Outstanding New Zealand researchers have been awarded prestigious medals at the Royal Society of New Zealand 2013 Research Honours event, held in Dunedin last night.
A total of ten medals were awarded at the event recognising achievement in a variety of fields.
The country’s highest science honour, the Rutherford Medal, was awarded to social scientist Distinguished Professor Dame Anne Salmond FRSNZ, University of Auckland, for her eminent work on Maori social structures and interactions with the European world, and on European exploration and engagement in the Pacific. Together with the medal awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand, she also receives $100,000 from the Government.
You can read the full list of recipients below. Coverage of the awards includes:
New Zealand Herald: Salmond becomes first social scientist to snare Rutherford Medal
Otago Daily Times: High honours for three Otago researchers
NewstalkZB: Dame Anne Salmond awarded Rutherford Medal
New Zealand Herald: NZ’s highest science honour awarded
Radio New Zealand: Dame Anne Salmond wins top science honour
MSN NZ: NZer of the year wins top research prize
Radio New Zealand: Dame Anne Salmond wins top science honour
The the full list of medal recipients:
The Callaghan Medal for outstanding contribution to science communication was awarded to Dr Siouxsie Wiles, University of Auckland. The medal is for her vital contribution to raising public awareness of the value of medical science to human health and wellbeing.
The top award for achievement in technology, the Pickering Medal was awarded to Emeritus Professor Sir Harold Marshall FRSNZ, formerly of the University of Auckland, for his innovative research-based acoustical designs.
The Thomson Medal for the management and application of research was awarded to Dr Peter Lee for his outstanding contribution to commercialisation of scientific research.
The Mason Durie Medal for advancing the frontiers of social science was awarded to criminologist Professor John Pratt FRSNZ.
The Hutton Medal for plant science was awarded to Professor Dave Kelly FRSNZ, University of Canterbury, for developing knowledge of native flora in New Zealand and defining the key interactions between plants and animals.
The Hector Medal for the advancement of physical sciences was awarded to Professor Richard Blaikie FRSNZ, University of Otago, for his fundamental and wide-ranging contributions to the field of nano-optics.
The T.K. Sidey Medal for outstanding scientific research in the field of electromagnetic radiation was awarded to Professor Jim McQuillan FRSNZ, University of Otago. He was part of a research partnership that created a new chemical analytical technique called surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and developing infrared spectroscopy to examine wet metal oxide nanoparticles.
The R.J. Scott Medal for engineering sciences and technologies was awarded to Professor Andrew Buchanan, University of Canterbury, for his world-leading work in developing design techniques for large-scale timber buildings and designing for fire safety.
The MacDiarmid Medal, awarded for advances for human benefit, was received by Professor Neil Broom FRSNZ, University of Auckland, for his research that, by combining engineering and biological concepts, has led to better understanding of human heart valves and joint and spinal tissues.
The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) awarded the Liley Medal to Professor Michael Baker from the University of Otago, Wellington, for his outstanding contribution to the health and medical sciences in the field of public health. Professor Baker’s research has shown a marked rise in the incidence of serious infectious diseases and rising inequalities across populations in New Zealand.