Megan Balks | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 (age 63–64) Wairarapa, New Zealand |
| Alma mater | |
| Spouse | Errol |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Soil science |
| Institutions | University of Waikato |
| Thesis | Some effects of land treatment/disposal of New Zealand meat processing plant effluent on soil properties (1995) |
Megan Ruby Balks NZAM (born 1960) is a New Zealand Antarctic soil scientist and former lecturer at the University of Waikato.
Born in 1960, [1] Balks was raised on a sheep farm in the Wairarapa, giving her an appreciation of the environment, and she wanted to become a geologist. [2] She studied at Massey University, completing a Bachelor of Science honours degree in soil science. [2]
Balks lectured at the University of Waikato from 1988 until she left in 2018, and mentored 10 Antarctic soil research graduate students. [3]
In 1990, Balks, along with other soil scientists, started researching Antarctica's permafrosts and its human environmental impact. [3] [2] When offered this role, she was sceptical as she did not believe that the Antarctic would have much soil to study. In her first project, she looked at soil from an airstrip that the United States built in the 1950s. [2] In total, she completed 19 Antarctic field expeditions, including 12 as field leader. She and the other researchers placed soil climate monitoring stations in the Antarctic, reporting to the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) programme, which measure the effects of climate change in the polar regions. [3] [2]
From the mid 1990s to 2001, Balks was a member of the Waikato Conservation Board. [4] From 2000 to 2023, she was a member of the Crysol Working Group of the International Union of Soil Sciences, and was co-chair for two years. From 2008 to 2022, Balks represented New Zealand on the council of the International Permafrost Association, where in 2019, she created its first Southern Hemisphere regional permafrost conference. Her other roles include being a founding member and secretary of the ANTPAS (Antarctic Permafrost and Soils), a member of the Royal Society of New Zealand's Committee on Antarctic Research, a member of the New Zealand Geographic Board Committee of Place Naming in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica, and president of the New Zealand Society of Soil Science from 2018 to 2020. [3] As of 2024 [update] , she is review editor of the State of the World Soils Report of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. [2]
In 2021, Balks and other two other researchers published the book Soils of Aotearoa New Zealand. It has 18 chapters and describes New Zealand's soils according to the New Zealand Soil Classification. [5]
In the 2024 New Year Honours, Balks was awarded the New Zealand Antarctic Medal, for services to Antarctic soil science. [3]
Balks has a husband named Errol. Around the 1980s the two moved to Dunedin due to Balks' work in Central Otago, and so that Errol could study land surveying. They now live in Waikato and have their own nature reserve, where they have a breed of sheep that which produces a type of fibre that Balks uses in a craft hobby. [2]
Hewitt, Allan E.; Balks, Megan R.; Lowe, David J. (2021). The Soils of Aotearoa New Zealand. World Soils Book Series. Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-64763-6. ISBN 978-3-030-64761-2.
The New Zealand royal honours system, a system of orders, decorations and medals, recognises achievements of, or service by, New Zealanders or others in connection with New Zealand. Until 1975, New Zealand used the British honours system. Since then the country has introduced a number of uniquely New Zealand honours, and as of 2021, only the dynastic British honours continue in active use in New Zealand, with the exception of the Order of the Companions of Honour.
Tokoroa is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua and 20 km south of Putāruru, close to the foot of the Mamaku Ranges, it is midway between Taupō and Hamilton on State Highway 1.
Wyatt Beetham Creech is a retired New Zealand politician. He served as the 14th deputy prime minister of New Zealand in Jenny Shipley's National Party government from August 1998 to December 1999.
Tukoroirangi "Tuku" Morgan is a New Zealand Māori politician and former broadcaster.
Dame Malvina Lorraine Major is a New Zealand opera soprano.
The New Zealand bravery awards are civil (non-military) decorations for bravery.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) is the central public service department of New Zealand charged with providing support and advice to the governor-general, the prime minister and members of the Cabinet of New Zealand. The department is also charged with centrally leading New Zealand's "national security planning, which includes civil defence."
Timothy Raymond Naish is a New Zealand glaciologist and climate scientist who has been a researcher and lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington and the Director of the Antarctic Research Centre, and in 2020 became a programme leader at the Antarctic Science Platform. Naish has researched and written about the possible effect of melting ice sheets in Antarctica on global sea levels due to high CO2 emissions causing warming in the Southern Ocean. He was instrumental in establishing and leading the Antarctica Drilling Project (ANDRILL), and a Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (2014).
Lake Rotoroa or Hamilton Lake is a lake in Hamilton, Waikato, North Island, New Zealand. It has a surface area of about 54 hectares and an average depth of 2.4 metres . It is the home of the Hamilton Yacht Club, which holds regular sailing in the summer.
The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) was a government science agency in New Zealand, founded in 1926 and broken into Crown Research Institutes in 1992.
The New Zealand Antarctic Medal was created 1 September 2006, as a New Zealand royal honour to replace the British Polar Medal.
Peter John Barrett is a New Zealand geologist who came to prominence after discovering the first tetrapod fossils in Antarctica in 1967.
John Davidson McCraw was a New Zealand pedologist, academic, and local historian, particularly of the Central Otago area. The McCraw Glacier in Antarctica is named for him.
Roberta Lee Farrell is emeritus professor at the University of Waikato, New Zealand and a researcher of international renown in the fields of wood degradation, bioremediation, mycology and enzymology.
Gillian Shirley Wratt is a New Zealand botanist and science administrator. She was the first woman director of the New Zealand Antarctic Programme (1992–1996) and made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Antarctica.
Helen Joan Anderson is a New Zealand professional director, scientist and, previously, public servant. She currently serves as a director on a number of boards and is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors (CFInstD).
Michael John Selby was a New Zealand geomorphologist, academic, and university administrator. Mount Selby in Antarctica's Britannia Range is named for him.
Timothy George Haskell is a New Zealand scientist.
Kay Therese McKelvie is a New Zealand chairwoman. She was previously chair of the Waitemata District Health Board and the New Zealand Tourism Board.
Ingread Nea Collins is a New Zealand businesswoman based in Gisborne. She chaired the Tairawhiti District Health Board from 2001 until 2010.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
