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Canterbury students win NZ spatial excellence awards
Canterbury students win NZ spatial excellence awards
November 28, 2014
University of Canterbury students Nick Brunsdon and Jayden MacRae are the winners of the inaugural New Zealand student spatial excellence awards.
The inaugural awards were formed to recognise excellence in the geospatial sector and are a joint venture between the spatial profession, business and government.
MacRae won the postgraduate student of the year award and Brunsdon won the undergraduate student of the year award.
Brunsdon investigated the influence of private and public greenspace on short-term health indicators. He looked at the time spent undertaking physical activity and mental health symptoms of 2557 people in Auckland. He furthered the New Zealand understanding of how urban design of greenspace influences people’s physical and mental health.
MacRae, now working in Wellington, researched the issue relating to the 2011 closure of the Manawatu Gorge which caused a change in the travel time for patients living in the eastern area of the MidCentral Health District to the region’s hospital and health services located in Palmerston North.
The students have been studying under the tutelage of Professor Simon Kingham who heads the university’s spatial GeoHealth Laboratory, which researches in areas such as health geography, spatial epidemiology and geographical information systems. The laboratory was launched by the Minister of Health, Annette King, in 2004.
Professor Kingham says the laboratory has built up partnerships around health geography, spatial epidemiology and geographical systems to increase research capacity in those sectors.
“We have examined issues such as household crowding and infectious disease; increasing green spaces for better health in cities; mental health outcomes following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes; and travel, transport and travel and health outcomes.
“The awards success of these students demonstrates we are on the right track in helping New Zealand understand such important community issues,” Professor Kingham says.
ENDS
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