12 May 2005
New Appointments To Prestigious Science Funding Body
Four new members have been appointed to the Marsden Fund Council – the body that advises on, and makes decisions about,
how the Government’s investment in cutting-edge science under the Marsden Fund should be used.
The new members of the Council are: Professor Christine Winterbourn of the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health
Sciences; Dr Lydia Wevers, Director of the Stout Research Institute in Wellington; Dr Richard Blaikie, deputy director
of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology and an Associate Professor at the University of
Canterbury; and, Dr Rupert Sutherland, a geoscientist at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS).
To carry out its role, the Council needs members from a range of research, science and technology disciplines and the
new members bring to it expertise in the fields of biomedical sciences, humanities, physical sciences and engineering,
and earth sciences and astronomy.
A new Chair has also been appointed to the Fund Council to replace Dr Diana Hill, who has completed two terms with the
Council and is standing down. The position will now be held by Dr Garth Carnaby – a specialist in wool textiles and
Deputy-Chair of the Council.
The Marsden Fund is one of 11 funds through which the Government funds research, science and technology, known as Vote
RS It was set up to support excellence in research and to broaden and deepen the research skill base in New Zealand. It
funds cutting-edge science that contributes to the global advancement of knowledge. It is administered by the Royal
Society of New Zealand.
Brief profiles of the new members and the Chair
Dr Christine Winterbourn Dr Christine Winterbourn has a BSc and MSc with first class honours in chemistry from Auckland
University and a PhD in Biochemistry from Massey. She currently holds a personal chair as professorial research fellow
at the Pathology Department of the Christchurch School of Medicine. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of New
Zealand. Dr Winterbourn’s field of research is the study of the chemistry and biochemistry of free radical reactions and
the affect these have on the body’s physiological and pathological processes.
Dr Lydia Wevers Dr Lydia Wevers’ background is in the humanities. She has an MA with first class honours from Victoria
University, a Master of Philosophy in English from St Anne’s College, Oxford and a PhD in English from Victoria. She is
currently Director of Victoria University’s Stout Research Centre, which specialises in the study of New Zealand
history, society and culture. Dr Wevers has published widely on New Zealand writing and culture.
Dr Richard Blaikie Dr Blaikie holds a BSc with first class honours in physics from the University of Otago and a PhD in
physics from the University of Cambridge in the UK. He is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at the University of Canterbury. He is also the deputy director of the MacDiarmid Institute for
Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology. He is working on nanotechnology applications involving the use of optics and
electron beam lithography.
Dr Rupert Sutherland Dr Rupert Sutherland gained a BA with first class honours in the natural sciences at Cambridge
University in the UK in 1989 and a PhD from Otago University in 1995. He is currently a principal scientist at the
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) in Lower Hutt. His particular areas of study include plate tectonics
in the South Pacific, the geological and tectonic history of New Zealand, New Zealand hydrocarbon geology and marine
geology.
Dr Garth Carnaby Dr Garth Carnaby has a BSc with first class honours in textile technology, a PhD from Leeds University
in the UK and a DSc from the University of New South Wales. He also has an honorary DSc from De Monfort University in
the English city of Leicester – the centre of the British knitting industry – and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of
New Zealand.
Dr Carnaby worked for a number of years as a researcher in the New Zealand wool industry and applications from his work
include re-designed tufting needles to reduce breakage in carpet making and new uses for coarse wools in luxury
textiles. More recently he moved into management and between 1992 and 2004 was chief executive of the Wool Research
Institute of New Zealand, now known as Canesis.
ENDS