MacDiarmid Awards
Judges

Introducing the judges for the 2009 MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year Awards

Category Judges

Professor John Hay - Understanding Planet Earth

Professor John Hay is an expert in Environmental Science, Policy and Management, with over 40 years of international work experience in academia, the private sector and government organisations. He is currently Director of John E. Hay and Associates based in Auckland, and is a Visiting Professor at Ibaraki University in Japan. Professor Hay has a particular interest in climatic change (including variability and extremes), with an emphasis on New Zealand and the South Pacific. He is an educator, writer and policy advisor to governments (nationally and internationally) and international organisations. He was a lead author of the recent Fourth Assessment Report prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and was also a lead author for the two previous assessment reports. The IPCC was co-winner (with Al Gore) of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

 

Dr Roger Cooper - Understanding Planet Earth

Dr Roger Cooper is Emeritus Research Scientist with GNS Science. His research ranges over a wide field - macroevolution, graptolite systematics, stratigraphy, regional structure and tectonics - and has involved numerous international collaborations. He led, and was main author of, the Timescale Project, a comprehensive revision of the New Zealand Geological Timescale, and he contributed to revision of the Global Geochronological Scale. Dr Cooper pioneered the application of quantitative biostratigraphy in New Zealand and helped develop a new method for calibration of the global geological timescale that has improved precision by about 10 times. New Zealand's Early Paleozoic geological evolution, structure and tectonic history have been a major interest and led to the development of the two-terrain model to explain the complex relationships of New Zealand's oldest rocks.

 

Professor Ian Evans - Science and our Society

Professor Ian Evans is Professor of Psychology at Massey University. His PhD was from London University (Institute of Psychiatry) and he has taught at the University of Hawaii, the State University of New York at Binghamton, and the University of Waikato. He has a distinguished record of international research in clinical psychology, the psychobiology of disabilities, child behaviour disorders and behaviour therapy. His work has addressed important contemporary social issues such as parent and community partnerships in education, interventions for modifying challenging behaviour at school and at home, and family influences on children’s perceptions of fairness. His current Marsden-funded research addresses the effects of the emotional atmosphere in primary classrooms on children’s emotion regulation. Professor Evans is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and of the Association for Psychological Science (USA).

 

Professor Richie Poulton - Science and our Society

Professor Richie Poulton is Director of the University of Otago's Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit which conducts the Dunedin longitudinal study, one of the most detailed studies of human health and development ever undertaken. He is also Co-Director of the National Centre for Lifecourse Research which aims to facilitate uptake of research by policy-makers and the wider community. His PhD was from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and his major areas of research interest include developmental psychopathology, gene-environment interaction in the prediction of multifactorial disorders, and psychosocial determinants of chronic physical disease. Professor Poulton has published more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers and he maintains numerous international research collaborations. In 2004, he was awarded the New Zealand Association of Scientist's Research Medal and the Health Research Council of New Zealand's (inaugural) Liley Medal for Excellence in Health Research.

 

Andrew Cleland - Future Science and Technologies

Andrew Cleland is Chief Executive of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ). Prior to joining IPENZ Andrew had a 23 year career at Massey University where he was heavily involved in commercialisation of research and led research programmes in food engineering with particular emphasis on refrigeration of food. A primary focus of that research had been on development of mathematical models that predicted important physical and quality-related parameters (e.g. time/temperature profiles, moisture loss, energy consumption) during exposure of foods to varying environmental conditions during preservation, storage and transport operations. This research was recognised through two international research awards. He now represents the views of the engineering profession on issues such as research and development, economic development, energy, skills and education.

 

Shaun Coffey - Future Science and Technologies

Shaun Coffey is CEO of Industrial Research Limited. Shaun has had an extensive involvement in leading research and development enterprises in Australia and New Zealand. An agricultural scientist by training, his recent interests have included the application of complex systems science and the redesign of animal agriculture systems. Shaun joined IRL from CSIRO Australia in 2006. Among his honours and awards, Shaun is a recipient of the Silver Medal of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (2001) and a Centenary Medal of Agriculture from the University of Melbourne (2006). He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2004 and a Companion of the Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand in 2008.

 

Dr Bruce Scoggins - Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing

Dr Bruce Scoggins is a director of Bruce A Scoggins and Associates Ltd, a small, specialised consultancy working in the research, science, technology and health sectors in New Zealand and the Pacific. He is an Executive Adviser on Strategy and Partnerships for the Health Research Council of the Pacific. He is also a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Western Pacific Advisory Committee on Health Research, a member of the Health Research Council of New Zealand Gene Technology Advisory Committee and a member of the Lottery Health Research Grants Committee. From 1991 – 2006, he was Chief Executive of the Health Research Council of New Zealand, having previously held senior research and academic appointments in Australia and the United States. Dr Scoggins has authored more than 400 research publications.

 

Professor Jane Harding - Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing

Professor Jane Harding is Professor of Neonatology and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Auckland. Both a fetal physiologist and paediatrician, she trained in Auckland and also studied in Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and as a post-doctoral fellow in San Francisco. Professor Harding is a recognised international authority on the regulation of fetal growth, placental function and the treatment and consequences of undernutrition in the womb. She is a member of the Fetal and Neonatal Physiology research group at the Liggins Institute, which is a research Institute of The University of Auckland. Current research projects include clinical trials and physiological studies in preterm and growth restricted newborns and the long term consequences of impaired fetal growth.

 

Dr Allan Crawford - Adding Value to Nature

Dr Allan Crawford is a principal scientist in AgResearch’s Animal Genomics Section. He is recognised internationally for his contribution to research underpinning sheep genomics, being one of the first people to realise the value of simple sequence repeats or microsatellite markers in genetic linkage studies. His work establishing the first genetic linkage map of sheep is now used in genetic linkage studies for discovering genes associated with increased ovulation, improved carcass composition, resistance to parasitic nematodes and facial eczema disease. This knowledge is important to the animal biotechnology sector. More recently his interests have focused on establishing a possum EST (expressed sequence tag) database and the use of high-throughput SNP genotyping in association studies to identify genes controlling complex traits such as disease resistance in animals. Dr Crawford’s doctorate in insect viruses is from Otago University. He retains an interest in biocontrol of insect pests using pathogens and parasites, and has recently published a description of the genes expressed in the venom glands of parasitoid wasps.

 

Professor Jacqueline Rowarth - Adding Value to Nature

Professor Jacqueline Rowarth holds the Foundation Chair in Pastoral Agriculture at Massey University and is also the university’s Director of Massey Agriculture. Previous to this appointment, she was Director of the Office for Environmental Programs at the University of Melbourne. Professor Rowarth has a PhD in soil science from Massey University, has worked in plant improvement with AgResearch and taught plant science at Lincoln University. Much of her research throughout the past 25 years has focused on efficient use of fertiliser and evaluation of new plant species and cultivars. She is an active scientist with a strong commitment to technology transfer. She holds several awards, including her election as a Companion of the Royal Society of New Zealand, recognising her pre-eminence in the promotion of science and technology. She is also an elected Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science. In 2008 she became a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to agricultural science.

Communication Judges

Philip Simpson

Philip Simpson was raised on a farm and plant nursery at Uruwhenua, Takaka, where his love of New Zealand’s native plants first took root. He studied plant anatomy at the University of Canterbury and completed a doctorate on the Joshua Tree at the University of California. He has since worked as a botanist for the Department of Conservation and is a founding member of Project Crimson - a charitable conservation Trust that aims to protect New Zealand’s native Christmas trees - pohutukawa and rata. Philip is currently an ecological consultant and wine grower in Golden Bay. His books have twice been recognised in the Montana New Zealand Book Awards – in 2001 Dancing Leaves: The story of New Zealand’s cabbage tree - tī kouka, won the Environment category and in 2006, Pohutukawa and Rata: New Zealand’s Iron-hearted Trees won the Environment category and received the Montana Medal for non fiction.

Rebecca Priestley

Rebecca Priestley is a science writer and historian. Rebecca edited the Awa Book of New Zealand science, a collection of 50 scientific pieces covering a wide range of scientific discovery in New Zealand. She also reviews popular science and science history books for The Listener and The Dominion Post, writes for the Listener's health and science pages, and is a contributor to Te Ara - the online encyclopedia of New Zealand. In 2006, she co-curated Butterflies, Boffins & Black Smokers: Two centuries of science in New Zealand, an exhibition at the National Library Gallery in Wellington. Rebecca is currently completing her PhD at University of Canterbury.

Professor Judy Motion

Professor Judy Motion is Professor of Communication at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Prior to taking up this position, she held academic appointments at the University of Wollongong, Australia, the University of Auckland and the University of Waikato. The main strand of Professor Motion’s work broadly concentrates on building sustainability principles into public policy and science-society relations. She has a special interest in public discourse, community engagement and science communication. Recent work examined the implications of biotechnology for public policy and science organisations. Professor Motion is the Australasian Associate Editor of the Journal of Communication Management; Corporate Communication: An International Journal; and an editorial member of a number of international journals. She has published extensively in journals such as Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, Public Relations Review and Management Communication Quarterly.

Rebecca McLeod 

Rebecca McLeod is a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Otago. She completed her PhD in the Department of Marine Sciences at Otago in 2008, the same year she was named the MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year and winner of the science category in the North and South New Zealander of the Year Awards. Rebecca’s award winning research focused on the energy transfer that takes place between the forest and the sea in Fiordland. Her work revealed a novel food web in which coastal deep water creatures rely on recycled energy from Fiordland’s coastal forests.
Rebecca gained a Bachelor of Science from the University of Canterbury  in 1998. Rebecca has been on many research expeditions to remote parts  of Fiordland, and has travelled to Antarctica twice to study subtidal communities.  She has lectured for courses including subtidal ecology, ecological applications and marine biogeochemistry at the University  of Otago.

Matthew Brodie

Matthew Brodie completed his PhD in Sport Science at Massey University in 2008 and is currently writing papers about his award winning research. Matthew won the title of overall runner-up in the 2008 MacDiarmid Awards for developing a world-first motion capture system that can track the movements of a skier using a network of lightweight sensors strapped to the athlete’s body. He is involved in an international collaboration on ski racing biomechanics with the University of Padova and Nordica ski company and received an innovation Award at the 4th International Congress on Science and Skiing in 2007. He also works with athletes in New Zealand, including hockey players and rifle shooters, to improve performance using his technology. Matthew began investigating the science of skiing after completing his Bachelor of Engineering, 1st Class Honours, at the University of Canterbury in 1998.

Ursula Ellenberg

Ursula Ellenberg is an ecologist based at the University of Otago where she completed her PhD studies in 2009. The 35 year old won the 2008 Adding Value to Nature category of the MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year Awards for her research into the impact of tourism on Yellow-eyed penguins. Ursula is originally from Germany, where she completed her Masters of Science in animal ecology. She studied and worked at universities in Canada and Chile before coming to New Zealand in 2003. Her main research focus is in behavioural ecology, conservation physiology and wildlife management. Experiences while guiding backcountry tours in Spitsbergen, Norwegian Arctic, in the late 1990s sparked her research interest in human-wildlife interactions. She splits her time between being a mum of two young children, university teaching and supervising student research projects, and publishing scientific papers.

Specialist Judges

Professor Peter Hunter – Commercialisation

Professor Peter Hunter is Director of the Bioengineering Institute at the University of Auckland, Director of Computational Physiology at Oxford University and he holds honorary or visiting professorships at Oxford, Oslo, Osaka and Queensland universities. He is co-chair of the Physiome Committee of International Union of Physiological Sciences, a project which is developing computational methods for understanding the integrated physiological function of the body. He is also Secretary-General of the World Council of Biomechanics. Professor Hunter has specialist interests is soft tissue biomechanics, electrophysiology and cell biophysics. The Auckland Bioengineering Institute is developing sophisticated computer models of many aspects of living organisms. His Fellowship of the Royal Society recognises his pioneering work in the field of computational physiology and his impressive achievements and contributions to science. He is also on a number of scientific advisory boards of research institutes internationally.

Stuart McKenzie – Commercialisation

Stuart has been a General Partner at Endeavour Capital, a leading New Zealand private equity company, since 2004. He is currently representing Endeavour on the boards of BioVittoria (natural, no calorie sweetener), FlexiDrill (rock drilling innovation), Simtrix (novel computer peripheral), Veritide (biological detection equipment), Photonic Innovations, and represents Endeavour for the investment in ProActa (anti-cancer drug development company). Stuart is a council member for the NZ Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, on the New Zealand board of the NZTE Beachheads Programme and is on the board of CRAG (Capitalising on Research and Development Action Group). He was also appointed to a Ministerial Advisory Group on Roading Costs in 2006. Prior to Endeavour, Stuart was a co-founder of Quest VC, an early stage investment company based in Dunedin. He has a BE from the University of Auckland in Civil Engineering (1991), a Diploma in Business from the University of Auckland, and an MBA from the University of Otago (2000).

Panel Judges

Professor Richard Faull  (Chair)

Professor Richard Faull, of the Department of Anatomy with Radiology at the University of Auckland, is recognised nationally and internationally as a leading expert on the anatomy and chemistry of the mammalian brain and on neurodegenerative diseases of the human brain. His publication record and research spans 35 years and encompasses all major regions of the brain and spinal cord, as well as the science of the diseased human brain in Huntington's, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and epilepsy.  In 2005 he was appointed as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) and was awarded the prestigious Liley Medal by the Health Research Council of New Zealand for outstanding contributions to medical research. In 2007 Professor Faull received the Rutherford Medal, the highest honour for New Zealand scientists, for his contributions to brain research.

Professor Carolyn Burns

Carolyn Burns is a Professor of Zoology at the University of Otago, where her research centres on biological processes in lakes, particularly in relation to plankton and microbial food webs, water quality and the management of freshwater ecosystems. She pioneered the use of radioisotopes and micronic beads to characterise trophic processes and develop quantitative models that are still in use today. Professor Burns’ PhD is from the University of Toronto, Canada, followed by a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University in the United States. Through her university teaching, membership of editorial boards of international journals in aquatic science, and work with national and international limnological organisations, she has promoted, supported and strengthened scientific research on lakes in New Zealand and throughout the world. In 2007, she was awarded the Naumann-Thienemann Medal, the highest honour that can be bestowed internationally for outstanding scientific contributions to limnology.

Professor Peter Jackson

Professor Peter Jackson retired in May from his position as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Engineering) at the University of Canterbury. He gained his PhD at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and was a professor in mechanical engineering at the University of Auckland before taking up his Canterbury appointment. He has an international reputation for research on wind engineering, yachts and low speed aerodynamics. His specialist interests are in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, particularly applications in wind engineering and the aerodynamics of flexible membranes such as sails. Professor Jackson is recognised within industry for his commitment to encouraging young engineering graduates into the profession. He is a fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers (IPENZ), a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Professor Charles Daugherty

Professor Charles Daugherty is Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Victoria University of Wellington and a researcher for the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology. He is an expert in the scientific basis of conservation, with research interests that focus on the evolutionary and population biology of vertebrates, conservation genetics and ecological restoration. The conservation biology of tuatara is a longstanding interest, and studies with his students have examined the ecological relationships of tuatara to seabirds and rats, temperature-dependent sex determination, and the re-establishment of tuatara in nature. Professor Daugherty completed a PhD in Zoology at the University of Montana and took up post doctoral studies in evolutionary genetics at the University of Illinois.  He was appointed to Victoria University in 1982. His services to conservation and biology have been acknowledged by appointment as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Dr Prue Williams

Prue joined the Foundation as Chief Science Advisor in December 2008. She has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (honours) from Lincoln University and a doctorate in soil science from Massey University. Dr Williams started her science career as a district scientist for MAF on the West Coast of the South Island and then moved to Lincoln where she spent 20 years working for MAF and then Crop & Food Research when the Crown Research Institutes were formed. Dr Williams was initially involved in soils research, specialising in sustainable nutrient management in cropping systems. Over time she became involved in science management and was General Manager Research for five years, where she was responsible for leading Crop & Food Research's science staff. In recent years Dr Williams has been involved in developing linkages with international research institutes particularly in Europe.