The University of Canterbury is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbury College, the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is New Zealand's second-oldest university, after the University of Otago, which was founded four years earlier, in 1869.
Lianne Audrey Dalziel is a New Zealand politician and former Mayor of Christchurch. Prior to this position, she was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for 23 years, serving as Minister of Immigration, Commerce, Minister of Food Safety and Associate Minister of Justice in the Fifth Labour Government. She resigned from Cabinet on 20 February 2004 after apparently lying about a leak of documents to the media, but was reinstated as a Minister following Labour's return to office after the 2005 election. She resigned from Parliament effective 11 October 2013 to contest the Christchurch mayoral election. The incumbent, Bob Parker, decided not to stand again. She was widely regarded as the top favourite and won with a wide margin to become the 46th Mayor of Christchurch.
Vicki Susan Buck is a New Zealand politician. She was Mayor of Christchurch for nine years from 1989 to 1998. She retired after three terms, having been very popular. She made a political comeback, standing in the 2013 local elections in the Riccarton-Wigram ward as councillor for Christchurch City Council, being returned with the highest number of votes across all city wards. She subsequently accepted the role of deputy mayor.
The International Antarctic Centre is a visitor attraction and public science discovery centre in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located at Christchurch International Airport, adjacent to the buildings that are the Christchurch base for the Antarctic programmes of the US, New Zealand and Italy.
Sam Johnson is a social entrepreneur from Christchurch, New Zealand. Johnson is known as the founder of the Student Volunteer Army which mobilised 11,000 students to assist the cleanup following the Christchurch earthquakes and has continued as a nationwide volunteering movement
The 2013 Christchurch mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections and was won by former MP Lianne Dalziel. The elections were held on 12 October 2013 for the Mayor of Christchurch plus other local government roles.
Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) is an international association that develops and promotes best practice in managing the support of scientific research in Antarctica. Members are composed of national research programs who respective governments are signatories to the Antarctic Treaty committing the continent as a natural reserve.
Finnemore Peak is a summit, 2,050 metres (6,730 ft), at the south end of the ridge that separates the head of Wreath Valley and Albert Valley in Apocalypse Peaks, Victoria Land. Named in 2005 by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names after Michelle Rogan-Finnemore who wintered twice with the U.S. Antarctic Program: the first time in 1990 at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station as U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) team leader for geodesy and seismology observations; a second winter at McMurdo Station in 1992 entailed satellite observations and ionospheric studies for the University of Texas in Austin; later, Manager of Gateway Antarctica, the center for Antarctic Studies and Research, at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The 2016 Christchurch mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held on 8 October. The incumbent mayor, former Labour MP and government Minister Lianne Dalziel, who was first elected in the 2013 mayoral election was reelected, winning a commanding 83.9% of formal votes cast in the poll. However New Zealand's local government elections in 2016 were characterized by a nationwide low participation rate which saw only 41.8% of enrolled voters cast a ballot in the election. Christchurch's turnout rate was particularly low with only 38.3% of enrolled voters actually voting, down from 52.2% in 2010.
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.
Victoria Metcalf is an Antarctic researcher based in New Zealand, best known for her work on Antarctic fishes and invertebrates. She was awarded the 2006 Zonta Science Award.
Margaret Ann Bradshaw is a New Zealand geologist and a retired staff member at the University of Canterbury. She is considered a trailblazer and influential female role model in Antarctic research.
Pamela Margaret Young is a New Zealand Antarctic scientist. She was the first New Zealand woman to live and work in Antarctica. In 1969–70, she worked at Cape Bird as field assistant to her husband Euan, a biologist, and was among the first six women to fly to the South Pole. She wrote a book about her trip. The Young Peaks in Antarctica are named after her.
Ann Brower is an environmental geographer from New Zealand. A survivor of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, she successfully lobbied for a law change to the Building Act, which was passed in 2016 as the Brower Amendment. Brower was promoted to full professor at the University of Canterbury in December 2021. In 2022 she won the Charles Fleming Award for Environmental Achievement.
Marion Marie Stringer Darby was a New Zealand marine biologist and teacher. She was the first New Zealand woman to visit the Antarctic mainland. In January 1968, she travelled on the Magga Dan, the first tourist vessel to the Ross Sea, and visited Scott Base with other staff and tourists. She prepared a checklist of sub-Antarctic birds for the information of tourists on board and later wrote an article on summer seabirds to be seen between New Zealand and McMurdo Sound. Mt Darby in Antarctica is named after her.
Laurence Fearnley is a New Zealand short-story writer, novelist and non-fiction writer. Several of her books have been shortlisted for or have won awards, both in New Zealand and overseas, including The Hut Builder, which won the fiction category of the 2011 NZ Post Book Awards. She has also been the recipient of a number of writing awards and residencies including the Robert Burns Fellowship, the Janet Frame Memorial Award and the Artists to Antarctica Programme.
Gabby O'Connor is an Australian Installation Artist based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Denise Copland is a New Zealand artist, born in Timaru. Her works are held in the permanent collections of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
The Antarctic gateway cities are five cities on the rim of the Southern Ocean through which nearly all cargo and personnel bound for Antarctica pass. From west to east, they are Punta Arenas, Chile; Ushuaia, Argentina; Cape Town, South Africa; Hobart, Australia; and Christchurch, New Zealand. As Antarctica is a low-resource environment with no major transportation infrastructure of its own, gateway cities are a necessary part of all Antarctic activities.
Sara Louise Templeton is a New Zealand local politician based in Christchurch. She came to national attention when she exposed that an online troll harassing her was a member of the Young Nats political youth group. After the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, Templeton was active in her Heathcote Valley community, and later co-authored a book about the community's efforts. She was awarded a Civic Earthquake Award for her community-building work. She chaired a community board for three years before standing for Christchurch City Council in 2016. She was the only candidate to unseat a sitting councillor, and was subsequently reelected in 2019 and 2022. Templeton is known for her focus on climate change issues. Templeton is a director of Christchurch City Holdings.
