Significant Awards
Stormy pot of gold. Image - Judy Grindell
Mario Andres Fernandez was recognised with the Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award by the US Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the USA – Southern Agricultural Economics Association for the best doctoral dissertation. Mario joined Landcare Research in July 2013.
Jenny Hurst was awarded the Graham Whyte Forestry Prize 2013 by the School of Forestry, Canterbury University, as the best performing postgraduate student at the School of Forestry. Jenny’s doctoral studies were partially funded by Landcare Research´s Indigenous Forestry Research Programme, and she is currently working with us on fixed term contract.
Rich Leschen received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Arkansas, Department of Entomology, in recognition of his significant contributions to entomology (Coleoptera in particular). The university funded Rich to travel to the USA to receive the award.
Graham Nugent, Penny Fisher, Dave Morgan, Peter Sweetapple and Bruce Warburton were awarded the Shorland Medal by the New Zealand Association of Scientists in 2013 for applied science excellence. The award recognises the hugely influential contribution the group has made to the cost-effectiveness and success of mammal pest management (possums particularly) over the last two decades. The team’s consistent and persistent research has clarified the role of various pest species as TB vectors; developed new strategies for local elimination of pests and for declaring when areas are free of TB; and substantially reduced the environmental, non-target, and animal welfare risks of pest management.
The team, in partnership with TBfree New Zealand, was also a finalist in the annual KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards.
Robyn Simcock was a co-recipient of the 2014 Wesley W Horner Award for her contribution to engineering science. The award was made by the Environment and Water Resources Institute (EWRI), a civil engineering specialty institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and was presented at a ceremony during the annual EWRI meeting in Portland, Oregon.
Fiona Thomson was awarded a Marsden Fast-start Grant to investigate ‘Does investment into seed dispersal alter with plant height and island size?’
David Wardle (Research Associate ) was included in ‘The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2014’ – the latest Thomson Reuters list of the most highly cited researchers whose papers are ranked among the top 1% of most-cited papers in their fi eld (Environment/Ecology in this case) by year of publication. David’s primary affi liation is the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, with Landcare Research as his secondary affi liation.
Janet Wilmshurst was awarded the New Zealand Ecological Society’s Te Tohu Taiao Award for Ecological Excellence (its highest honour). Janet’s work on New Zealand and Pacific island environments has changed our understanding of their prehuman state, including the biotic response (and its rate of change since the end of the last glaciation) to climate, natural disturbance, Polynesian settlement and subsequent human impacts on the environment.
Jamie Wood was awarded a RSNZ Hutton Fund Grant and a significant grant from the National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration (USA) to search for coprolites (fossilised dung) in the North Island. Coprolites provide a means of reconstructing past diets and ecological function of extinct birds such as moa.