Thursday, 21 November 2019, 11:08 amPress Release: Royal Society Te Aparangi

Nineteen new Ng Ahurei a Te Aprangi Fellows andNg Ahurei Honore a Te Aprangi Honorary Fellows have beenelected to the Academy of the Royal Society Te Aprangi fortheir distinction in research and advancement of science,technology or the humanities. They are world leaders in thefollowing topics: improving humanmachine interactions,moral philosophy, autobiographical memory, Pasifika poetry,cross-cultural psychology, Indigenous studies and thepolitics of polar regions. Also, paleobiology, seabedgeology, tectonic and seismic hazards, pollen records,reintroduction biology, mathematical functional analysis,optical physics, stroke, maternal health, bone biology, endof life care and gout.

Being made a Fellow is anhonour that recognises distinction in research, scholarshipor the advancement of knowledge at the highest internationalstandards. Fellows can use the post-nominal FRSNZafter their name to indicate this honour.

Chair ofthe Academy Executive Committee Professor Richard BlaikieFRSNZ says it was pleasing to see new Fellows from a widerange of disciplines and backgrounds.

Thenewly-elected Fellows have made amazing contributions toknowledge in their fields and across disciplinaryboundaries. Their election adds significantly to the breadthand diversity of knowledge held within the Academy; theywill help support the purpose of Te Aprangi to engage withand inform New Zealanders on matters of publicimportance.

On behalf of the Academy andSociety, I heartily congratulate all the new Fellows. Theelection process is rigorous and new Fellows can berightfully proud that their outstanding achievements havebeen recognised by their peers in this way.

Thenew Fellows are:

Associate Professor Mark Sagar,CEO Soul Machines Ltd and Auckland Bioengineering Institute,University of AucklandProfessor Valery Feigin, AucklandUniversity of TechnologyProfessor Caroline Crowther,Liggins Institute, University of AucklandProfessor TimMulgan, University of AucklandDr Philip Barnes,NIWAProfessor Elaine Reese, University ofOtagoAssociate Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh,University of AucklandProfessor Ronald Fischer, VictoriaUniversity of WellingtonProfessor James Crampton, GNSScience and Victoria University of WellingtonProfessorJillian Cornish, University of AucklandProfessor BrendanHokowhitu, University of WaikatoDr Kelvin Berryman, GNSScienceProfessor Merryn Gott, University ofAucklandProfessor Rewi Newnham, Victoria University ofWellingtonProfessor Nicola Dalbeth, University ofAuckland and Auckland District Health BoardProfessorPhilip Seddon, University of OtagoProfessor Astrid anHuef, Victoria University of WellingtonProfessorAnne-Marie Brady, University of Canterbury

TheSociety also announced the election of an Honorary Fellow.The election of Honorary Fellows aims to encourage strongties with leading international scientists and scholars andNew Zealands research community.

The new HonoraryFellow is:

Distinguished Professor John Dudley,University of Bourgogne-Franche Comt France and CNRSresearch institute FEMTO-ST.

Read more onthe new Fellows:

AssociateProfessor Mark Sagar, CEO Soul Machines Ltd and AucklandBioengineering Institute, University ofAucklandMark Sagar is a pioneer in thecomputational modelling of the face. His early worksimulating facial appearance and movement received twoscientific and technical Academy Awards. His later researchhas gone deeper under the skin, simulating facialmusculature, behavioural circuits, and the motivatingcognitive processes. Mark is re-imagining how peopleinteract with technology, humanising it in appearance and inthe way it processes information. By creating interactivemodels of human cognition and emotion, he aims to (1) givenew insights into human nature, exploring how interconnectedneural processing models give rise to intelligent andemotional behaviour; (2) build the foundation for futurehuman-intelligent machine co-operation; and (3) democratiseartificial intelligence by making it intuitive to use in aface-to-face manner by millions.

ProfessorValery Feigin, Auckland University ofTechnologyThe research findings of ValeryFeigin have had profound international impact, changing ourunderstanding of stroke and traumatic brain injuryprevention and epidemiology. His research has hadsignificant implications for health care services, researchplanning and priority setting and significantly has resultedin changes in the World Health Organisation InternationalClassification of Diseases 11th revision. His novel approachto primary stroke prevention through motivationalpopulation-wide intervention (Stroke Riskometer app) hasreceived worldwide recognition. He was awarded the 2015MacDiarmid Medal by Royal Society Te Aprangi inrecognition of his work in this area.

Professor Caroline Crowther, Liggins Institute,University of AucklandCaroline Crowther is amaternal fetal medicine subspecialist recognisedinternationally for her landmark, large, multicentreclinical trials and translation of research findings intoguidelines, practice and policy change, leading to improvedmaternal and perinatal health worldwide. Her work haschanged care for women before preterm birth and for diabetesin pregnancy, and has led to substantially reduced death,disability and cerebral palsy in their newborn babies.Caroline has led significant development of evidence-basedhealth care within New Zealand and Australia and beyond,including establishing the Australian and New ZealandCochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Satellite and has been anadvisor to the World Health Organisation on maternal andperinatal research priorities and care recommendations.

Professor Tim Mulgan, University ofAucklandTim Mulgan is a significantinternational scholar in moral philosophy and philosophy ofreligion. He is the author of five books and numerousjournal articles and book chapters. He has made originalcontributions to discussions about the demands of morality,our obligations to future people, the moral significance ofclimate change, the purpose of the universe, and our placein the cosmos. Tims work has influenced other scholars inphilosophy, and also in related disciplines includingtheology, development studies, environmental studies,political theory, institutional design and publichealth.

Dr Philip Barnes, NIWAPhilip Barnes is an internationally recognisedmarine scientist who uses geophysical and geological methodsto unlock the secrets of the Earth beneath the seabed. Overthe past three decades, his expansive research into NewZealands undersea environment has revolutionised ourperspective of the fault lines and active tectonic processesthat shape New Zealand and its surrounding seafloor. Hisinsights underpin numerous discoveries regarding the dynamicnature of our tectonic plate boundary. His quantification ofnatural phenomena such as deformation of Earths crust,earthquake variability, fault movements and landslidescontinue to produce science of international and societalrelevance, especially as active plate boundaries dominatethe circum-Pacific rim (Ring of Fire) and pose significantgeohazards.

Professor Elaine Reese,University of OtagoElaine Reese is aworld-leading expert on autobiographical memory. She beganher career with the ground-breaking discovery that the wayin which mothers and young children talk about the past haslong-lasting effects on a childs memory development. Overthe years, she has expanded her research to include studieswith older children and adolescents, tracing the role ofmaternal reminiscing practices in the development ofchildrens narrative skill, self-concept, and wellbeingover significant periods of development. More recently, inwork with Mori families, she has documented howcross-cultural differences in maternal reminiscing arereflected in childrens emerging life stories. Eachdiscovery has set a new bar in the field of developmentalpsychology and has fostered new research in laboratoriesaround the world.

Associate Professor SelinaTusitala Marsh, University of AucklandPoetLaureate and scholar Selina Tusitala Marsh ONZM from theUniversity of Auckland is renowned for her outstandingcreative and scholarly contribution to Pacific literatureand Pacific Literary Studies. A prolific author andaward-winning poet, she has published widely. Her poetry hasappeared on the Top 5 NZ Best Seller List and NZListeners Best 100 Books, in Best New Zealand Poems, inthe prestigious The Poetry Archive (UK), and on the renownedUS Poetry Foundation website. The Commonwealth Poet for2016, Marsh composed and performed a poem for QueenElizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on behalf of theCommonwealth member states. She was appointed New ZealandPoet Laureate (2017-2019). A notable scholar and teacher,and hailing from the islands of Samoa and Tuvalu on hermother's side, Selina has produced a distinctive style ofPacific literary criticism, developed Pacific pedagogies forteaching literature, and mentors Mori and Pacificstudents. Selina was awarded the 2019 Humanities AronuiMedal by Royal Society Te Aprangi in recognition of hercontribution.

Professor Ronald Fischer,Victoria University of WellingtonRonald Fischeris one of the leading cross-cultural psychologists in theworld. His work is interdisciplinary, focussing on theinterplay between cultures and individuals, and hispioneering work has led to major advances in the study ofnorms and values, and the evolutionary functions of ritual.He has won many prestigious awards and is a sought-afterspeaker. He has shown exceptional engagement and leadershipthrough establishing large research networks, serving asassociate editor on international journals, initiatinginternational training PhD programmes, teaching at summerschools, serving on executive boards, and contributing toUnited Nations development programmes.

Professor James Crampton, GNS Science andVictoria University of WellingtonJames Cramptonis the leading authority on New Zealand Cretaceouspaleobiology, biostratigraphy and paleo-environments. Hisresearch informs us about life before the last greatextinction. He is internationally recognised for his diverseresearch including systematic paleontology; morphometrics;physical drivers of evolution; dynamics of diversity;macroecology; biogeography; and biostratigraphy. His work inleading international journals synthesises geological,ecological and macroevolutionary processes, and achieves animpressive level of quantitative and analytical rigour. Inaddition to his contributions to paleobiological theory, hisinnovative methodology and analytical techniques arebecoming widely adopted. Through presentations, print, anddisplay of fossils, he has increased public understandingand appreciation of New Zealands past life andenvironments. He was elected a Fellow of the US-basedPaleontological Society in 2018.

ProfessorJillian Cornish, University of AucklandJillianCornish is an international leader and educator in bonebiology and its application to orthopaedic research. She hasidentified a series of key bone regulatory molecules, thuselucidating important pathways in normal bone biology suchas the close relationship between fat cells and bone cellsas well as providing bone growth factors for potential usein orthopaedics. This work has been recognised by researchawards from the International Combined Orthopaedic ResearchSocieties, the Faculty of Science of the Royal College ofPathologists of Australasia, the New Zealand Society ofEndocrinology, the American Society of Bone and MineralResearch, and the Australia and New Zealand Bone and MineralSociety. Her current orthopaedic collaborations have thepotential to alter clinical outcomes for patients withsevere skeletal injuries and bone cancers.

Professor Brendan Hokowhitu, University ofWaikatoBrendan Hokowhitu (Ngti Pkenga) is apioneering Mori scholar who has helped define the globallynascent field of Indigenous Studies. His intellect,originality in thinking and depth of knowledge aredemonstrated in his expansive publications creating thesub-fields of Indigenous Masculinities, and Indigenous Sportand Physical Education, and are significantly contributingto sub-fields of Indigenous Critical Theory, IndigenousMedia, and Indigenous Wellbeing. He leads the Ageing WellNational Science Challenge Kaumtua Mana Motuhakeproject. Uniquely, he has become the Dean of two IndigenousStudies faculties in two different countries (Canada and NewZealand), which is a testament to his international peerrecognition.

Dr Kelvin Berryman, GNSScienceKelvin Berryman QSO is one of theforemost pioneers and international experts in activetectonics and seismic hazard assessment. His research hasincreased fundamental understanding of the processes andhazards to society associated with plate boundary zones andhe has communicated this knowledge to the public, governmentagency staff and elected officials. He has played a pivotalrole in the response and recovery from the Canterburyearthquakes, bringing research knowledge to the fore indecision-making. He was awarded the Queens Service Orderin 2012 for services to science and Canterbury earthquakerecovery.

Professor Merryn Gott, Universityof AucklandMerryn Gott is internationallyrecognised for the critical social science lens she bringsto addressing what the World Health Organisation describesas one of the most significant public health challengesof the 21st century, namely the need to reduce sufferingat the end of life. Her evidence has informed practice andpolicy in Aotearoa New Zealand, the UK, the United Statesand Canada, ultimately leading to positive impact forpatients and whnau. Her work has also led to theoreticaland methodological advances in palliative care researchinternationally. She directs the only bicultural palliativecare research group internationally, recognised asworld-leading for its equity focus.

Professor Rewi Newnham, Victoria University ofWellingtonRewi Newnham (Ngpuhi) is anoutstanding researcher and educator in studying past andpresent environmental and climatic conditions and modernchanges, primarily through analyses of pollen records(palynology). His wide-ranging work includes studies of NewZealands past climates and their controls and links toglobal climate change, using pollen analysis to determinehuman and volcanic impacts on the environment, andcontemporary effects of pollen on human health. Rewi hasachieved world-wide recognition and has contributed to orco-led international initiatives to determine NewZealands past climates, using these findings to answerglobally-important questions about environmental change. Healso draws on his roots in Ngpuhi iwi to build linksbetween science and mtauranga Mori and to help NewZealanders understand the factors that affect environmentalchange.

Professor Nicola Dalbeth, Universityof Auckland and Auckland District HealthBoardNicola Dalbeth is a rheumatologist andprofessor of medicine who leads a research programme ingout, an arthritis of major relevance to Aotearoa NewZealand. Her work has identified novel mechanisms of diseaseand defined treatment approaches for gout. In addition, shehas led international initiatives to define central conceptsof gout, including nomenclature of disease, disease staging,and outcome measures. Her research in both pharmacologicaland non-pharmacological treatments has been incorporatedinto international gout management guidelines.

Professor Philip Seddon, University ofOtagoPhilip Seddon is an outstandingconservation biologist and founding member of the expandingfield of Reintroduction Biology. His work improves thepractice, scientific underpinnings and success of speciestranslocations globally. He has key leadership roles withinspecialist groups of the International Union forConservation of Nature. His publications, including keypapers in flagship journals such as Nature Ecology &Evolution, Science, Conservation Biology,and Trends in Ecology and Evolution, have shapedinternational conservation policy.

ProfessorAstrid an Huef, Victoria University ofWellingtonAstrid an Huef is a highly regardedpure mathematician working in functional analysis, the typeof analysis that deals with infinite-dimensional phenomena.Her focus ranges broadly from operator algebras associatedwith various dynamical systems, to operator algebrasassociated with combinatorial objects such as graphs andsemigroups, and to purely algebraic analogues of the latter.The breadth, depth and quality of her research isillustrated by her international collaborations, peeresteem, the external funding she has received and thequality of the journals she publishes in.

Professor Anne-Marie Brady, University ofCanterburyThe research of Anne-Marie Brady onAntarctic politics, China's polar interests, and the ChineseCommunist Party's domestic and foreign policy, inparticular, foreign interference activities, has been acatalyst contributing to policy adjustments by governmentsfrom the USA, to New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada, andthe EU. Her research has been publicly praised by HillaryClinton and Marco Rubio. Her testimony on Antarctica andChina is recorded in Hansard in the Australian Parliament,as well as in several reports on Antarctica prepared for theAustralian government. Her policy advice helped spark aninquiry into foreign interference in the New Zealandparliament. Her research on small states in the changingglobal order has assisted New Zealand and other small stategovernments with contestable policy advice. She founded agroundbreaking journal of polar social sciences, whichoffers policy relevant research on the Arctic and Antarctic.In 2019, she was awarded the New Zealand Women of InfluenceGlobal Influence Award. She is the first female politicalscientist elected a Fellow of Royal Society Te Aprangi.

HONORARY FELLOW

Distinguished Professor John Dudley, Universityof Bourgogne-Franche Comt FranceJohn Dudleyhas made sustained and exceptional contributions to sciencethrough pioneering research in optical physics and globalscience advocacy. After attending high school in Mangere,South Auckland, he received his PhD from the University ofAuckland in 1992, where he subsequently lectured from 1993to 2000. He then moved to France where he is nowDistinguished Professor at the University ofBurgundy-Franche-Comt and the CNRS research instituteFEMTO-ST. He has made groundbreaking discoveries in thescience of ultrafast lasers, nonlinear optics and extremewaves, with highly cited publications (many of which areco-authored with New Zealand researchers), and numerousinternational awards and distinctions. He is equallycommitted to education, and has initiated major sciencecommunication initiatives with the United Nations and UNESCOthat have reached hundreds of millions worldwide.

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