Record $41,000 handed out by NZIF Foundation
NOW INTO IT’S SEVENTH YEAR, THE charitable Foundation set up by the NZIF to promote the advancement of education in relation to forestry in New Zealand, has been able to provide a record sum in scholarships and awards for 2018.
A total of $41,000 was presented at the NZIF awards dinner to ten people – mostly young students – drawn from 43 applicants.
“We are delighted with the number of applications and also with the range of institutions that applicants have come from, demonstrating the increasing recognition of the Foundation’s work,” says organiser Andrew McEwen.
Three student scholarships, each of $1,000 and open to forestry students at tertiary institutions in New Zealand were presented:
• Mary Sutherland Scholarship 2018 went to Georgia Paulson who is enrolled in the second year of the Level 6 Diploma in Forest Management at Toi-Ohomai, in Rotorua
• University Undergraduate Scholarship for 2018 went to Phoebe Milne, a first year Bachelor of Forestry Science student at the University of Canterbury
• Frank Hutchinson Scholarship for 2018 went to Yannina Whiteley, a Master of Forestry Science student at the University of Canterbury, who is developing spatially explicit empirical models for tree-top faults and single tree wind throws in Pinus radiata at Geraldine Forest.
The Otago/Southland Award 2018, made possible through donations from the NZ Institute of Forestry Otago-Southland section to assist or enable a project of relevance to forestry in that region, saw $3,000 go to:
• Rhys Black, a Bachelor, a Forest Science Honours student at the University of Canterbury, whose research project is an analysis of the availability of bulk vessels for log exports using data from South Port and Port Otago.
The Jon Dey Award, established in memory of the respected Wellingtonbased forester and now in its third year, recognises contributions to NZ forestry. The 2018 award of $3,500 to assist research projects in the areas of work study or new technology aimed at improving forest engineering and harvest productivity was made to:
• Cameron Leslie, who will be undertaking a Masters’ project on the productivity of winch-assisted machines and the factors that affect them, using operations in New Zealand and Canada.
The Invercargill City Forests Award is a new one for the Foundation, with the company donating $5,000/year for three years to allow one or more awards to be made in each year to assist residents of Invercargill in studies, research or travel in an area which benefits forestry. The first recipient is:
• Logan Robertson, who was born and raised in Invercargill, and is currently in his third year of a Bachelor of Forestry Science degree at the University of Canterbury School of Forestry.
The NZ Redwood Company Scholarship is another new award, with the company donating $5,000/year for five years to enable the Foundation to grant a $5,000 scholarship to a student enrolled in the Bachelor of Forestry Science course at the University of Canterbury School of Forestry. The first recipient is:
• Mat Curry, who is in his fourth year of a BForSc (Hons) degree at the School of Forestry.
Finally, two Future Forest Scholarships offer up to $10,000/year each for post graduate research at any recognised NZ tertiary institution into NZ plantation forestry, with preference given to projects in environmental markets, wood fibre markets, forest logistics, productivity and genetics. The 2018 recipients are:
• Trevor Best, a PhD student at the University of Canterbury School of Forestry, whose research topic is ‘to examine the way machine operators in the logging industry construct and act on stress within their work-life, with an emphasis on the implications for their health and safety’
• Leo Mercer, a PhD student in environmental studies at Victoria University of Wellington whose research topic explores a carbon farming partnership between Nuhiti Q (a Maori landowning incorporation on the East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island) and Gull New Zealand. It is investigating the genesis of this partnership and the wider risks, barriers and opportunities for Maori landowners entering the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and engaging in carbon farming as a land use.
NZL