Announcement from the Royal Society of New Zealand
STRICTLY EMBARGOED until 10.30 p.m. Tuesday 11 November 2008
Professor David Parry, Massey University, Awarded Rutherford Medal For Science
The 2008 Rutherford Medal for Science and Technology, New Zealand’s top science award, was presented to Distinguished
Professor David Parry of Massey University at the Science Honours Dinner in Wellington last night. Three hundred and
eighty scientists from around New Zealand gathered at Te Papa for the announcement of this and other science and
technology awards. Ernest Rutherford’s great granddaughter, Professor Mary Fowler, a geophysicist at the University of
London, presented the medal to Professor Parry. Professor Fowler is beginning a lecture tour* of New Zealand as the
Royal Society of New Zealand’s Distinguished Speaker, celebrating 100 years since Ernest Rutherford received the Nobel
Prize for Chemistry.
As a structural biophysicist, Professor Parry works at the boundary between physics and biology. His research has
focussed on the fibrous proteins that constitute the bulk of the proteins in the human body and which enable it to move.
Amongst the problems that have been tackled successfully are the structure of hair and skin in health and disease, the
manner in which muscles are turned on and off, the mechanics of skin and tendons, the transparency of the cornea in the
eye, how proteins can be designed from simple building blocks to give desired structures and functions, and how
hair/wool can provide thermo-regulation and protection against predators. This has led to major advances in our
understanding of these systems. Aspects of Professor Parry’s work have been applied in the wool and meat industries, in
surgical procedures as well as in physiology and medicine.
Fibrous proteins are large and very complex molecules. Determining their structure, organization and modes of function
has proved extremely challenging since X-ray crystallographic techniques that have been widely applied to other proteins
are generally inapplicable for fibrous ones. Such research, however, is vital if an understanding is to be achieved of
human biology in its widest sense.
Professor Parry has also served New Zealand and international scientific organisations with distinction. He is a former
President of the International Union for of Pure and Applied Biophysics, and was recently the Vice-President for
Scientific Planning and Review of the Paris-based International Council for Science, where he led the development of the
Strategic Plan for World Science for the current six-year period. .
Mr Neville Jordan, President of the Royal Society of New Zealand which awards the medal on behalf of government, said,
“David Parry is not just a successful scientist, whose work has had many useful, practical results; he plays a
distinguished role in the international science community and has given a lot of his time for the wider benefit of New
Zealand science.”
Dr Ross Ihaka of The University of Auckland received the top award for achievement in technology, the Pickering Medal,
awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
He has developed a software package for statisticians called R, which has had huge uptake by universities, industry and
government. R can be downloaded free, is easy to use, and can be readily customised for different applications. It is
invaluable for major “data crunching” tasks such as processing genomic information.
The inaugural Dame Joan Metge (pron Metch) Award for Social Science was shared by paediatrician scientist Professor
Diana Lennon, The University of Auckland, and public health researcher Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, University of
Otago School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Wellington. Professor Lennon is an expert on infectious childhood
diseases in children and Dr Howden-Chapman is well known for her research into the beneficial effects of warmer, drier
homes on health. The award was presented by Dame Joan herself. For this work, Professor Howden-Chapman also received the
Liley Medal, awarded by the Health Research Council, jointly with Professor Ted Baker from The University of Auckland.
A summary list of awards followed by the full citations are at the end of this release.
*Details of Professor Mary Fowler’s lecture tour, including biographical notes and a description of her talk, are at
www.royalsociety.org.nz
For further information, contact Glenda Lewis, Glenda.lewis@royalsociety.org.nz DDI 04 470 5758 or 027 210 0997, or
Kathryn Carmody, 027 287 7963.
2008 Science Honours Dinner
Summary list of awards, followed by full list with descriptions of the award and citations.
Dame Joan Metge Medal
Awardees: Professor Diana Lennon, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Auckland
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, University of Otago, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Gold Crest Awards
Awardees: Jessie Lineham, James Hargest High and Emma Adlam, Auckland Diocesan School for Girls
Roger Slack Award
Awardee: Dr Tina Summerfield, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago
Fonterra Prize for Industrial and Applied Chemistry
Awardee: Associate Professor Simon Hall, Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University
New Zealand Marine Sciences Society Award
Awardee: Dr Malcolm Francis, NIWA, Wellington
McKenzie Award for educational research
Awardee: Emeritus Professor John Codd (late), Massey University
NZ Mathematical Society Research Award
Awardee: Professor Michael Hendy, Institute of Fundamental Sciences and Allan Wilson Centre, Massey University
Dan Walls Medal for international recognition in physics research
Awardee: Professor Paul Callaghan, Victoria University of Wellington
Cooper Medal for research in physics or engineering
Awardees: Industrial Research Limited Superconductor Cable Team: Dr Nicholas Long, Dr Rod Badcock, Mr Peter Beck, Mr
Marc Mulholland, Mr Nigel Ross, Dr Michael Staines, Dr Henry Sun, Dr James Hamilton and Dr Robert Buckley
The Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing
Awardees: Non-fiction – Will Catton, University of Otago; Fiction – Dave Armstrong, freelance writer and producer
Liley Medal
Awardees: Professor Edward (Ted) Baker, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland; Professor
Philippa Howden-Chapman, University of Otago, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Pickering Medal
Awardee: Associate Professor Ross Ihaka, Department of Statistics, The University of Auckland
Thomson Medal
Awardee: Dr Andrew West, Chief Executive, AgResearch
Rutherford Medal for Science and Technology
Awardee: Distinguished Professor David Parry, Massey University
Full details:
Dame Joan Metge Medal
For contributions to capacity building, beneficial relationships with research participants, mentoring of new
researchers, and contributions to new knowledge.
Awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Awardees:
Professor Diana Lennon, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Auckland
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, University of Otago, Wellington School of
Medicine and Health Sciences
Citations
Professor Diana Lennon is a first-class paediatrician scientist, whose research has made a major impact on the lives of
New Zealand children. In addition to her highly-cited research, Professor Lennon has also played an important role in
building capacity in the child health workforce, especially for Maori and Pacific people. She has generated a great deal
of new knowledge which has had direct benefit for New Zealand children by saving lives and reducing hospital admissions
and long-term disabilities. Professor Lennon has been involved in the promotion of the meningococcal vaccine initiative
and she has conducted a large study investigating sore throat management in schools to prevent rheumatic fever.
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman has had an extremely successful academic career. Her research has had a major impact
on our understanding of the link between housing, energy and health. Professor Howden-Chapman has a sustained record of
mentoring new researchers and she is the director of two multidisciplinary research teams, the Housing and Health
Programme and the Centre for Sustainable Cities. Both of these research groups develop practical solutions to complex
problems involving housing and health. Professor Howden-Chapman has devoted her career to developing new ways to reduce
inequalities in New Zealand and her research has led to major Government investment in more sustainable housing.
Gold Crest Awards
To encourage innovation and creativity in problem solving.
Awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Awardees: Jessie Lineham, James Hargest High, Invercargill, and Emma Adlam, Auckland Diocesan School for Girls
Citations:
Jessie Lineham has been awarded a Gold CREST for her three year project investigating the effects of riparian planting
on a farm stream. This was a complex project with long-term benefits for generations to come.
Emily Adlam has been awarded a Gold CREST for her project analysing the usefulness of three kinds of domestic power
generation: solar, wind, and rain. Her recommendation is that solar power has the greatest potential for producing
household energy in urban areas.
Roger Slack Award
In recognition of an outstanding contribution to the study of plant biology by a young scientist.
Awarded by the New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists.
Awardee: Dr Tina Summerfield, Biochemistry Department, University of Otago
Citation:
Dr Tina Summerfield studies the symbiosis between bacteria, fungi and plants. Her current research combines ecological
and molecular biological tools to explore the diversity of New Zealand’s cyanobacteria and their potential as a source
of biofuels. Dr Summerfield, a FRST (Foundation for Research, Science and Technology) postdoctoral fellow, is shortly to
take up a lectureship in Botany at Otago University where she will focus on using cyanobacteria for the production of
biohydrogen.
Fonterra Prize for Industrial and Applied Chemistry
To acknowledge achievement in the field of industrial or applied chemistry.
Awarded by the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry.
Awardee: Associate Professor Simon Hall, Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University
Citation:
The success of Associate Professor Simon Hall is based on a rare combination of talents. Few others have been brave
enough to step out of the academic environment and take the risks necessary to commercialise their findings. This award
recognises his substantial achievement in driving the research and development of a rechargeable nickel-zinc battery,
from discovery in the laboratory through to establishing manufacturing agreements with overseas investors and
manufacturers.
New Zealand Marine Sciences Society Award
In recognition of continued outstanding contribution in the advancement of marine sciences.
Awarded by the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society.
Awardee:
Dr Malcolm Francis, NIWA , Wellington
Citation:
Dr Malcolm Francis is a fisheries biologist and ecologist and is New Zealand's premier shark researcher As an active and
highly productive scientific researcher, diver and underwater photographer for more than 30 years, he has made a huge
contribution to both New Zealand and Pacific marine science Dr Francis is widely published in both scientific and
popular literature; the combination of his broad scientific knowledge and stunning underwater photography has
contributed greatly to public appreciation and understanding of New Zealand's natural history.
McKenzie Award
For educational research.
Awarded by the New Zealand Association for Research in Education.
Awardee:
Emeritus Professor John Codd (late), Massey University
Citation:
The late Professor John Codd has a distinguished record as a scholar of national and international repute. His
scholarship and research in the area of education policy has been consistently excellent over many years and has
provided the basis for intelligent analysis of education reforms in New Zealand.
Professor Codd was a scholar of integrity. During his time in the university, and more recently in positions of
responsibility in management and governance, Professor Codd attempted to put into practice the principles he presented
in his academic work. His strongly held view was that one of the cornerstone functions of the university was to be the
critic and conscience of society. He never lost sight of the underpinning values of education and his views were not
simply rhetoric, they were based on years of careful research and scholarship.
NZ Mathematical Society Research Award
To recognise excellence in mathematical research.
Awarded by the New Zealand Mathematical Society.
Awardee:
Professor Michael Hendy, Institute of Fundamental Sciences and Allan Wilson Centre, Massey University
Citation:
Professor Michael Hendy uses an innovative mathematical approach to molecular ecology and evolution and has transformed
the field. His research is now an integral part of phylogenetic software internationally and has contributed to the
solution of several fundamental problems.
Professor Hendy's founding and co-directorship of the Allan Wilson Centre has led to a burgeoning of all aspects of the
study of evolution in New Zealand. The work of the Centre plays an important role in the relationship of New Zealanders
to their natural taonga. Researchers have used Professor Hendy's mathematical foundations to analyse the DNA of native
birds and make profound contributions to our views of the evolution of our fauna.
Dan Walls Medal
To acknowledge a physicist working in New Zealand, whose research has had great impact both nationally and
internationally.
Awarded by the New Zealand Institute of Physics.
Awardee:
Professor Paul Callaghan, Victoria University of Wellington
Citation:
Professor Paul Callaghan is a world leader in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance, a field which he has worked in
for nearly forty years, publishing over two hundred papers in this and related research areas. Professor Callaghan’s
research has particularly focused on developing NMR methods for studying molecular dynamics and organisation in various
types of materials from polymers to biological tissue. Professor Callaghan has received many national and international
awards recognising his research, communication and science leadership contributions. It is entirely fitting that he be
the inaugural recipient of the Dan Walls medal.
Cooper Medal
For research in physics or engineering.
Awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Awardee:
IRL Superconductor Cable Team: Dr Nicholas Long, Dr Rod Badcock, Mr Peter Beck, Mr Marc Mulholland, Mr Nigel Ross, Dr
Michael Staines, Dr Henry Sun, Dr James Hamilton and Dr Robert Buckley
Citation:
The 2008 Cooper Medal has been awarded for research to develop a commercial process for the manufacture of a
superconductor cable. This has significant potential economic benefit to New Zealand.
The recipients are: Nicholas Long, Rod Badcock, Michael Staines, Henry Sun, James Hamilton, Robert Buckley, Peter Beck,
Marc Mulholland and Nigel Ross.
This group has a practical method for the manufacture of narrow strand YBCO Roebel cable used in the high current
windings of generators and transformers. A joint venture between Industrial Research Limited and General Cable
Corporation is establishing a prototype facility in Christchurch to manufacture this cable.
The Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing
Awarded jointly by the Royal Society of New Zealand, New Zealand Listener and International Institute of Modern Letters,
Victoria University of Wellington.
The topic this year was evolution: all shortlisted entries are at www.royalsociety.org.nz
Judged this year by Bernard Beckett, teacher and writer
Awardees:
Non-fiction: Will Catton, PhD student, University of Otago
Fiction: Dave Armstrong, freelance writer and producer
Comments on winning entries by Bernard Beckett:
Fiction Category: Waimate, by Dave Armstrong
The strength of this piece was its rather oblique response to the posted topic. Whereas many made the mistake of trying,
in a work of fiction, to confront the topic and its implications, this piece rather used it as a stepping off point from
which a story could unfold. In this way it avoided becoming didactic, rather than having something it urgently wanted to
tell us it was content to quietly reveal an aspect of a family relationship through a simple trip to an old mission
house. The house of course has a link to Darwin, and to the family, and these echoes are further crafted through the
father being a biology teacher. The key thing though is the crafting; these details, the entries from Darwin's journal,
and the glimpses of scientific discussions all sit naturally within the text.
At the end of this story the lingering impressions are of summers past, of a gently combative parental relationship, of
a growing boy's respect for his father. And this is just as it should be. There are lovely hints of a rationalist's
collision with a religious tradition, but they are cleverly kept as just hints. The little boy jumping up and down on
the graves, shouting 'but we're atheists' is a perfectly formed detail, and typical of the touches that set this story
apart.
Non-fiction Category: Progress, Laughter, Sex, by Will Catton
I loved the sheer exuberance of this piece. Non-fiction of this type it seems to me should be both entertaining and
informing, and that's a tricky balance. Here the writer has managed to sustain a carefully structured argument, yet do
it in a way that it never feels as if you are simply being informed. It is the enthusiasm for the subject matter, along
with a clever turn of phrase that achieves this effect.
I was also much taken with the sense of play that quite appropriately pervades the writing. Lined up against a selection
of work that sought to reprimand humanity for its evil ways, here at last was a piece that managed to celebrate the
human miracle; to acknowledge that yes, we are animals too, part of a fragile, delicate eco-system and all that, but
hell we're something more. We're animals that wonder, dream, ponder and ultimately have a laugh. I was cheering along on
the sidelines as the case developed, for here was a piece of writing that spoke directly to my prejudices; a stroke of
luck for the writer, and for me.
Liley Medal
To recognise research that has made an outstanding contribution to health and medical sciences.
Awarded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
Awardees:
Professor Edward Baker, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, University of Otago, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Citations:
Professor Edward Baker of The University of Auckland, for his research in the field of molecular structure. Professor
Baker’s research, published in the journal Science, described, for the first time, the atomic structure of protein
assemblies called pili on gram positive bacterial surfaces. These structures are integral to the way in which the
bacteria adhere to cells, and influence the infectivity and virulence of the organisms.
The study also elucidated the importance of a previously unrecognised type of intramolecular isopeptide bond, that
provides an unusual degree of strength and stability in the fine pilus structure. The new understanding derived from
this study is likely to enhance vaccine development for an organism which causes a range of significant human
infections.
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman led the landmark Housing Insulation and Health Study that showed people’s health could
be transformed by keeping homes warm and dry. The study showed that insulation provided a significantly warmer, drier
environment which resulted in improved health; fewer sick days off work, GP visits and hospital admissions for
respiratory conditions. There have been calls for the study to be reproduced around the world.
Pickering Medal
To recognise excellence and innovation in the practical application of technology.
Awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Awardee:
Associate Professor Ross Ihaka, Department of Statistics, The University of Auckland
Citation:
Associate Professor Ross Ihaka is one the originators of R, a software package for statistical computing that has had
phenomenal uptake internationally. It can be downloaded free and easily customised for a very wide variety of
applications. The package and the paper introducing it have been cited over 1700 times, by far the highest for
publications in the mathematical sciences over the last ten years, worldwide. It is now disseminated from over 75
internet sites in 30 countries.
The package is used both for teaching and research by hundreds of universities around the world, including Stanford,
Oxford, Cambridge and Berkeley. There are over 40 books written about, or featuring, the use of R.
Thomson Medal
For outstanding and inspirational leadership in the management of science.
Awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Awardee:
Dr Andrew West, Chief Executive, AgResearch
Citation:
Dr Andrew West became Chief Executive of AgResearch in March 2004. He was formerly fulltime Chair of the Tertiary
Education Commission and came to AgResearch with an impressive record in science management, policy development and
strategic planning. In the early 1990s, he played a major role in the Government's science reforms, including the design
and establishment of MoRST and FoRST, Crown Research Institutes and the Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit (CCMAU).
He was also Science Advisor to the Minister of Research, Science and Technology working closely with cabinet ministers
during the reforms.
Rutherford Medal
For an exceptional contribution to New Zealand society in science and technology. The Rutherford Medal is the highest
award instituted by the Royal Society of New Zealand at the request of the Government to honour those who have made
exceptional contributions to New Zealand in the field of science and technology. It recognises a significant
contribution to the advancement and promotion of public awareness, knowledge and understanding in addition to eminent
research or technological practice.
Awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand on behalf of the New Zealand Government.
Awardee:
Distinguished Professor David Parry
Citation:
Professor David Parry is a leading authority in the field of Biophysics. His research in fibrous
proteins has led to major advances in understanding the structure of hair, the working of
muscles and connective tissue, and how the shape of proteins affects their function. His work has found application in
the wool and beauty industries as well as in physiology and
medicine. Professor Parry has served New Zealand and international scientific organisations with distinction. He is a
former President of the International Union of Pure and Applied
Biophysics, and was recently a Vice-President of the International Council for Science.
ends