Covid-19 researchers take top science prize

Covid-19 researchers have taken home the big award at the 2020 Prime Ministers Science Prizes for helping keep New Zealand Covidfree.

The five awards, which were announced at an event in Wellington yesterday, recognised the achievements of scientists and the impact of science on New Zealanders’ lives.

The 2020 Prime Minister’s Science Prize, the premier award, went to Te Pu¯ naha Matatini, a research centre which was set up to apply complex science to ‘‘critical issues of our time’’.

In 2020, the centre was primarily focused on providing data to the Government around its response to Covid-19.

Centre director Professor Shaun Hendy said it had been a pleasure to work with the team on such an ‘‘unrepeatable experience’’.

The World Health Organisation’s Diane Abad-Vergara said Te Pu¯ naha Matatini’s work was part of the reason why New Zealand was one of the few countries to eliminate the virus.

Science Communication Prize winner Professor Michael Baker has racked up more than 2000 interviews since last January, contributing to more than 30 per cent of the total science output by science commentators.

In what he describes as the most intense period of his working life, Baker developed a concept for Covid-19 elimination, concluded it was the optimal strategy, and then worked to promote these ideas to the New Zealand public.

For research on how marine organisms will fare under climate change, Rutherford Discovery Fellow at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington Dr Christopher Cornwall was awarded the Emerging Scientist Prize.

Cornwall’s research found that a warmer and more acidic ocean would affect the ability of marine organisms to grow their skeletons.

As the first technology teacher to win the Prime Minister’s Science Teacher Prize, Sarah Washbrooke puts her motivation down to seeing her students overcome challenges.

The prize panel said the Remarkables Primary School teacher’s hands-on approach engages the students in such a way they often remain unaware of the depth and range of learning they are doing.

Former Bethlehem College student James Zingel took home the Future Scientist Prize for a research project on breast cancer which pitted a classical computer against a quantum computer.