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2024 Leonard Cockayne Lecture Award: Speaking for the trees (and other botanical wonders)

Dr Peter Heenan has been awarded the Leonard Cockayne Lecture Award by Royal Society Te Apārangi for his decades-long commitment to Aotearoa New Zealand’s rich botany and sharing his knowledge with audiences across the country and the world.

Peter has been working with plants since 1979, when he worked as a horticulturist for various South Island councils. He went on to become a Technical Officer in the Botany Division of the government’s science agency, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).

Inspired by his early years working with plants, he gained a Master of Science while on research leave at Missouri Botanic Gardens in the United States. He earned his PhD at the University of Canterbury in 2000, all while working as a researcher at Manaaki Whenua. 

In the years since, he has held various roles including as the Research Leader, Curator and Director of Manaaki Whenua’s Allan Herbarium; Principal Botanist for Wildlands Consultants; executive on the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network; and he was a member of the Department of Conservation’s threatened plants panel for almost two decades.

Peter has been described as having “unrivalled knowledge not only of the New Zealand flora but also of the institutions responsible for botanical research and its application”.

Peter has a long history of giving engaging lectures on botanical themes to general audiences – some of the most prestigious being the Banks Memorial Lecture, Tāne Ngahere Lecture and the Lucy Cranwell Lecture. 

This year alone, he has spoken at the Wai-Ora Trust, Summit Road Society and the Wellington Botanical Society.

Over the past 30 years, Peter has published over 230 scientific papers. His recent publications range in topic from ecosourcing, taxonomy, plant colonisation of New Zealand, and phylogenetic clustering and age of formation of plant habitats. 

In the past year, Peter has visited five Pacific Island nations to assess their needs in plant biodiversity, conservation and food security. Taking the opportunities provided by this travel, he is currently building a botanical research programme in Niue in partnership with local biodiversity staff.

The selection committee was impressed by Peter’s sustained background of excellent research on all aspects of plant life, including plant-human interactions, in Aotearoa New Zealand.

They see Peter as having a direct and engaging speaking style, in-depth understanding of his audiences, and highly interesting—sometimes even controversial—messages to impart.


Leonard Cockayne Lecture Award
:
This award commemorates the life and work of the great New Zealand botanist Leonard Cockayne. It is awarded for excellence in botanical research.

Citation:
To Peter Heenan for his unrivalled knowledge of the New Zealand flora and of the institutions responsible for botanical research and its application