University of Auckland Lecturer Honored as Environmental ‘Champion’ on Earth Day

Marine science lecturer Dr Rebecca Gladstone-Gallagher, of Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland was selected a finalist in an international sustainability science competition.

Twenty-three “national champions” from six continents, chosen as finalists for the Frontiers Planet Prize, were announced on Earth Day, April 22.

Gladstone-Gallagher was chosen as New Zealand’s representative for the article “Social–ecological connections across land, water, and sea demand a reprioritization of environmental management” published in Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene.

“We highlighted the consequences of managing land, freshwater, and sea ecosystems separately, without considering the connections between them that drive tipping points in coastal ecosystems that are hard to return from,” says Gladstone-Gallagher. “We recognised the need for a more connected approach across ecosystems to enable faster and more effective responses to environmental degradation.”

The work was funded by the Sustainable Seas and Biological Heritage National Science Challenges and came out of a 2019 workshop in Leigh of an international group of researchers spanning ecology, economy, ecosystem modelling, indigenous knowledge systems, and social science.

The prize recognises scientists whose research “contributes to accelerating solutions that ensure humanity remains safely within the boundaries of the Earth’s ecosystem.”

National winners were selected by a jury of 100 chaired by Professor Johan Rockström, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Three global winners to each receive 1 million CHF ($1.85 million) to support their research will be announced on 26 June by the Frontiers Research Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit created by neuroscientists Kamila and Henry Markram.