Rebecca Priestley | |
|---|---|
 Priestley in 2019 | |
| Alma mater | University of Canterbury, Victoria University of Wellington |
| Awards | Prime Minister’s Science Communicator’s Prize 2016 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Science communication |
| Institutions | Victoria University of Wellington |
| Doctoral advisor | John Hearnshaw Philippa Mein Smith Philip Catton |
Rebecca Katherine Priestley CRSNZ is a New Zealand academic, science historian, and writer. She is Professor in Science in Society at Victoria University of Wellington.
Priestley earned a BSc in geology at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) in 1990, a Bsc (Hons), First Class, in physical geography at VUW in 1992, and a PhD in history and philosophy of science from the University of Canterbury in 2010 with a thesis titled Nuclear New Zealand: New Zealand's nuclear and radiation history to 1987, supervised by Philip Catton, John Hearnshaw and Philippa Mein Smith. [1] [2]
Priestley is a Professor in Science in Society at Victoria University of Wellington, where she teaches undergraduate courses in science communication and creative science writing, and leads a Master of Science in Society programme. [3] [1] [4] [5]
The three areas of Priestley's research are: 20th-century history of science, with a focus on science in New Zealand and Antarctica; science communication and public engagement with science; and creative science writing practice. Priestley took a sabbatical to do a Master of Arts in creative writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML), in the nonfiction stream, writing a book about Antarctica.
Priestley co-founded the Centre for Science in Society at Victoria University which focuses on the relationship between science, scientists, society, the history of science, and the communication of scientific ideas and issues to different audiences using the vast range of media sources available today.
She was the 2016 winner of the Prime Minister's Science Communicator's Prize. In June 2017, Priestley co-founded the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund, which offers funding for projects reporting on science-related issues of importance to New Zealanders.
In July 2018, Priestley was elected as a Companion of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. [6]
Maurice Gough Gee is a New Zealand novelist. He is one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and has won numerous awards both in New Zealand and overseas, including multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the UK, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Robert Burns Fellowship and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. In 2003 he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists across all disciplines by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, which presented him with an Icon Award.
William Manhire is a New Zealand poet, short story writer, emeritus professor, and New Zealand's inaugural Poet Laureate (1997–1998). He founded New Zealand's first creative writing course at Victoria University of Wellington in 1975, founded the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2001, and has been a strong promoter of New Zealand literature and poetry throughout his career. Many of New Zealand's leading writers graduated from his courses at Victoria. He has received many notable awards including a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in 2007 and an Arts Foundation Icon Award in 2018.
Sir Ernest Marsden was an English-New Zealand physicist. He is recognised internationally for his contributions to science while working under Ernest Rutherford, which led to the discovery of new theories on the structure of the atom. In Marsden's later work in New Zealand, he became a significant member of the scientific community, while maintaining close links to the United Kingdom.
Kate Duignan is a New Zealand novelist, short-story writer, reviewer and teacher.
Sir Albert William Liley was a New Zealand medical practitioner, renowned for developing techniques to improve the health of foetuses in utero.
Sir Paul Terence Callaghan was a New Zealand physicist who, as the founding director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at Victoria University of Wellington, held the position of Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences and was President of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance.
Sarah Ann Featon was a botanical artist from New Zealand.
Lucy Beatrice Moore was a New Zealand botanist and ecologist.
Harry Ricketts is a poet, biographer, editor, anthologist, critic, academic, literary scholar and cricket writer. He has written biographies of Rudyard Kipling and of a dozen British First World War poets.
Brenda Chawner is a Canadian-New Zealand library academic specialising in the intersection between librarianship and information technology.
Ocean Ripeka Mercier is a New Zealand academic specialising in physics and Māori science.
Sir Neville Jordan is a New Zealand electrical engineer and businessman.
The Prime Minister's Science Prizes are awarded yearly by the Prime Minister of New Zealand. They were first awarded in 2009 in order to raise the profile and prestige of science among New Zealanders. The 2019 awards were presented in early 2020.
Veronika Meduna is a scientist, science journalist and broadcaster who was the founding New Zealand editor of The Conversation.
Wendy Larner is a New Zealand social scientist who has focussed on the interdisciplinary areas of globalisation, governance and gender. She has been Vice-Chancellor and President of Cardiff University since September 2023, having previously been provost at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.
The Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing was set up in 1996 by benefactors Denis and Verna Adam. It is awarded to an outstanding MA student at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington.
Ashleigh Young is a poet, essayist, editor and creative writing teacher. She received the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize in 2017 for her second book, a collection of personal essays titled Can You Tolerate This? which also won the Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non-Fiction. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.
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.
James Arthur RenwickCRSNZ is a New Zealand weather and climate researcher. He is professor of physical geography at Victoria University of Wellington, specialising in large-scale climate variations. He was awarded the 2018 New Zealand Prime Minister's Science Prize for Communication by Jacinda Ardern.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)| International | |
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