Academy research scholarships awarded

RHT Bates Postgraduate Scholarship

This award of $6,000 is for study for a PhD in the physical sciences and engineering at a New Zealand university. The 2024 winner is Caitlin Smith of Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland for research on the “Photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging of blood flow for the quantification of hemodynamics in bone.”

Caitlin is a PhD student in the Department of Physics. She completed her BSc in Physics and Chemistry in 2020 and an Honours degree in Physics in 2021.

Her research focuses on developing non-invasive techniques to quantify blood flow in cortical bone using photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging.

To improve imaging accuracy, Caitlin integrates methods from seismology to correct for acoustic refraction when imaging through bone layers.

She is currently working with benchtop bone models to validate and refine the accuracy of her imaging and flow mapping techniques.

Sir Hugh Kawharu Masters Scholarship

The Sir Hugh Kawharu Scholarship for Innovation in Science is a $10,000 scholarship for study at masters level in the sciences. 

The scholarship is applicable across a broad range of science disciplines including the physical, mathematical and computational, earth, environment, marine, social, health, biological, biomedical, human, and behavioural sciences.

The 2024 winner is Lomia Quinn (Ngāti Hauā) of Te Whare Wananga o Waikato University of Waikato. She is studying for a Master of Science (Research) in Environmental Sciences.

In her early twenties, Lomia realised her passion for the environment and the duty we have as humans to care for the land and the living things that share this planet with us.

"This realisation led me to tertiary study, and I have now graduated from the University of Waikato having undertaken a Bachelor of Science with a major in Environmental Sciences and a minor in Ecology and Biodiversity.

"I am currently undertaking a Master of Science (Research) in Environmental Sciences at the University of Waikato, where in my research I hope to blend both Western Science techniques and Mātauranga Māori in investigating the mighty tōtara tree."

"My thesis is guided by the whakataukī 'E kore te tōtara e tū noa i te pārae engari me tū i roto it e wao-nui-a-tāne” or “The tōtara tree does not stand alone in the field, but stands within the great forest of Tāne'."

Lomia says the implications of this project include research exemplifying success in working at the interface between Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge, and investigation into the carbon sequestration potential of one of our key taonga species.

"Ultimately I plan to continue to complete a PhD in natural sciences and hope to take part in international collaborations regarding climate change and the interface between Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge.”