Unitec Fulbright Scholar Shares Ecological Insights with U.S

Unitec Fulbright Scholar Shares Ecological Insights with U.S. Audiences

New Zealand Ecological Society President and Senior Unitec Natural Sciences Lecturer Mel Galbraith is thrilled to be spending his Fulbright Scholarship sharing his ecological, and especially ornithological, knowledge at campuses and societies around Seattle, Washington State.

Galbraith will spend most of April and part of May delivering presentations at the prestigious University of Washington as well as appearing at the University of Puget Sound and the Green River Community College. During this period he will also be speaking to wildlife preservation groups such as the Washington Ornithological Society and the Vashon-Maury Island Audubon Chapter.

“I'm confident that my knowledge of the biogeography of New Zealand birds will resonate with like-minded North American academics and environmentalists. In addition, I feel my involvement with the successful ecological restoration of Tiritiri Matangi Island north of Auckland will also allow me to compare strategies with organisations committed to preserving and restoring fragile ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest as well.”

For 65 years the Fulbright programme has been facilitating exchanges between New Zealand and American scholars wanting to present their work in each other?s country.  And Galbraith is delighted to be carrying on this tradition.

“I'm honoured to receive this Fulbright Award. New Zealand's isolation and status of its biodiversity gives us unique opportunities to study the outcomes of environmental management, and the chance to share those insights with a wider audience is what the programme has always strived to achieve. However, I plan on escaping the podium by visiting as many field research stations as I can while over here; and just generally enjoy the incredible wildlife of this continent.”

After he returns to New Zealand on May 10, Galbraith will hold a series of seminars for academic and environmental groups discussing his Fulbright experiences.

ENDS

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