Javier Atalah, Marine Biologist

Marine Biologist, Javier Atalah and Christina Adams (Teacher) have two kids, Sammy (14) and Alma (12) and live in Victory Square, Nelson NZ.

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blurry placeholderJavier on Bridge

What made you choose to live in Nelson?

My wife, Christina and I were living and working in Ireland. Chris is half-Spanish and I’m Chilean, so it was great for our careers to work in Europe. We got sick of the Irish weather, and when our first son Sammy came along we knew it was time to head for New Zealand. 

We’d travelled all around the country - we chose between Northland and Nelson - those two places. I got offered a great opportunity with Cawthron Institute, and that was it.

What do you love about living here?

Obviously the weather was a big factor for us. But being so close to the outdoors made Nelson for us - the inner-city Grampians hill trails are five minutes from home, the national parks are an hour away if that, the Maitai River and the valley are right in town.

I cycle everywhere…I always did since I was a kid in Chile. I ride to work, to my sports, I have a couple of beers after work with friends then ride home. I can ride to everything.

Sammy plays soccer with FC Nelson - he’s addicted. It’s a new club, and his team have done really well. They came second in the South Island Champs - I think it helps most of the team are in the same class at school but the coach is also very good.

We were lucky that Chris could be home when the kids were little, but now we are both busy with full time jobs. I have great flexibility with my work and the kids schools are so close to home that there’s no issue with transporting them around. Sports on Saturday is a breeze, and mostly in town. 

I’m now hooked on golf, and we play on the most beautiful public course I think in the world. It’s incredible to me, and it’s so cheap - there’s no way you could get this kind of thing back in Chile, or Europe.

Tell us about your career - what’s it like working from Nelson?

I’m lucky to work for Cawthron Institute - mainly in Marine Biosecurity - which has involved plenty of travel around New Zealand, gathering samples and data to then analyse back at home base.

Most of the projects I work on have an international component - we have partners around the world who we work with. Working remotely with them is standard practice, and post-Covid, easy and normal. Plus I’ve taken the family back to Europe to work and study - it’s all very doable from here.