Chief Executive Update

Unfortunately, there was a hiatus whilst we were waiting for Karen Knobloch to commence in the role of Membership Coordinator, and then further delay for the reasons we all read about every day!  It is great to have Karen aboard, and with her arrival we have lifted our commitment to membership support to a fulltime role, up from 0.6.  Of course, like the rest of our staff she has been working from home for the best part of her first month with us!

The Society is endeavouring to maintain as much activity as possible, but has delayed some annual processes such as nominations for Fellowship which now close on 30 June. Our public engagement programme can no longer occur through face-to-face regional events, so our team have been busy looking at digital delivery as much as is possible. The research funding team are continuing, albeit with some delays and different-to-normal processes, to maintain the flow of government research funding (about $100m/year) which we manage. Out of sight to most members, the Science Media Centre has been doing an exceptional job of providing high quality scientific content to the media.

When we look back in a year or so, it is undoubtedly our shared hope that New Zealanders will have coped well.  If that is the case, it is my personal hope that the provision of high quality research-based evidence will be recognised as critical to the relative success of this country in coping with the pandemic, and that, as a consequence, research and science are better understood and respected. To my mind, the best way to gain respect is to serve others well - researchers and scientists do that by acting with honesty, integrity and humbleness, and admitting what they do not know and presenting uncertainties realistically and simply.