Nokes (born 13 August 1958) is a professor of civil and natural resources engineering at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, specialising in fluid mechanics and is separately an accomplished chess player.
Nokes is a university council member, was head of the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering between 2009 and 2012 (coinciding with the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury Earthquakes) and has achieved a number of teaching awards.
Nokes is a member of the Royal Society of New Zealand.