The NZIF Foundation announces education and research awards totalling $22,500. “For this year’s allocation of funds, we had a good number of quality applicants, but we were disappointed there were no applicants for some awards”, said Dr Andrew McEwen, the Foundation’s chair.

“In 2012, the first year of the Foundation’s operation, we had four awards worth a total of $6,500. For 2019 we advertised nine award categories plus four student poster competition prizes worth $40,000. What is especially pleasing is the applicants come from a range of institutions and forestry interests, with research projects in plantation forest management, export procedures, indigenous forests and urban forests.”

The awards were announced at the joint conference of the New Zealand Institute of Forestry and the Institute of Foresters of Australia in Christchurch on Monday 26th August.

Daniel Boczniewicz, a PhD student at the University of Canterbury School of Forestry received a $10,000 Future Forest Scholarship for his research on modelling stem properties for eucalyptus in New Zealand’s dryland environments.

The Chavasse Study Award for $3,500 was awarded to Bernadette Nanayakkara, a scientist at Scion working on wood formation physiology. Bernadette plans to attend the International Union of Forest Research Institutions conference “Forest Research and Cooperation for Sustainable Development” in Brazil later this year.

Georgia Craig who is in her fourth year of a B.For.Sc. (Hons) degree at the University of Canterbury School of Forestry, received the $5,000 NZ Redwood Company Scholarship. Georgia’s honours project is looking at the effect of debarking logs on air quality emissions at export ports.

The Frank Hutchinson Postgraduate Scholarship of $1,000 went to Monique Hall, an M.Sc. student at the University of Waikato who is studying restored urban forests. Reihana Fisher a 4th year Bachelor of Forestry Science (Hons) student at the School of Forestry at the University of Canterbury received the undergraduate award. His dissertation topic is looking at the benefit of pruning.

Four forestry students from Canterbury University received prizes in the student poster competition at the Conference. Reihana Fisher received first prize of $800, Georgia Craig second prize of $600, Nick Berry third prize of $400 and Shaun Coles the fourth prize of $200.

“We were delighted with the number and quality of applications”, said Dr McEwen. “We congratulate the recipients of the awards and thank all applicants and encourage them to persist with their research and education and to make a career associated with New Zealand’s forests, which have a vital role to play in this country’s environment, economy and society.”

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