Jessica Prebble
Jessie Prebble
Jessica Prebble has been awarded a prestigious Mana Tūāpapa Future Leader Fellowship by the Royal Society of New Zealand – one of only 22 such awards in 2025. During her fellowship, Jessica will explore how plants promote the persistence of climate-resilient peat bogs, in particular how Empodisma robustum, a species of wire rush which lives under conditions much warmer and drier than typical peat ecosystems, survives in the relatively warm and dry climate in the Waikato region, and how it might contribute to the climate-resilience of peatland in a warming world.
Grant Norbury and Bruce Warburton
Bruce Warburton (left) and Grant Norbury (right)
The Caughley Medal is the highest honour bestowed by the Australasian Wildlife Management Society (AMWS) to recognise exceptional individuals who have dedicated their careers to the advancement of wildlife management in Australia and New Zealand. The medal pays tribute to Graeme Caughley, a prominent figure within AWMS who made significant contributions to the field and helped shape wildlife management practices in both countries. In 2024, Grant Norbury was named the Caughley Medal winner, and Bruce Warburton has just been announced as the 2025 recipient. Both will receive their medals at the AWMS conference in Queenstown in December.
Yvonne Taura
Johnson Witehira, Jessica Hutchings, Jo Smith, and Yvonne Taura, co-authors of Pātaka Kai
Yvonne Taura’s book, Pātaka Kai: Growing kai sovereignty (which she co-authored with Jessica Hutchings, Jo Smith and Johnson Witehira) is a finalist in the Toitanga and Graphic Design (Editorial & Book Design) categories of the Designers Institute of NZ Best Design Awards 2025. This recognition underscores the significance of Indigenous scholarship being communicated through culturally grounded, kaupapa Māori-led design. It affirms that Māori knowledge systems and research can be shared in ways that are visually compelling, accessible, and transformative, elevating Indigenous stories into national and professional discourse while reinforcing community connections, cultural authority, and self-determination in knowledge production.
Paul Peterson
Paul Petersen
Paul Peterson, a senior technician in weed biocontrol and remote sensing, was awarded the Dave Galloway Innovation Award by the New Zealand Biosecurity Institute. This award is designed to recognise innovation in biosecurity and can be awarded to an individual, a group or organisation.