Ngā Ahurei a Te Apārangi Fellows announced

Researchers in Antarctic science, accounting, and light-absorbing materials are among the newly elected fellows to the Academy of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Election to the academy recognises exceptional achievements in research, scholarship, or the advancement of knowledge at the highest international standards.

The six Te Herenga Waka professors elected this year are:

Professor Judy Brown: for being an internationally recognised leader in critical, social, and environmental accounting. The Royal Society says Judy’s work “challenges the emphasis in conventional accounting on financial capital and seeks to develop pluralistic accounting and accountability theory and practices”.

Professor Nicholas Golledge: for being a global leader of Antarctic ice sheet modelling. Nicholas has made significant advances in understanding how the Antarctic ice sheet will respond to a warming climate and the effects ice sheet melting will have on global sea-level change, ocean circulation, and climate variability.

Professor Justin Hodgkiss: for the development of ultrafast optical spectroscopy tools that provide insights into biomaterials and next generation solar cells. Justin’s research has revealed how different materials—from skin to solar cells—respond to light and led to the design of more efficient photovoltaic materials and the potential development of new bio-based sunscreens.

Professor Joanna Kidman: for her outstanding contributions to the politics of indigeneity and its role in economic, political, and cultural development (locally and globally). The Royal Society describes Joanna as “one of the few Indigenous sociologists worldwide” and credits her with “introducing new thinking about colonisation from an Indigenous perspective“.

Adjunct Professor Martin Manning: for his seminal contributions to the fundamental research and communication of climate science. Martin has made major contributions to climate science, from leading New Zealand’s first greenhouse gas team in the 1970s to his current research on addressing the causes of methane emissions.

Professor William (Jeff) Tatum: for being at the international forefront of Roman history, the poetics of Latin literature, Greek literature in Imperial Rome, and Greco-Roman reception studies. Jeff is the author or editor of six influential books and close to 80 frequently cited papers or chapters, including the authoritative scholarly account of Rome in the fifties BCE.

Professor Margaret Hyland, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), commends the six professors for their exceptional leadership and recognition in their respective fields.

“Congratulations to the six Victoria University of Wellington professors recognised with this well-deserved honour. It’s exciting to see the diversity of disciplines recognised. These professors have made impactful contributions at the highest levels in their respective fields.”