Shining a light on Kaikōura - New Zea

1 Spring 2017 / Summer 2018 editionShining a light on Kaik uraUC students go globalAccolades for UC academicsHe Kupu WhakamaharaE ng mana, e ng reo, e ng karangatanga maha, nei r te whakamiha o Te Whare W nanga o Waitaha ki a koutou. Nau mai ki nei pitopito k to the latest edition of Chronicle magazine, the University of Canterbury s (UC s) publication designed to keep staff, students, alumni and the wider community informed about the latest news, developments and events on-campus. Whenever I see this publication, I always feel a sense of pride and wonder pride in the achievements of our staff, students and alumni and wonder at the wide range of advances and innovations being made. In this issue, these innovations include those of the Kaik ura Challenge and UCE Bootcamp winners (pages 21 and 8), as well as of researchers such as Professor John Everatt (page 10) and the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering with its high-temperature work on iron sand slag (page 13).

2 The calibre of our teaching staff such as Dr Piers Locke (page 14) and Teaching Medal winner Associate Professor Ekant Veer (page 16) is a key factor in determining student success, which we celebrate in our story on UC s prestigious PhD scholarship winners (page 5). The commitment and dedication of our general staff are vital to the smooth running of the university, so I was pleased to present long-service certificates for 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years of service at UC to more than 30 general staff at a special celebration (see photo below). Institutional knowledge and heritage give a strong foundation to build on, as our stories on the Connon Girls, College House and our long-term relationship with Oxford University diversity of our UC community and the international exchange opportunities available to students are evident in several stories helping to build our global awareness and real-world relevance.

3 We also feature photos of our new engineering facilities and the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities both of which we are receiving great feedback hope you enjoy reading UC s stories in this edition. Please pass a copy on to someone else, or encourage them to find it online at Rod Carr Vice-Chancellor | Tumu WhakaraeMessage from the Vice-ChancellorChronicle Editor: Grant Aldridge Writers: Aleisha Blake Fiona Clayton Grant Aldridge Kim Newth Margaret Agnew Tumama Tu ulua Photos: UC Photographic Services (unless credited otherwise) Artwork: Brian Carney Printer: Toltech Print Distribution: UC Print Email: communications@ Address: Communications and Engagement, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, you would like to be added to the Chronicle distribution list and receive an electronic version of this magazine, please email Spring 2017 / Summer 2018 Cover.

4 The winning Peak Development team in the Kaik ura Challenge: Mr Logan Williams, Mr Jack Wood and Ms Brooke Maslin. (See story on page 21) Vice-Chancellor | Tumu Whakarae Dr Rod Carr (centre rear) alongside fellow presenter Executive Director Human Resources | Kaihaut Matua P manawa Tangata Mr Paul O Flaherty and long-serving staff members at the UC Admin Plus Trophy recipient UC physicist Dr John Campbell4 Oxford students8 Enterprising student Ms Zoe Haws (left) with UCE s Michelle PanzerArtist s impression of interior of new UCSA builidng2513 The UC research team unlocking potential of iron sand. Globe trotting student Ms Courtney Messervy173 CHRONICLE , Spring 2017 / Summer 2018 edition4 The spirit of manaakitanga, loosely translated as hospitality or the act of welcoming and sharing, was alive on-campus when UC hosted a group of 18 students from Oxford University in visit was an opportunity for UC to reciprocate the hospitality Oxford extended to UC immediately after the 2011 earthquakes, when it generously offered places for dozens of UC senior scholars from humanities and law to spend a term studying at Oxford.

5 Prior to the Oxford students arrival, UC also hosted the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, the Very Reverend Professor Martyn Percy, whose College hosted two UC students in 2011. At a civic reception with city leaders he was presented with a certificate recognising him as an Honorary Citizen of Christchurch, becoming the first to receive this award following a Christchurch City Council policy resolution earlier in the s relationship with Christ Church, Oxford began with the University s foundation in 1873, which owes much to the graduates of Oxford University s cathedral/college, Christ Church. The history of both the University and our city, and the ties that underpin that history, are crucial to our sense of identity, says UC Chancellor | Tumu Kaunihera Dr John Wood, himself an Oxford graduate.

6 These ties date back to the earliest origins of the University and continue to this day in the UC mace and the Wakefield Scholarship. Reciprocity of hospitalityThe mace used for every UC graduation ceremony since 1957 was designed and made at Christ Church, Oxford. Established in 2011, the Edward Gibbon Wakefield Doctoral Scholarship supports a PhD candidate studying humanities or creative arts at UC to undertake funded research at Christ Church, Oxford, for a their three-week visit, the Oxford students participated in a series of lectures and workshops led by UC staff and city leaders, designed to encourage them to reimagine what a 21st century city should and could be by drawing on lessons from tautahi Christchurch. These were complemented by project work and a number of field trips around the city, including to Christchurch Art Gallery | Te Puna o Waiwhetu and many of the exciting transitional projects that have emerged post-earthquakes.

7 The most rewarding aspect of the programme has been the interaction between the Oxford students and their UC counterparts, says Mr Will Shannon, International Partnerships Coordinator at UC. It has been a joy seeing them working together to consider some of the big issues facing cities in the 21st century. Collaboration of this kind is increasingly important and a major objective of UC s international partnerships. UC students and graduates have recently gained a range of scholarships that will see them travelling and studying in many far-flung parts of the of UC students will gain first-hand experience of studying in China, Thailand and Singapore after five UC programmes secured funding in the latest Prime Minister s Scholarship for Asia round. More than $280,000 in total funding will be shared between 57 UC UC students also gained Prime Minister s Scholarships for Latin America, while four graduates have received Fulbright New Zealand Science and Innovation Graduate Awards to further their studies at universities in the United States of America.

8 Former Student Volunteer Army president Mr Alex Cheeseborough was awarded a Fulbright New Zealand General Graduate Award to study at Duke students embody the competency to engage in global and multicultural contexts that UC aims to instil in all its help UC students go globalThe Oxford students on a field trip soon after their arrival at UC in September. Photo above: UC arts and business student Mr Mathew Birt is one of many students awarded a scholarship to travel overseas. He will study Chinese and accounting at Zhejiang Gongshang , Spring 2017 / Summer 2018 editionTopping the field of UC s prestigious doctoral scholarship winners for 2017 is Brownlie Scholarship recipient Ms Melissa Derby. As she starts her doctoral research, she is building on strong interests in M ori development and human news that she had been awarded UC s Brownlie Scholarship earlier this year came as a humbling surprise.

9 For me to receive this top award, which is open to all doctoral scholarship candidates, as a M ori student is a huge honour that I feel has brought a lot of mana to me and other M ori students. From Tauranga Moana, Ms Derby has associations with the Ng i Tamar waho hap of Ng ti Ranginui. Originally from tautahi Christchurch, she completed her Master of Arts in M ori Development at Auckland University of Technology | Te W nanga Aronui o T maki Makau Rau, where she was awarded a first class honours and made the Dean s List. She also completed a Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Studies at Columbia University in New York. For her PhD thesis, which is aligned to the National Science Challenge A Better Start, Ms Derby is researching the effect of wh nau-driven literacy activities on children s emerging literacy in a bilingual (te reo M ori and English) setting.

10 I m arguing that literacy is a human right that is fundamental to accessing so many other human rights relating to health and wellbeing. M ori and other marginal groups around the world are often over-represented in the cohort of children who don t perform well in literacy, which raises questions around cultural response engagement in teaching literacy. Outstanding M ori students are making a real impact on research across UC and have won the majority of this year s prestigious doctoral scholarships. A number of these scholarships are focused towards M ori students, says Dr Jon Harding, UC s Dean of Postgraduate Research. In total, six M ori students won various scholarships in this particular round. This year s Ngata Centenary Doctoral Scholarship went to Ms Kirsty Dunn, whose iwi are Te Aup uri and Te Rarawa, from Te Tai Tokerau (Northland).