Jane Allison – Chair (Massey University)

Jane Allison is a Rutherford Discovery Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at Massey University in Auckland, where she is also a member of the Centre for Theoretical Chemistry and Physics. Jane is also an Associate Investigator with the Biomolecular Interaction Centre at the University of Canterbury and with the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery. After obtaining a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Canterbury in 2003, Jane moved to the UK in 2004 to study towards a PhD with Prof. Chris Dobson in the Department of Chemistry at Cambridge University as one of the inaugural Woolf Fisher scholars. She then moved to Zürich, Switzerland, to work as a postdoctoral research assistant in the computer-aided chemistry group of Prof. Wilfred van Gunsteren at the ETH, before returning to New Zealand in January 2012. She now leads a research group at Massey who work on both the development of molecular simulation techniques and their application to problems in areas ranging from materials science and food technology through to medical biochemistry and answering fundamental evolutionary questions.

Daniel Stouffer – Vice-Chair of Biological Sciences (University of Canterbury)

Daniel Stouffer is a Rutherford Discovery Fellow and Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury. Originally from the United States, Daniel completed a BSc in Chemical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines (USA) and a PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University (USA). He then spent four years as a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Jordi Bascompte’s research group at the Estación Biológica de Doñana (Spain) after being awarded a JAE fellowship from the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and a Juan de la Cierva fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN). Daniel then joined the University of Canterbury in 2011 where he leads a research group focused on studying ecological complexity. Using a mix of tools and approaches from inside and outside biology (e.g., engineering, physics, or statistics), they take a quantitative approach to uncovering patterns in empirical data and exploring their ecological or evolutionary significance.

Patricia Durance – Vice-Chair of Physical Sciences (GNS Science)

Patricia Durance is a Minerals Geologist in the Geological Resources Division at GNS Science in Wellington. She concurrently holds an adjunct research associate position at the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Australia. Patricia is a geochemist who has researched and published on a diverse range of topics such as water-rock interactions, stable isotope geochemistry, melt inclusions, and subduction zone magma genesis. Patricia is a key researcher in the four-year, New Zealand government-funded Gold Exploration Models programme, being led by GNS Science, and in the Direct Core Funded, Mapping Urban and Regional Geology programme. Her current research aims to understand the geochemical processes responsible for ore deposit formation, primarily through the use of a range of microanalytical techniques in conjunction with 3D modelling, GIS and exploration data integration. Patricia has been a member of the working committees to establishing ECR groups at the Royal Society of New Zealand and at GNS Science. She has a strong interest in matters related to gender and diversity in STEM in both academia and industry and was recently nominated to the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s Women in Mining Network (WIMNet) Council, where she chairs the conference subcommittee and sits on the regional engagement subcommittee.

Philip Steer – Vice-Chair of Social Sciences & Humanities (Massey University)

Philip Steer is a Senior Lecturer in the School of English and Media Studies at Massey University. His research focuses on the literature and political economy of settler colonialism, especially in the context of Australia and New Zealand, and on the relationship between empire and the environment in the nineteenth century. After completing a BSc in Chemistry and an MA in English at Victoria University of Wellington, he completed a PhD in English at Duke University, supported by a Fulbright Scholarship. He returned to New Zealand in 2010, and was awarded a Marsden Fast-Start Grant the following year. He was recently awarded a Massey University Research Medal (Early Career). Philip is eager to support the development of ECR capacity in, and across, the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Tom Baker – Committee Member (University of Auckland)

Tom Baker is a Lecturer in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland. He is a human geographer whose research examines the social and spatial dimensions of policy and policy-making. Using primarily qualitative approaches, Tom’s research focuses on the ways in which elected representatives, experts, and the public conceive of, and act upon, economically and socially marginalised populations. He completed his PhD at the University of Newcastle, Australia, and before coming to Auckland, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Tom has also worked in the public sector at local and national levels, most recently at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Giles Dodson – Committee Member (Unitec Institute of Technology)

Giles Dodson is a Senior Lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, in Communication Studies within the Business and Enterprise Network.  Giles’ research is multidisciplinary, and explores issues in environmental and political communication, public engagement with science, policy and contemporary forms of governance.   This work involves strong relationships with Māori organisations, and in part examines governance and development in the post-settlements era.  Having received a BA (Hons) in History (Otago) and PhD. in Journalism (Queensland), at present Giles in the Chief Investigator on a number of projects, including the MBIE Vision Mātauranga funded Te Uri O Hau-Unitec Kaitiakitanga and Education Partnership.  Giles is the convenor and chair of the Unitec Early Career Research Forum, the Deputy Editor of Unitec’s online publisher ePress, executive board member of the Australia New Zealand Communication Association, member of the International Environmental Communication Association and member of the Unitec Research Committee. Giles became a Co-opted Councillor for the Royal Society of New Zealand Council in 2016, replacing Dr David McNamara. 

William Godsoe – Committee Member (Lincoln University)

William is a Lecturer at the BioProtection Research Centre and Lincoln University. Having completed his PhD during the “great recession” of 2009 he is quite conscious of the challenges that face early career scientists. His research focuses on using quantitative tools to better predict where species can be found in nature, and is particularly interest in the fates of invasive species that arrive in New Zealand. Originally from Canada, completed his PhD from the University of Idaho, a Postdoc at the United States National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis at the University of Tennessee and has worked at both the University of Canterbury and Lincoln University.

Rosie Ibbotson – Committee Member (University of Canterbury)

Rosie is a Lecturer in Art History and Theory at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury. Her research is varied and interdisciplinary, but mostly relates to art, architecture, and material culture of the ‘long’ nineteenth century, principally that deriving from European representational practices. Current research interests include the international Arts and Crafts Movement’s engagement with science, technology, and the environment; material culture, transformation, and memory in post-earthquake Christchurch; and visual representation within discourses of de-extinction. At Canterbury, Rosie lectures predominantly in the areas of art theory, museology, and European art and material culture, and has won awards for her teaching. Prior to joining UC’s Department of Art History and Theory, Rosie was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Yale University, and before this she completed a doctorate at the University of Cambridge. In her role on the Early Career Researcher Forum Committee Rosie seeks to be a voice for concerns specific to arts and humanities research, as well as to support researchers across other disciplines in both field-specific and shared challenges and areas of potential.

Stefanie Kremser – Committee Member (Bodeker Scientific)

Stefanie Kremser is an ECR working at Bodeker Scientific (BS) in Alexandra. Unlike many other research organisations in New Zealand, BS is a private non-profit atmospheric research company focussing on stratospheric ozone, atmospheric composition change and climate change. After completing her Diplom (equivalent to a master degree) in Meteorology at the Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany, in 2007, Stefanie received a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship to carry out her PhD project at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in Lauder, New Zealand. After finishing her PhD, she successfully applied for a 3 year fast-start Marsden grant titled “How do sulfate aerosols get in the stratosphere?”. As a result of the Marsden grant, Stefanie became involved in the SPARC activity ‘Stratospheric Sulfur and its Role in Climate (SSiRC)’ where she is now a member of the coordination team. This role, and her research, provides her with strong links to the national and international research community. As a result, she spends time each year working with collaborators in the USA and in Europe. Stefanie is a member of the Young Earth System Scientist community and has organized ECR side events at international conferences.

Caroline Orchiston – Committee Member (University of Otago)

Caroline is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Sustainability at the University of Otago. Her research interests lie at the interface between earth and social science, investigating societal disaster resilience and recovery, community and business resilience, and scenario planning for impacts to critical infrastructure and emergency management during disasters. Caroline is an Associate Investigator on Resilience to Nature’s Challenges (National Science Challenge), a multi-disciplinary programme that aims to build a more resilient New Zealand by transforming how we prepare for and mitigate against rapid (earthquakes, floods) and slow onset (climate change-related) disasters. Since 2010, Caroline has been involved in a longitudinal study of community preparedness and awareness of natural hazard risk in Washington State, USA in collaboration with GNS Science, Washington State Emergency Management and the United States Geological Survey. Caroline is an Associate or Lead Investigator on several other projects funded by QuakeCoRE (TEC), New Zealand Transport Authority, Earthquake Commission and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.