Researchers and scholars at the top of their fields elected
Nineteen new Ngā Ahurei a Te Apārangi Fellows and
Ngā Ahurei Honore a Te Apārangi Honorary Fellows have been
elected to the Academy of the Royal Society Te Apārangi for
their distinction in research and advancement of science,
technology or the humanities. They are world leaders in the
following topics: improving human–machine interactions,
moral philosophy, autobiographical memory, Pasifika poetry,
cross-cultural psychology, Indigenous studies and the
politics of polar regions. Also, paleobiology, seabed
geology, tectonic and seismic hazards, pollen records,
reintroduction biology, mathematical functional analysis,
optical physics, stroke, maternal health, bone biology, end
of life care and gout.
Being made a Fellow is an honour that recognises distinction in research, scholarship or the advancement of knowledge at the highest international standards. Fellows can use the post-nominal ‘FRSNZ’ after their name to indicate this honour.
Chair of the Academy Executive Committee Professor Richard Blaikie FRSNZ says it was pleasing to see new Fellows from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds.
“The newly-elected Fellows have made amazing contributions to knowledge in their fields and across disciplinary boundaries. Their election adds significantly to the breadth and diversity of knowledge held within the Academy; they will help support the purpose of Te Apārangi to engage with and inform New Zealanders on matters of public importance.”
“On behalf of the Academy and Society, I heartily congratulate all the new Fellows. The election process is rigorous and new Fellows can be rightfully proud that their outstanding achievements have been recognised by their peers in this way.”
The new Fellows are:
Associate Professor Mark Sagar,
CEO Soul Machines Ltd and Auckland Bioengineering Institute,
University of Auckland
Professor Valery Feigin, Auckland
University of Technology
Professor Caroline Crowther,
Liggins Institute, University of Auckland
Professor Tim
Mulgan, University of Auckland
Dr Philip Barnes,
NIWA
Professor Elaine Reese, University of
Otago
Associate Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh,
University of Auckland
Professor Ronald Fischer, Victoria
University of Wellington
Professor James Crampton, GNS
Science and Victoria University of Wellington
Professor
Jillian Cornish, University of Auckland
Professor Brendan
Hokowhitu, University of Waikato
Dr Kelvin Berryman, GNS
Science
Professor Merryn Gott, University of
Auckland
Professor Rewi Newnham, Victoria University of
Wellington
Professor Nicola Dalbeth, University of
Auckland and Auckland District Health Board
Professor
Philip Seddon, University of Otago
Professor Astrid an
Huef, Victoria University of Wellington
Professor
Anne-Marie Brady, University of Canterbury
The Society also announced the election of an Honorary Fellow. The election of Honorary Fellows aims to encourage strong ties with leading international scientists and scholars and New Zealand’s research community.
The new Honorary Fellow is:
Distinguished Professor John Dudley, University of Bourgogne-Franche Comté France and CNRS research institute FEMTO-ST.
Read more on the new Fellows:
Associate
Professor Mark Sagar, CEO Soul Machines Ltd and Auckland
Bioengineering Institute, University of
Auckland
Mark Sagar is a pioneer in the
computational modelling of the face. His early work
simulating facial appearance and movement received two
scientific and technical Academy Awards. His later research
has gone deeper under the skin, simulating facial
musculature, behavioural circuits, and the motivating
cognitive processes. Mark is re-imagining how people
interact with technology, humanising it in appearance and in
the way it processes information. By creating interactive
models of human cognition and emotion, he aims to (1) give
new insights into human nature, exploring how interconnected
neural processing models give rise to intelligent and
emotional behaviour; (2) build the foundation for future
human-intelligent machine co-operation; and (3) democratise
artificial intelligence by making it intuitive to use in a
face-to-face manner by millions.
Professor
Valery Feigin, Auckland University of
Technology
The research findings of Valery
Feigin have had profound international impact, changing our
understanding of stroke and traumatic brain injury
prevention and epidemiology. His research has had
significant implications for health care services, research
planning and priority setting and significantly has resulted
in changes in the World Health Organisation International
Classification of Diseases 11th revision. His novel approach
to primary stroke prevention through motivational
population-wide intervention (Stroke Riskometer app) has
received worldwide recognition. He was awarded the 2015
MacDiarmid Medal by Royal Society Te Apārangi in
recognition of his work in this area.
Professor Caroline Crowther, Liggins Institute,
University of Auckland
Caroline Crowther is a
maternal fetal medicine subspecialist recognised
internationally for her landmark, large, multicentre
clinical trials and translation of research findings into
guidelines, practice and policy change, leading to improved
maternal and perinatal health worldwide. Her work has
changed care for women before preterm birth and for diabetes
in pregnancy, and has led to substantially reduced death,
disability and cerebral palsy in their newborn babies.
Caroline has led significant development of evidence-based
health care within New Zealand and Australia and beyond,
including establishing the Australian and New Zealand
Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Satellite and has been an
advisor to the World Health Organisation on maternal and
perinatal research priorities and care recommendations.
Professor Tim Mulgan, University of
Auckland
Tim Mulgan is a significant
international scholar in moral philosophy and philosophy of
religion. He is the author of five books and numerous
journal articles and book chapters. He has made original
contributions to discussions about the demands of morality,
our obligations to future people, the moral significance of
climate change, the purpose of the universe, and our place
in the cosmos. Tim’s work has influenced other scholars in
philosophy, and also in related disciplines including
theology, development studies, environmental studies,
political theory, institutional design and public
health.
Dr Philip Barnes, NIWA
Philip Barnes is an internationally recognised
marine scientist who uses geophysical and geological methods
to unlock the secrets of the Earth beneath the seabed. Over
the past three decades, his expansive research into New
Zealand’s undersea environment has revolutionised our
perspective of the fault lines and active tectonic processes
that shape New Zealand and its surrounding seafloor. His
insights underpin numerous discoveries regarding the dynamic
nature of our tectonic plate boundary. His quantification of
natural phenomena such as deformation of Earth’s crust,
earthquake variability, fault movements and landslides
continue to produce science of international and societal
relevance, especially as active plate boundaries dominate
the circum-Pacific rim (Ring of Fire) and pose significant
geohazards.
Professor Elaine Reese,
University of Otago
Elaine Reese is a
world-leading expert on autobiographical memory. She began
her career with the ground-breaking discovery that the way
in which mothers and young children talk about the past has
long-lasting effects on a child’s memory development. Over
the years, she has expanded her research to include studies
with older children and adolescents, tracing the role of
maternal reminiscing practices in the development of
children’s narrative skill, self-concept, and wellbeing
over significant periods of development. More recently, in
work with Māori families, she has documented how
cross-cultural differences in maternal reminiscing are
reflected in children’s emerging life stories. Each
discovery has set a new bar in the field of developmental
psychology and has fostered new research in laboratories
around the world.
Associate Professor Selina
Tusitala Marsh, University of Auckland
Poet
Laureate and scholar Selina Tusitala Marsh ONZM from the
University of Auckland is renowned for her outstanding
creative and scholarly contribution to Pacific literature
and Pacific Literary Studies. A prolific author and
award-winning poet, she has published widely. Her poetry has
appeared on the Top 5 NZ Best Seller List and NZ
Listener’s Best 100 Books, in Best New Zealand Poems, in
the prestigious The Poetry Archive (UK), and on the renowned
US Poetry Foundation website. The Commonwealth Poet for
2016, Marsh composed and performed a poem for Queen
Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on behalf of the
Commonwealth member states. She was appointed New Zealand
Poet Laureate (2017-2019). A notable scholar and teacher,
and hailing from the islands of Samoa and Tuvalu on her
mother's side, Selina has produced a distinctive style of
Pacific literary criticism, developed Pacific pedagogies for
teaching literature, and mentors Māori and Pacific
students. Selina was awarded the 2019 Humanities Aronui
Medal by Royal Society Te Apārangi in recognition of her
contribution.
Professor Ronald Fischer,
Victoria University of Wellington
Ronald Fischer
is one of the leading cross-cultural psychologists in the
world. His work is interdisciplinary, focussing on the
interplay between cultures and individuals, and his
pioneering work has led to major advances in the study of
norms and values, and the evolutionary functions of ritual.
He has won many prestigious awards and is a sought-after
speaker. He has shown exceptional engagement and leadership
through establishing large research networks, serving as
associate editor on international journals, initiating
international training PhD programmes, teaching at summer
schools, serving on executive boards, and contributing to
United Nations development programmes.
Professor James Crampton, GNS Science and
Victoria University of Wellington
James Crampton
is the leading authority on New Zealand Cretaceous
paleobiology, biostratigraphy and paleo-environments. His
research informs us about life before the last great
extinction. He is internationally recognised for his diverse
research including systematic paleontology; morphometrics;
physical drivers of evolution; dynamics of diversity;
macroecology; biogeography; and biostratigraphy. His work in
leading international journals synthesises geological,
ecological and macroevolutionary processes, and achieves an
impressive level of quantitative and analytical rigour. In
addition to his contributions to paleobiological theory, his
innovative methodology and analytical techniques are
becoming widely adopted. Through presentations, print, and
display of fossils, he has increased public understanding
and appreciation of New Zealand’s past life and
environments. He was elected a Fellow of the US-based
Paleontological Society in 2018.
Professor
Jillian Cornish, University of Auckland
Jillian
Cornish is an international leader and educator in bone
biology and its application to orthopaedic research. She has
identified a series of key bone regulatory molecules, thus
elucidating important pathways in normal bone biology such
as the close relationship between fat cells and bone cells
as well as providing bone growth factors for potential use
in orthopaedics. This work has been recognised by research
awards from the International Combined Orthopaedic Research
Societies, the Faculty of Science of the Royal College of
Pathologists of Australasia, the New Zealand Society of
Endocrinology, the American Society of Bone and Mineral
Research, and the Australia and New Zealand Bone and Mineral
Society. Her current orthopaedic collaborations have the
potential to alter clinical outcomes for patients with
severe skeletal injuries and bone cancers.
Professor Brendan Hokowhitu, University of
Waikato
Brendan Hokowhitu (Ngāti Pūkenga) is a
pioneering Māori scholar who has helped define the globally
nascent field of Indigenous Studies. His intellect,
originality in thinking and depth of knowledge are
demonstrated in his expansive publications creating the
sub-fields of Indigenous Masculinities, and Indigenous Sport
and Physical Education, and are significantly contributing
to sub-fields of Indigenous Critical Theory, Indigenous
Media, and Indigenous Wellbeing. He leads the Ageing Well
National Science Challenge ‘Kaumātua Mana Motuhake’
project. Uniquely, he has become the Dean of two Indigenous
Studies faculties in two different countries (Canada and New
Zealand), which is a testament to his international peer
recognition.
Dr Kelvin Berryman, GNS
Science
Kelvin Berryman QSO is one of the
foremost pioneers and international experts in active
tectonics and seismic hazard assessment. His research has
increased fundamental understanding of the processes and
hazards to society associated with plate boundary zones and
he has communicated this knowledge to the public, government
agency staff and elected officials. He has played a pivotal
role in the response and recovery from the Canterbury
earthquakes, bringing research knowledge to the fore in
decision-making. He was awarded the Queen’s Service Order
in 2012 for services to science and Canterbury earthquake
recovery.
Professor Merryn Gott, University
of Auckland
Merryn Gott is internationally
recognised for the critical social science lens she brings
to addressing what the World Health Organisation describes
as “one of the most significant public health challenges
of the 21st century”, namely the need to reduce suffering
at the end of life. Her evidence has informed practice and
policy in Aotearoa New Zealand, the UK, the United States
and Canada, ultimately leading to positive impact for
patients and whānau. Her work has also led to theoretical
and methodological advances in palliative care research
internationally. She directs the only bicultural palliative
care research group internationally, recognised as
world-leading for its equity focus.
Professor Rewi Newnham, Victoria University of
Wellington
Rewi Newnham (Ngāpuhi) is an
outstanding researcher and educator in studying past and
present environmental and climatic conditions and modern
changes, primarily through analyses of pollen records
(palynology). His wide-ranging work includes studies of New
Zealand’s past climates and their controls and links to
global climate change, using pollen analysis to determine
human and volcanic impacts on the environment, and
contemporary effects of pollen on human health. Rewi has
achieved world-wide recognition and has contributed to or
co-led international initiatives to determine New
Zealand’s past climates, using these findings to answer
globally-important questions about environmental change. He
also draws on his roots in Ngāpuhi iwi to build links
between science and mātauranga Māori and to help New
Zealanders understand the factors that affect environmental
change.
Professor Nicola Dalbeth, University
of Auckland and Auckland District Health
Board
Nicola Dalbeth is a rheumatologist and
professor of medicine who leads a research programme in
gout, an arthritis of major relevance to Aotearoa New
Zealand. Her work has identified novel mechanisms of disease
and defined treatment approaches for gout. In addition, she
has led international initiatives to define central concepts
of gout, including nomenclature of disease, disease staging,
and outcome measures. Her research in both pharmacological
and non-pharmacological treatments has been incorporated
into international gout management guidelines.
Professor Philip Seddon, University of
Otago
Philip Seddon is an outstanding
conservation biologist and founding member of the expanding
field of Reintroduction Biology. His work improves the
practice, scientific underpinnings and success of species
translocations globally. He has key leadership roles within
specialist groups of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature. His publications, including key
papers in flagship journals such as Nature Ecology &
Evolution, Science, Conservation Biology,
and Trends in Ecology and Evolution, have shaped
international conservation policy.
Professor
Astrid an Huef, Victoria University of
Wellington
Astrid an Huef is a highly regarded
pure mathematician working in functional analysis, the type
of analysis that deals with infinite-dimensional phenomena.
Her focus ranges broadly from operator algebras associated
with various dynamical systems, to operator algebras
associated with combinatorial objects such as graphs and
semigroups, and to purely algebraic analogues of the latter.
The breadth, depth and quality of her research is
illustrated by her international collaborations, peer
esteem, the external funding she has received and the
quality of the journals she publishes in.
Professor Anne-Marie Brady, University of
Canterbury
The research of Anne-Marie Brady on
Antarctic politics, China's polar interests, and the Chinese
Communist Party's domestic and foreign policy, in
particular, foreign interference activities, has been a
catalyst contributing to policy adjustments by governments
from the USA, to New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada, and
the EU. Her research has been publicly praised by Hillary
Clinton and Marco Rubio. Her testimony on Antarctica and
China is recorded in Hansard in the Australian Parliament,
as well as in several reports on Antarctica prepared for the
Australian government. Her policy advice helped spark an
inquiry into foreign interference in the New Zealand
parliament. Her research on small states in the changing
global order has assisted New Zealand and other small state
governments with contestable policy advice. She founded a
groundbreaking journal of polar social sciences, which
offers policy relevant research on the Arctic and Antarctic.
In 2019, she was awarded the New Zealand Women of Influence
Global Influence Award. She is the first female political
scientist elected a Fellow of Royal Society Te Apārangi.
HONORARY FELLOW
Distinguished Professor John Dudley, University
of Bourgogne-Franche Comté France
John Dudley
has made sustained and exceptional contributions to science
through pioneering research in optical physics and global
science advocacy. After attending high school in Mangere,
South Auckland, he received his PhD from the University of
Auckland in 1992, where he subsequently lectured from 1993
to 2000. He then moved to France where he is now
Distinguished Professor at the University of
Burgundy-Franche-Comté and the CNRS research institute
FEMTO-ST. He has made groundbreaking discoveries in the
science of ultrafast lasers, nonlinear optics and extreme
waves, with highly cited publications (many of which are
co-authored with New Zealand researchers), and numerous
international awards and distinctions. He is equally
committed to education, and has initiated major science
communication initiatives with the United Nations and UNESCO
that have reached hundreds of millions worldwide.