2011 Axford policy fellows arrive in New Zealand

The four holders of this year’s Ian Axford (New Zealand) Fellowships in Public Policy have arrived in New Zealand to take up their seven month placements at government agencies relevant to their policy topics. The Fellows will publish policy reports at the end of their fellowships in August, and launch these reports at a series of public seminars in Wellington.

Ian Boisvert, a renewable energy attorney from San Francisco, California, will be based at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), researching the existing laws and marine energy policies in New Zealand, the United States, Scotland and Germany to assist EECA with developing a New Zealand-specific regime for deployment of wave, tidal and offshore wind energy devices.

Vicki Johnson from the National Commission on Children and Disasters in Washington, DC will research New Zealand’s school disaster preparedness programme What’s the Plan, Stan?, at the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management. Vicki will research into this programme informing the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Department of Education to improve disaster preparedness in American schools.

Jonathan Karp from the US Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC will research New Zealand’s model for corporate financial disclosure, based at the Securities Commission. He will examine the New Zealand government’s model for registering public corporations and regulating the publication of corporate financial reports, and assess whether elements of this model could be advantageous to US financial regulators as they reform their own system.

David Wiley from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Scituate, Massachusetts will research the success of scientific research in influencing decision-making for marine protected areas, at the Department of Conservation. He will investigate the types of scientific research which are successful in aiding policy decision-making, so that scientists can be more influential in the public policy arena.

There have been 37 previous Ian Axford Fellows, whose fellowship topics range from fisheries management to restorative justice, Mäori education strategy and methamphetamine control. Research reports are available to download from the Fulbright New Zealand website: www.fulbright.org.nz

ENDS

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