monitoring and evaluation, and also includes social and market research. Her experience spans evaluation of services and programmes using mixed-method approaches, survey design and dashboard implementation, workshop facilitation and training. Kelly loves bringing evaluation and data together with a thorough understanding of operational context to provide useful insights and recommendations.

Kelly has previous experience in the field of youth justice, and with research and evaluation in academic, non-profit, and government settings. She has also worked for several years in New Zealand’s public sector. Kelly enjoys the variety of projects at Scarlatti, and the opportunity to work with organisations and companies across New Zealand.

Kelly holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts (English) from the University of Colorado, and a Master of Arts (Criminal Justice) from the University of Illinois Chicago in the United States. During her Masters’ studies, Kelly completed a graduate concentration in Gender and Women’s Studies and had a focus on youth justice.

Superpower: Headstands

Fixations: Feijoas

Mel's work spans our social and market research, and programme design work areas. She loves all aspects of the project life cycle - from the initial gathering of information to scope and design projects, right through to monitoring and evaluating the success of the project after its implementation.

Mel has been working as a researcher for over 10 years and has experience across a range of industries, her work in recent years has honed her skills in the primary industries and tertiary education sector.

Prior to joining the team at Scarlatti, Mel lived in Singapore for two years working as a senior consultant for a large global research consultancy.

Mel holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing, and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Statistics and Psychology from the University of Auckland.

Superpower: Romance languages

Fixations: Sunday drives

Phoebe works predominantly in social and market research, as well as wellbeing programme design, and monitoring and evaluation.

She began her journey to research and evaluation in Brazil in 2020, supporting projects on social services, gender violence and education, for NGOS, governments and intergovernmental agencies. Prior to this, she worked as an English language teacher for adults.

Outside of work, Phoebe is building an organisation that supports Latin American migrants in New Zealand – by providing Spanish-speaker specific English classes; hosting guest speakers and debates to build migrant confidence; and providing a space to build a ‘family away from home’.

Phoebe has a Conjoint Bachelor of Arts and Commerce in Marketing (Market Research), International Business and Spanish.

Superpower: Ice-cream making

Fixation: XKCD

Sam leads Scarlatti’s operations research area, and his work also spans workforce research and impact modelling.

Sam’s experience is in mathematical modelling and data analysis. He enjoys making models of the world and building tools to let clients use those models to better understand their problems and improve the way they do things.

Sam holds a Doctorate in Physics from Dartmouth College, NH, USA, and a Master of Science in Physics (First Class Honours) from the University of Otago.

During his physics research Sam built models of systems ranging from ultra-cold gases to galaxies.

Superpower: Throwing a frisbee

Fixations: Excel

Vaughan leads our impact modelling work area. His work also spans workforce research, and extension programme design. He’s frequently involved in projects involving both quantitative and qualitative analyses.

His experience involves working with clients across a range of primary industries including horticulture, dairy, and sheep and beef, where he enjoys developing tools and resources that are interactive and intuitive for a range of uses.

Vaughan holds a Master of Agribusiness (with Distinction) and a Bachelor of AgriCommerce in Agricultural Economics, both from Massey University. During his Masters, he worked with Zespri to conduct a situational analysis of the economic impact of sooty mould in New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry.

Superpower: Kids' birthday extravangazas

Fixations: Brewing the perfect coffee

Deirdre is Scarlatti’s Team Administrator and works closely with the Scarlatti team in all aspects of the business, including making sure the coffee is brewed and the team’s cups are full.

In her many years at Scarlatti, she has never missed a team member's birthday and makes sure the office pets have had their daily pats, cuddles and treats.

Deirdre has been living in New Zealand since 1998 working in a variety of industries, from pharmaceuticals and clinical research to tug and barge operations.

Deirdre holds a Bachelor of Management, majoring in Accounting and Finance from the University of Lethbridge in Canada.

Superpower: Taking on roundabouts

Fixation: Sewing hexagons

Diane provides part-time administrative support to the Hamilton office as well as assisting the Team Administrator.

She has spent many years in the corporate space, working in a variety of industries, with the latest role being in a global technology company where she has honed her administrative background including HR, payroll, etc. She is excited to be part of a company going places.

Superpower: Lengthy rants about anything

Fixations: Rubik's cube

Alex's work is mostly in impact modelling, and workforce research. He particularly enjoys coming up with creative coding solutions to idiosyncratic problems and finding ways to optimise runtime for large data processing tasks. In his Honours work he invented a new protocol for secure-against-all-parties anonymous secret sharing.

Outside of work he is a passionate skier with hopes to take a tour of Europe’s sickest slopes, a big fan of the Black Caps, and dabbles in independent content creation.

Alex has a BSc in Maths and Physics, BSc hons (first class) in Maths, from The University of Auckland.

Superpower: Plugging in USBs the right way first time

Fixation: Funky house & disco

Declan primarily works in our workforce research work area.

Declan enjoys seeing how different areas of mathematics can be used to model real-world scenarios, and solving the problems that these scenarios present. He also enjoys the collaborative nature of the work at Scarlatti, and seeing the way people from entirely different backgrounds can together create work that is excellent.

In his spare time, Declan enjoys reading novels, playing football, and invariably picking up random hobbies along the way.

He holds a Bachelor of Science with majors in Mathematics and Actuarial Science from Victoria University of Wellington.

Superpower: Telling the best (worst) dad jokes/puns

Fixation: Cat cafes

Elliot’s work is mostly in workforce research.

He has a passion for science communication and utilising that to connect his research and analysis to clients from all walks of life. Elliot enjoys applying his technical and research skills to a range of projects, as he relishes the challenge of learning outside his comfort zone.

His interests include trying as many tasty hot drinks as possible, and pampering his very cute cat Athena.

Elliot holds a BSc Honours (First Class) in Computational and Applied Mathematical Sciences (CAMS) from the University of Canterbury. His thesis focused on the mathematical modelling side of epidemiology, but he is also skilled in statistical modelling and analysis.

Superpower: Understanding Calculus

Fixation: Reading long fantasy series

Finn’s work is mainly in workforce research.

Finn’s experience is in mathematical modelling and data analysis. He particularly enjoys solving difficult conceptual and mathematical problems.

Outside of work, Finn is a board game connoisseur and has been playing the piano and trumpet for most of his life.

Finn has a MSc in Physics, and a BSc Honours (First Class) in Mathematical Physics. His research focussed on how light is bent by the largest structures in the universe, such as cosmic voids and galaxy superclusters.

Superpower: Decluttering

Fixation: Crafting the perfect dumpling

Hadleigh is a qualitative research associate who works predominantly in monitoring and evaluation, extension programme design, and workforce research.

He grew up milking cows in the mighty Waikato, spent a number of years in Wellington, and now calls Christchurch home. Hadleigh has worn many hats throughout his career, and enjoys the range and variety of work that Scarlatti projects provide. He’s happiest when wrapping his head around concepts that are complex and unfamiliar, and writing about the process.

Hadleigh holds a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in Religious Studies and English Literature from Victoria University of Wellington, and a Masters of Applied Data Science with Distinction from University of Canterbury. His undergraduate thesis explored the migration patterns of Buddhism in the 1970s, and his Masters work focused on various modes of Natural Language Processing.

Superpower: Finding any excuse for coffee

Fixation: Trail running

Hannah’s work spans monitoring and evaluation, social and market research, and wellbeing programme design.

Hannah loves the range of work that Scarlatti offers; she is always keen to venture out of her comfort zone and learn about new service areas.

With an appreciation of complexity and approaching a problem from multiple angles, Hannah enjoys looking at the bigger picture to develop sustainable solutions while keeping people and their wellbeing at the centre.

She holds a first-class honours degree in Psychology and a major in Education from the University of Otago, Dunedin.

Superpower: Choosing the perfect size Tupperware

Fixation: Shoes

Hannah is a dedicated data enthusiast and enjoys the variety of work Scarlatti offers.

As a professional triathlete training for the 70.3 World Championships, she seamlessly blends her passion for data with a drive for high performance in all areas of her life.

Hannah contributes a unique skill set to diverse challenges and opportunities.

Hannah has a Master of Health, Sport, and Human Performance, along with a Bachelor of Science in Data Analytics.

Superpower: Finding the best discounts online

Fixation: Animal videos

Kayla’s work spans monitoring and evaluation, social and market research, and impact modelling.

She has a passion for problem-solving and loves discovering innovative ways to communicate findings to different audiences. Kayla enjoys how she can incorporate all her favourite parts of research into her work; from problem-solving to data analysis and that her work includes a mix of qualitative and quantitative research.

Kayla recently submitted her PhD thesis in Psychology at the University of Waikato. She holds a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Statistics from the University of Waikato. Her research at university focused on decision-making and cognitive biases.

Superpower: Finding lost items

Fixation: Menu stalking

Molly is a part-time administrator based at the Wellington office.

She is excited about expanding her knowledge and getting involved in the variety of work Scarlatti offers. She has a particular interest in strategy facilitation and works closely with this team.

Being new to the role, Molly hopes that her experience at the Wellington office won't be like pulling teeth, something she is familiar with from her other part-time job as a dental assistant.

Superpower: Digging rabbit holes

Fixations: Watching The Joy of Painting

Rachel’s obsession with detail and the stories data tell means she fits in nicely with the Scarlatti team. Creating easily digestible and engaging content for clients and marketing Scarlatti is her role.

Rachel’s experience is with primary sector organisations and businesses.

She holds a Bachelor of Media Arts, and a Graduate Diploma in Communication.

Superpower: Sudoku

Fixation: Travelling

Ren is an associate developer working in the social research and insights and customer experience service areas.

He loves the variety of project work at Scarlatti because it facilitates professional development, collaboration with different people, and provides the freedom to work with new technologies like statistical modelling. Ren enjoys dabbling in various projects to discover the work he wants to specialise in.

Outside of work, Ren likes to go to the gym, pick up new hobbies, and travel with friends and family.

Ren has a Bachelor of Science majoring in Statistics and Computer Science from The University of Auckland.

Superpower: Lover of people

Fixation: Bountiful kisses

Maisie has a masters degree in people greeting and has been known to perform a trick or two. Maisie manages the Auckland team’s wellbeing and acts in a consultancy role regularly advising the Scarlatti organisational wellbeing team.

When she is not at the Auckland office keeping the humans distracted, her favourite place to be is at the beach. She loves going on long walks and is always up for a road trip or flight to the family’s bach on Great Barrier Island. Her best party trick is diving into the pool.

Maisie is definitely top dog in Scarlatti’s books.