New Zealand's Top Young Scientists Named at Awards Ceremony

A marine ecologist whose research has shown that clearing coastal forests can alter the way marine ecosystems work has been named the 2008 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year at a function in Auckland tonight.

30-year-old Dr Rebecca McLeod studied the diet of primitive, scavenging hagfish, which live up to 400 metres below sea level in New Zealand fiords, and discovered they are obtaining up to half their nutritional energy from coastal forest logs and leaves which 'compost' on the sea floor. She developed cutting edge chemistry tools that revealed energy transfer from the forest to the sea, delivering findings that have implications for coastal management in New Zealand and world-wide.

Rebecca's work will also feed into climate change research in Antarctica where a team of scientists will soon be diving beneath the ice and using Rebecca's techniques to learn more about marine food webs and the likely impact of warmer temperatures on ocean life.

Rebecca, who is undertaking post-doctoral research at the University of Otago, was presented with the 2008 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Award by the Minister of Research, Science and Technology, the Honourable Pete Hodgson, and Christian Gianni, Vice President of Engineering, Fisher & Paykel Appliances.

This year's overall MacDiarmid Awards runner-up is Matthew Brodie from Massey University who has developed a world-first system for measuring the precise movements of a skier while racing downhill. Matthew, who is completing a PhD in Biomechanics at Massey, has pioneered a new motion capture system that produces data which can help elite skiers go faster, potentially winning them more gold medals, by making more efficient use of gravity.

The MacDiarmid Awards are presented annually by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, with principal sponsor Fisher & Paykel Appliances and are named after New Zealand-born, Nobel Prize winning scientist Professor Alan MacDiarmid. They celebrate the achievements of New Zealand's future leaders in science and are also designed to encourage others to follow in their footsteps.

Rebecca McLeod's win gives her a cash prize of $10,000 and a trip to an international science event as well as the MacDiarmid medal. Matthew Brodie receives a cash prize of $5,000 and a trip to an Australasian conference.

A rigorous, three phase judging process culminated in the winners being selected by a panel of judges made up of Richard Faull, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Auckland, Carolyn Burns, Professor of Zoology at the University of Otago, Peter Jackson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, College of Engineering at the University of Canterbury and Charles Daugherty, Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Research, at Victoria University of Wellington.

There were a record 146 entries from researchers and young scientists. Rebecca McLeod also won the Understanding Planet Earth category of the awards while Matthew Brodie also won the Future Science and Technologies category, sponsored by Industrial Research Limited.

• Improved vaccines for cancer
• New drugs to fight the organism that cause Strep infections
• The impact of eco tourism on yellow-eyed penguins on the Otago Peninsula
• Reducing re-offending rates for sex offenders
• An environmentally friendly treatment for a fungi causing big losses in the forestry industry
• A high precision imaging system with wide ranging applications in robotics and special effects

There are five categories in the MacDiarmid Awards with each winner receiving a cash prize of $5,000, as does the winner of the award for best Masters level research. Five students also receive a runner-up prize of $2500.

A range of educational and research institutions and private companies are involved in the winning research projects and all winners acknowledge the work supervisors and mentors do in terms of supporting and working closely with the students.

• National Award Winner:
  Dr Rebecca McLeod (University of Otago, Dunedin), 'Temperate rain forest fuels deep sea secondary productivity'. Rebecca also won the Understanding Planet Earth category.
• National Award Runner-Up:
  Matthew Brodie (Massey University, Wellington), 'Optimisation of athlete movement in alpine ski racing'. Matthew also won the Future Science and Technology category.
• Winner Understanding Planet Earth:
  Rebecca McLeod (see above under national award winner)

Ø Runner-up Understanding Planet Earth: Dr Craig Radford, (University of Auckland), 'Ambient underwater sound: Understanding its origins, variations and biological role'.
Winner Science and our Society: (sponsored by the University of Auckland and Auckland Uniservices)
Gwenda Willis, (University of Canterbury), 'The quality of community reintegration planning for child molesters'.

Ø Runner-up Science and our Society: Lauren French, (Victoria University of Wellington), 'Social influences in memory distortion - the hidden danger of everyday conversation'.
Winner Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing: (sponsored by the Health Research Council of New Zealand)
Dianne Sika-Paotonu, (Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, Wellington), 'Designer vaccines: increasing the potency of dendritic-cell based vaccines for the treatment of cancer'.

Ø Runner-up Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing:
Hae Joo Kang, (University of Auckland), 'Using X-ray vision to find clues for new therapies against Strep infection'.
Winner Future Science and Technologies: (sponsored by Industrial Research Limited)
Matthew Brodie, (see above under national runner-up)

Ø Runner-up Future Science:
Andrew Payne, (University of Waikato), 'Development of a full field time-of-flight range imaging system (3D camera)'.
Winner Adding Value to Nature: (sponsored by the University of Waikato)
Ursula Ellenberg, (University of Otago), 'Yellow-eyed penguins loved to death by well meaning visitors'.

Ø Runner-up Adding Value to Nature:
Dr Tripti Singh, (Scion), 'Protection of wood against sapstain fungi using a novel, environmentally compatible technology'.
Winner Masters Level Research Award:
Karen Love, (Scion), 'Silica modification of pulp fibre (the best of both worlds). Karen's entry was in the Adding Value to Nature category.

To find out more about the MacDiarmid Awards visit:
http://www.frst.govt.nz/awards-and-events/MacDiarmid-awards

For further information please contact:


Maria CobdenFoundation for Research, Science & Technology
Tel: (04) 917 7859
DDI
Email: maria.cobden@frst.govt.nz


Katherine EdmondMedia Liaison, MacDiarmid Awards
Tel: (06) 877 2170
DDIMobile: (027) 274 0465
Email: katherine.edmond@clear.net.nz