ALL EYES ON CLIMATE CHANGE - FOCUSING ON THE SCIENCE - The University of Auckland
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Ingenio
THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND ALUMNI MAGAZINE
auckland.ac.nz/ingenio
SPRING 2020
ALL EYES ON
CLIMATE CHANGE
FOCUSING ON THE SCIENCE
40 Under 40 Covid-19 models Powerful proverbs
Wise heads on The weighty task of Dr Hinemoa Elder’s
young shoulders predicting pandemic cases whakataukī for a good life
BIG PICTURE
FLASH DANCE During the rare times students were able to be on campus in 2020, the popular and lively club expos were held. This image of a flash mob was captured during the opening of the Semester Two club expo, held in Grafton Atrium on 30 July. Photographer: Richard Ng
this
issue
18 36
REGULARS
6
Doing the numbers Radar love Editorial
For Covid-19 modelling, University of
Golden Graduate Dr Alan Maxwell’s career
Auckland academics collaborated with
experts all over New Zealand
began when he placed a contraption on top
of the Biology Building in 1947
14-17
News
21
Guest columnist:
24 37 Sir Anand Satyanand
22
Lessons from history A riddle picture Research
Dr Felicity Barnes wants to strengthen The University owns around 1,700 artworks.
our knowledge of Aotearoa’s past Linda Tyler picks out one of her favourites
26
7 tips to … learn
te reo Māori
30
32 40 Taking Issue:
Can gangs ever be
good for society?
Out of the box Books
Professor Anthony Hoete is a renowned
architect who has returned to teach at the
Author Caroline Barron is featured in a
selection of recent books by University of
34
University after three decades overseas Around the Globe
Auckland alumni and staff
42
Connection Points
SUSTAINABLE
The ‘plastic’ used to wrap Ingenio is 100 percent
degradable and recyclable. Ingenio is also printed
on environmentally friendly paper stocks.
4 | Ingenio magazine
27 40 Under 40
Shana Malio-Satele is one of our
40 wise heads on young shoulders
38 Dr Hinemoa Elder’s
book Aroha has timely
messages for 2020
7 Cover story: Eyes
on the blue marble
Professor David Noone and the Auckland
scientists using their initiative with climate change
auckland.ac.nz/ingenio | 5
Ingenio Editorial
The University of Auckland
Alumni and Friends magazine
Spring 2020
ISSN 1176-211X
Editor Denise Montgomery
Executive editor
Helen Borne
Art design
Stephen Wang, Ashley Marshall
ACTING WITH
Feature photos
Elise Manahan, Billy Wong
URGENCY
I
Ingenio editorial contacts
Communications
and Marketing, f the Covid-19 crisis has taught us societal change and the collective efforts of all
The University of Auckland anything, it’s that it is possible to act swiftly actors in society.
Private Bag 92019, and decisively when faced with an acute Universities have a critical role to play in
Auckland 1142, threat, and the joint efforts of many matter driving New Zealand’s transition to a low-
New Zealand.
when responding to mammoth challenges. emissions economy and, as civic institutions, we
Level 3, Alfred Nathan House
24 Princes Street, Auckland. We have witnessed this in the way that have a responsibility to do so.
Telephone: +64 9 923 6061 our own Government and many others have As the cover story in this edition of Ingenio
Email: responded to the crisis. Globally, universities illustrates, our research and teaching efforts
ingenio@auckland.ac.nz have also shown outstanding speed and agility span widely in producing the knowledge,
Web: auckland.ac.nz/ingenio
in their responses to the pandemic. At our own skills and innovations needed to address this
How alumni keep in touch institution, staff and students have done an urgent challenge. Through our partnerships
To continue to receive Ingenio
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incredible job rising to the challenges brought and collaborations with government,
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your details at: alumni. learning for our students at home and overseas, make an impactful contribution to address the
auckland.ac.nz/update and our researchers are still contributing to the defining issue of our time.
Alumni Relations Office fight against the pandemic in many ways. Yes, it’s a challenge, but 2020 has been all
The University of Auckland
19A Princes Street,
While the current focus is on the immediate about challenges.
Private Bag 92019 consequences of the pandemic, it’s imperative There has been some positive news in
Auckland 1142, New Zealand that we use the economic recovery to build more other areas in recent months. In September,
Telephone: +64 9 923 4653 resilient social foundations, reduce inequalities the Times Higher Education (THE) World
Email: and fast-track New Zealand along the path University Rankings 2020 showed Auckland
alumni@auckland.ac.nz
Web: alumni.auckland.ac.nz
towards a sustainable zero-carbon future. had jumped 32 places to sit inside the top
In the words of European Commission 150 universities in the world for the first time
Disclaimer
Articles may reflect personal president Ursula von der Leyen: “Sooner or since 2011.
opinion that is not that of the later we will find a vaccine for the coronavirus. Around the same time, Dr Rhys Jones, a
University of Auckland. But there is no vaccine for climate change.” senior lecturer in the Faculty of Medical and
Audited by abc.org.nz According to the Intergovernmental Panel Health Sciences, received the Prime Minister’s
Copyright on Climate Change (IPCC), we have until 2030 Supreme Award in the 2020 National Tertiary
No parts of this publication to halve global carbon dioxide emissions if we Teaching Excellence Awards, the second year
may be reproduced without are to avert irreversible and catastrophic climate in a row an Auckland academic has won the
prior consent of the University
change. grand prize (see page 15).
of Auckland. All rights
reserved. © The University We must act with urgency and decisiveness What a grand prize it will be for society if
of Auckland 2020 in tackling the climate crisis. Reaching New some of the University’s best and brightest
Zealand’s goal of transitioning to a zero-carbon minds can help solve the world’s climate
economy by 2050 will require far-reaching challenges as well.
PROFESSOR DAWN FRESHWATER
Vice-Chancellor
Cover concept: Jacinda Torrance
Photo: Darryl Torckler
6 | Ingenio magazine
Cover Story
“We represent a group
where climate is very
strongly influencing ways
of life, and where the
survival of communities is
really threatened.”
– Professor David Noone, Climate
Science Initiative, University of Auckland
Few countries were ready for
the pandemic that’s hit the
world. So has the Covid-19
crisis taught us anything about
ameliorating the threats of
climate change? The world
is heading to be 1 degree
warmer in 2040, leading to
fires, floods, heatwaves and
scarcity of water and food.
Aotearoa has committed
Professor David Noone is the
to net-zero emissions of all
Buckley-Glavish Professor greenhouse gases, other than
of Climate Physics.
Photo: Elise Manahan
biogenic methane, by 2050.
But is that enough?
Finlay Macdonald
EYES ON THE talks to scientists at
the University,
BLUE
including those
involved in the
new Climate
Science
MARBLE
Initiative,
who are
committed
to Earth’s
survival.
auckland.ac.nz/ingenio | 7
W
hen Professor David Noone That perspective is behind the establishment
explains the hydrologic cycle of the University’s new Climate Science Professor Richard Easther
says riding a bike is “my
in lectures, he likes to illustrate Initiative, which David came to Auckland
reminder to myself that the
it with the famous image of to lead. Not only in the sense that we are all climate is changing”.
Earth, the “blue marble”, taken from space by connected to our planet and what happens as Photo: Elise Manahan
the Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972. Yes, there are its climate changes, but also that many scientific
conventional infographics that explain the way disciplines and fields of research must combine
water moves in and out of the atmosphere quite
well, but that first space ‘selfie’ really has it all.
“I’ve been using it for years and it’s very
effective,” says the Buckley-Glavish Professor of
Climate Physics. “One of the questions we ask ourselves as
“I often ask the question, when you look
at this thing, what do you see? You see the a department, a faculty and as a university
water cycle everywhere. You see the clouds,
Antarctica, the ocean is dark blue, you see the is what are the big questions we’re facing
landscape, the brown bits don’t have water,
the green bits do. You see all sorts of subtle as a society in the 21st century, and where
characteristics.”
More than that, though, you see home. can we make a difference?”
“When you look at that picture of Earth,
you think, yeah, that’s actually where I live. – Professor Richard Easther, Head of Physics, Faculty of Science
That’s my home. So there is that connection.
And I show that because that’s how I feel. I’m
delighted to share that with people.” and connect for us to understand and mitigate
The image reinforces the sense of fragility the effects of that change.
the blue marble faces with climate change. The potential to bring scientists and their
The headlines are about global warming and work together to create something greater
rising seas, but we are belatedly realising that than the sum of its parts was what attracted
climate change affects every aspect of society. A the Australian-born scientist from his previous
considered response to climate change requires position in the College of Earth, Ocean
a multi-faceted, audacious approach that needs and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State
to engage researchers across many disciplines. University. He detects a global shift in the
8 | Ingenio magazine
“It’s just been far too easy to kick the can down the road.”
– Associate Professor Jay Marlowe, Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies, Tāwhārau Whakaumu
climate science community from pure research has committed to net-zero emissions of all
towards “actionable science” that contributes greenhouse gases, other than biogenic methane,
tangibly to planning and policy. by 2050.
“There are voices across the Pacific, New “When I was in school back in the last
Zealand being central to that, that speak loudly millennium, climate change was a much simpler
together. And we represent a group where thing,” says David. “It was going to happen
climate is very strongly influencing ways of life, in the future. Now we have almost the reverse
and where the survival of communities in the problem. It’s vastly more complicated because
future is really threatened. it’s happening now, and we need solutions now.
“This part of the world is a hotspot for these “The priorities are shifting towards things
changes. One of the things I’m really excited that have time horizons, where actions could
about is what we can do here to grow a broad be taken, policies could be put in place, where
community, a collective alliance that, as well as solutions can be found quite quickly.”
being science-focused, is evidence-based and
rigorous.” IMPACT ON ASIA PACIFIC
The Climate Science Initiative, underwritten In the Pacific region, those solutions could be
by the Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Development required within three decades. A recent paper
Fund, aims to foster excellence in research and in the University of Oxford’s Forced Migration
focused expertise and training in quantitative Review referenced research that the Pacific Associate Professor Jay
climate science. It is working to facilitate Islands’ vulnerability to the impact of climate Marlowe says we need to
collaboration, encourage interdisciplinary change could see up to 1.7 million people in the examine the contemporary
research, train the next generation of leaders ways displacement in our
region migrate or be displaced by 2050.
region could occur as a
in climate science, and engage the public in Associate Professor Jay Marlowe is co-founder result of climate change.
climate science that informs public policy. of the newly established Centre for Asia Pacific
Professor Richard Easther, Head of Physics in Refugee Studies, Tāwhārau Whakaumu, a
the Faculty of Science, says the University has research centre within the Faculty of Education
an essential role in shaping future research. and Social Work. The centre is looking to
“One of the questions we ask ourselves as a develop responses to both conflict and climate-
department, a faculty and as a university,” he induced displacement across the Asia Pacific
says, “is what are the big questions we’re facing region, which he says aren’t necessarily distinct.
as a society in the 21st century, and where can
we make a difference? Also, what are the most
“If we think about climate change and
the movement of large numbers of people,
Centre for
intellectually challenging questions for us as particularly in cases where there might be scarce Asia Pacific
scientists and researchers? resources, it’s often the politics of difference Refugee Studies
“For physicists, climate is very much one of that justifies who gets access to resources and
those things … and using that understanding to who doesn’t.
predict how [the climate] is going to change as “Where it may have been about a lack of The Centre for Asia
we force it in particular directions is obviously arable land due to drought, suddenly access is Pacific Refugee Studies
critical in the 21st century. In the longer term, about your ethnicity or nationality or religion,” received set-up funding
it’s seeing how that knowledge can contribute to he says. from Potato Productions,
the formation of policy by experts, but also by “Social grouping or political opinions put a Singapore-based
society at large. you in certain groups and those groups either multi-media company.
“The other part of it, possibly outside of bestow particular privileges or make it so you’re
this initiative, but it’s definitely something we effectively excluded from having access. That This year it also received
have an eye on as physicists, is what can we do creates context for conflict.” support from the Vice-
to develop technologies that will mitigate the He says an example would be the Syrian Chancellor’s Strategic
impact of climate change or allow us to move civil war. Development Fund for
away from the use of fossil fuels?” “There was a major drought in the Fertile two masters students
The emphasis on research and knowledge Crescent that preceded that civil war, likewise in 2021. At the time
that has application in the real world is hardly recent conflicts within Somalia tell a similar tale.” of writing, another
unique to climate science, of course. But the Jay says close to 25 million people around significant investment
urgency with which that applicability is pursued the world were displaced last year as a result of was being finalised from
is perhaps what distinguishes the field. severe weather events. Seven of the countries an overseas donor.
The Climate Science Initiative research most at risk to such weather disasters were in
responds to urgent real-world goals. Aotearoa the Pacific.
auckland.ac.nz/ingenio | 9
Dr Jemaima Tiatia-Seath
says Pacific peoples forced
to relocate face a higher risk
of mental health and well-
being challenges.
He says many of the climate-change Jemaima says Pacific peoples forced to
hazards that could displace communities in relocate face a higher risk of mental health
the Pacific Islands are slow-onset events, but and well-being challenges brought on by the
mean we should examine the contemporary stress of climate-induced migration, including
ways displacement in our region could occur. cultural loss.
“Salinification of the water, rising sea level, “If they move to New Zealand, our health
drying out of land. We need to consider at system needs to be prepared to deal with that,”
what point these things cross the threshold she says.
and create a danger to life? What point do If border restrictions are ongoing as a result
we ascertain that there aren’t solutions within of Covid-19, that will add an extra level of
a country to respond to it?” stress to those wanting to flee the effects of
Jay says when people start crossing borders, cyclones, floods or drought.
or even within borders, it creates political “Climate change has a direct impact on the
tension. He says countries such as Fiji are mental health of those in the Pacific. With the
taking proactive steps to anticipate how, if increased frequency and severity of natural
coastal communities have to move, it can be disasters, there’s a compounding effect.
done in a way that doesn’t create conflict. “Natural disasters also disrupt access to
In 2019, the United Nations recognised public health services and can obstruct access to
that in situations where sending people back medication and care.
to their own country would violate their “Take, for example, Cyclone Heta in 2004,
lives, receiving states have an obligation to the impact of which is still being felt by
protect them. Niueans. There’s the historical trauma of loss
“But it’s just been far too easy to kick the for some, as well as people’s livelihoods and the
can down the road. We’re coming to the infrastructure that was destroyed.”
point where we can’t just keep kicking the “It’s also important to frame research in a way
can, there are too many cans in front of us that makes sense to Pacific peoples.
and we need to start picking them up.” “For instance, if there is climate change-
induced migration, and a family must uproot,
EFFECTS ON MENTAL HEALTH they would be leaving behind their loved ones
One issue still being picked up is the effect of and the burial grounds of their blood, their
climate change on mental health. being, their everything.
Dr Jemaima Tiatia-Seath is Co-head of “Their being is completely embedded in
School, Te Wānanga o Waipapa, School the land and with their ancestors … for most,
of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies. She there’s spiritual and historical connection.
began a three-year project in 2019, funded “That’s important to most Pacific peoples
by the Health Research Council, looking at and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to
how best New Zealand can help support the establish that there will be an impact upon
mental health and well-being needs of Pacific people’s well-being in relation to such
climate-change migrants. disconnection and loss.”
10 | Ingenio magazine“Climate change has a direct impact on the mental
health of those in the Pacific.”
– Dr Jemaima Tiatia-Seath, Co-head of School, Te Wānanga o Waipapa, School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies
WATER RESOURCES DELICATE CONNECTIONS
Another issue in the Pacific is access to water. David Noone’s research focuses on the
David Noone says there are “a couple of really water cycle and how land surfaces and
dominant areas where there’s a critical need for the atmosphere work together – a deep
work, and actionable outcomes are needed”. connection that he says is still poorly
Climate change is already being felt not just understood.
on low-lying islands and atolls of the Pacific In turn, there’s a delicate connection
region, but also on higher mountainous islands. between the water moving between land and
“Water availability is remarkably scarce, atmosphere and various other greenhouse
and the quality of water therefore becomes gases, including carbon dioxide and methane.
important,” says David. Better understanding of these interactions
“There’s inundation by seawater, which will mean better data on which to base
influences water supplies, variability in rainfall climate models, and therefore our ability to
and shifting rainfall patterns. There are predict and mitigate the impact of change.
issues associated with all of that. Ecosystems Richard Easther points out that climate
themselves tend to filter clean water. If those models are not, as some may believe, simply
have been degraded by all sorts of different best guesses about what will happen in the
uses or lack of ability of ecosystems to adapt future. They are built on the kind of deep
to the new environment, again the water is scientific research already underway, and
threatened.” which the Climate Science Initiative and
The other critical area for research is close to the various disciplines it embraces aim to
home – commercial agriculture and the likely accelerate.
impact of drought and water shortages, at the “What you’re doing is fundamental Interesting
same time as the population is increasing and, physics,” he says. “Equations that describe
with it, the demand for food. fluids and radiation, the way the radiation tree fact
As with sea-level rise and weather events impinges on the atmosphere, how it interacts
in the Pacific, we are already witnessing the with the molecules it finds there. Associate Professor
tangible impact of climate change. David “There’s quantum mechanics, there’s Anthony Fowler,
recalls a lake near his hometown of Ballarat, thermodynamics, there’s fluid mechanics. from the School of
north-west of Melbourne, that dried up a few These are part of the bedrock understanding Environment, says kauri
years ago. Similarly, Cape Town in South Africa of the world that physics provides … The trees can tell us a lot
essentially ran out of water in 2018. challenge is being able to implement those as about past droughts.
“These are quite shocking events,” David computer code in a way that’s tractable, that “I started looking at
says. “How we use water has to become allows us to get granular information that’s kauri tree rings as a
increasingly more efficient – despite the fact reliable over a long period of time.” proxy for drought in
that as temperatures rise, evaporation rates rise Take clouds, for instance. We know that Auckland as a masters
very quickly. There are real challenges there.” as the world heats, water is picked up from student,” he says. “Kauri
Associate Professor Anthony Fowler, from the the oceans more quickly, which forms clouds, tend to lay down quite
School of Environment, agrees but cautions which reflect radiation back into space … wide rings in dry years,
against attributing Auckland’s current water how do these feedback loops affect rainfall but if the drought goes
shortage entirely to climate change. He says patterns, regional temperature variation and over two years then you
few lessons have been learned since Auckland’s sea-level rise? The uncertainties inherent have severe stress.
drought of 1994. (See sidebar, page 13.) within these interactions, and indeed “As well as examining
“I’m not saying that we shouldn’t panic at within the differences between an average the rings of trees [a
all. I did my PhD on climate change impacts 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees Celsius warming, field known as dendro-
on water resources in the Auckland region mean the entire concept of climate change climatology] I look at the
some time ago, so it’s been a concern of mine must be seen in the round, not as some anatomy of their cells.
for a long time. The climate-change scenarios inevitable linear process. Cell structure can reveal
are for a decrease in rainfall and the record Working at this crossroads of radiation, a history of drought over
for the past few decades is consistent with that. clouds, atmospheric and oceanic circulation the last several thousand
In addition, we have increasing temperatures, and the hydrological cycle is Dr Tra Dinh, years.”
which increases evaporation. We’re right to be also of the Physics Department, whose
concerned.” primary fields of research include cloud
auckland.ac.nz/ingenio | 11behaviour – specifically what are known as guide planning and policy. Melissa has led the
Dr Melissa Bowen says over “cloud-resolving models” or CRMs. These oceanographic project, a key component of
90 percent of the heat going are relatively high-resolution models used to which is measuring ocean temperatures.
into the climate system ends
up in the ocean.
describe cloud properties, and are useful on a “The ocean is really the flywheel in the climate
Photo: Billy Wong regional, but not global, scale. system because it holds so much heat,” she says.
Global climate models (GCMs) differ “Over 90 percent of the heat that’s going into
in that they are lower resolution but have the climate system ends up in the ocean, and
been invaluable in advancing our ability to we’re actually able to measure that now.”
understand and predict the Earth’s climate over Key to those measurements are robotic
longer time scales. floats that can be programmed to descend to
Says Tra: “Given that GCMs cannot resolve depths of up to 2,000 metres – roughly half
clouds explicitly, the impacts of clouds on the overall distance to the ocean floor, and the
atmospheric radiation remain the largest source half that is changing the fastest as a result of
of uncertainty across our predictions of global global warming. It is also, logically, the section
warming.” of ocean most in contact with the atmosphere,
Using a combination of both models, from where it is drawing the heat. Within ten
Tra studies how atmospheric radiation and years, says Melissa, there will be floats that can
circulation affect clouds (and vice versa) at go to the bottom to measure the darkest part of
both cloud scales and global scales. Ultimately, the abyss, too.
her research will lead to improvements in the Melissa’s focus is oceanic circulation – the
representation of clouds within the global large waves within the ocean, not the kind on
model. At the same time, she is studying how top that you surf on – and how they influence
the water cycle changes in response to global the interaction of heat between the atmosphere
warming – using theoretical and mathematical and the water, and how that affects climate
tools to quantify how atmospheric radiation variability. “We focus a lot on trends,” she
governs the strength of atmospheric circulation, says. “But actually there are some really big
which drives condensation of water vapour and fluctuations that happen too.”
subsequent precipitation. Aside from the oceans’ overall warming, there
“Once such physical and mathematical are specific changes occurring.
frameworks are established, they can be used to “What we’ve seen with the waves is that as
predict with confidence how precipitation and they are coming across, they speed up the East
our water resources will change with warming,” Australian Current, which is putting warm
she explains. water into the Tasman, so preconditioning us
Dr Melissa Bowen, from the School of for marine heatwaves.
Environment, has been immersed in the Deep “But we do also think the ocean is modulating
South Challenge, a government initiative the heat transferred to the atmosphere through
bringing together physical science, predictive the dynamics of ocean circulation.”
climate modelling and social science to help Melissa says Auckland (and New Zealand in
12 | Ingenio magazinegeneral) is ideally placed to make significant
contributions to the global network of research
AUCKLAND’S WATER SHORTAGE
F
in the field.
“It’s great because the core group of us rom November 2019 to May 2020
can get together and discuss physical climate Auckland received 40 percent less
processes. There is so much climate research rainfall than normal. The long-range
going on at the University, everyone has it as a forecast predicts well below average
strand within their different disciplines because rainfall for spring and bans on outdoor use
it is so integral now, and I really see the Climate of water may remain until mid-2021.
Science Initiative as a forum to facilitate Associate Professor Anthony Fowler says
communication and collaboration.” there are a number of factors that have led
Tra Dinh echoes that sentiment. to Auckland’s water crisis. Climate change
“Collaboration among scientists in climate is a contributor, but it’s complex.
science and related fields will allow us to “I get a little annoyed by people talking
accelerate progress in research and promote our about 200-year droughts. Yes, there was an
research in New Zealand and worldwide.” intense drought this summer, but it was
Richard Easther also sees the importance about three months. The water supply
of the centre as a conduit for much-needed system is supposed to cope with two years
expertise as climate science becomes central to of dryness, not fall over when you have three
planning and management at national, regional months of drought.”
and international levels. He says in the 1980s there was a major
“There’s no other big university between study done that presented options on how
us and the equator,” he points out. “As a best to maintain Auckland’s water supply.
Pacific country, we engage with a large slice “We were going to build another
of the world. And so part of our brief is that reservoir in the Hunua Ranges, in the lower
we generate the people – for example, every Mangatāwhiri, but that’s never been built.
local council in New Zealand is going to need There was also a scheme planned for the
people who understand climate science. They’re west of Auckland, where riverflows in
not necessarily going to be researchers, but winter would be pumped into storage for
we’re going to be generating a deeper pool of use over summer. That scheme was quite
expertise to draw on.” a revolutionary idea for Auckland, but then
As Richard puts it, we have already “cooked” the 1994 drought came along.”
a certain amount of change into the climate He says that’s when a lower-ranked option
system, so we need to accept the world as it now from the study – drawing on the Waikato
is and will be. It’s one of the reasons he rides a River – was elevated to the top of the list.
bike – partly because it makes sense in Auckland “When you have a water crisis like in
and keeps him fit, but also because it’s “my 1994, you look for emergency solutions. The
reminder to myself that in fact the climate is Waikato river was the emergency solution.
changing”. “Then the drought broke and we had an
The more urgent questions now revolve absolute deluge, yet politicians still wanted
around adaptation and preparation, and to build the pipeline to the Waikato river. It
what kind of world we want our children and was a fait accompli even though it wasn’t on
grandchildren to inhabit. One of the dangers, top of the recommended list previously.”
he agrees, is the sense of pessimism – the In 2002, the pipeline to Waikato was put in.
“doomerism” – that arises from relentless “That’s where Council wants to go again.
negative reportage about worst-case-scenario Summer-time pumping of the Waikato is a
predictions. bad idea for Auckland as well as Waikato ...
“Because all of this doesn’t mean there aren’t and will cause political angst in the future.”
solvable problems,” says Richard. Three years ago Anthony, a hydro-
Science is innately optimistic, anyway, at least climatologist, warned Auckland could
in the sense that seeking solutions to problems expect a decade of dry summers. He
is its essence. And, as David Noone suggests, says the care of water requires careful
if blanket coverage of climate change inspires assessment of historical records and the
young people to stick with science at school and creation of contingency plans.
into tertiary study, that would be a good thing. “Auckland is a growing city. We’re always
“It sometimes seems that science is somehow needing more supplies. You have to build
external to the human psyche,” he says. “I think capacity. This city shouldn’t have a water
we’re all scientists, it’s just that some people get supply problem related to climate change.”
degrees in it. Everybody is inquisitive. We’re all He says if supply keeps well ahead of the
in this together. That’s one blue marble that we demand curve, and people keep conserving
stare at from space. It’s not the scientific Earth water, it partly buys insurance for any future
and the other Earth. It’s one.” climate surprises.
auckland.ac.nz/ingenio | 13News with transport costs and family commitments.
“Students are happy to finally have their own
dedicated space, which they know is all theirs.
Many don’t have study spaces at home.”
But just as the students were getting to know
each other and their lecturers, along came
lockdown in March and again mid-August.
“To be honest my new South Campus role
hasn’t turned out quite how I envisioned it,”
PRIDE OF laughs Rennie. “Covid-19 has meant I can’t
go out into the South Auckland community,
THE SOUTH connect with people and host them on campus.
But the opportunities will come soon, I hope.”
The opening gala planned for April didn’t
Head of the South Auckland
Fits and starts for Tai Tonga in 2020 happen, but Rennie is looking ahead to 2021.
but already a lot of love “We’ll do a one-year anniversary,” he says.
T
Campus Rennie Atfield-
As well as EDSW students, Tai Tonga has
Douglas says Te Papa
Ako o Tai Tonga is a very he opening of the South Auckland New Start learners and those doing the Tertiary
welcoming place. campus, Te Papa Ako o Tai Tonga, Foundation Certificate in preparation for
Photo: Billy Wong in Semester One was a big moment university. “The goal is to offer other courses
for the University. It’s the first time it here when the time is right,” says Rennie.
has had a dedicated campus for the community, He says there’s been real benefit in the
after offering the Education and Social Work campus being small, with shared facilities.
(EDSW) programme on the Manukau Institute “That’s been a blessing in disguise because
of Technology (MIT) campus for 20 years. students and staff interact daily in the kitchen
Head of the South Auckland campus Rennie space, for example, and it seems to have really
Atfield-Douglas says the Manukau location helped embed the welcoming culture we have
has been great for students, who may struggle there. We have a very whānau feel.”
NEW ROLE FOR vice-chancellors, the senior leaders from each
university, and other key groups.
JENNY DIXON “The Provost is responsible for the
secretariat, which is housed at the University
A familiar face to many alumni is of Birmingham, UK,” she explains. “There
are multiple time zones to navigate for virtual
taking on a new challenge
P
meetings which will be quite a challenge to
rofessor Jenny Dixon, Deputy Vice- manage from Aotearoa.”
Chancellor (Strategic Engagement) is Jenny’s role at the University for the past eight
Professor Jenny Dixon is leaving the University. years has been to lead international, alumni and
the new Provost for Jenny is taking up the role of Provost development, government and city relations.
Universitas 21. for Universitas 21, which is a global network More recently her portfolio has been extended
Photo: Elise Manahan of 27 research-intensive universities, to include marketing and communications.
including Auckland. The role of She has also had oversight of the North Asia
Provost is similar to that of a chief Centre for Asia Pacific Excellence and Auckland
executive. Jenny is replacing Confucius Institute. She has represented
Professor Bairbre Redmond the University in a number of international
(University College Dublin), networks including the Association of Pacific
who was the first Provost of Rim Universities, and knows Universitas 21
Universitas 21. well, having chaired the U21 Senior Leaders’
The aim of the network Group for four years. But 2021 will bring a new
is to share and collaborate set of challenges. “It’s a very unusual time to be
across borders, among the taking over as Provost, given current and likely
universities’ 1 million future restrictions on travel,” she says.
students and 200,000 “Like its member universities, the operation
staff. Jenny will of the network has been really challenged by
work closely recent events. But U21 is engaged in a number
with the Chair of creative responses and looking ahead to
and executive facilitating new activities and business.”
committee of Jenny takes up the role in January 2021 for a
presidents and term of three years, based in Auckland.TOP TEACHER
‘OUTSTANDING’
Rhys Jones teaches Māori health to
Auckland medical students
T
he Prime Minister’s Supreme
Award in the 2020 National
Tertiary Teaching Excellence
Awards went to Dr Rhys Jones
(Ngāti Kahungunu) from the Faculty
of Medical and Health Sciences in
September. It’s the second year in a row a
University of Auckland educator has won;
Andrew Eberhard (Business) did in 2019.
Rhys, Co-Director of Teaching
at Te Kupenga Hauora Māori, was
described as an “outstanding champion
of teaching and learning who weaves
values from te ao Māori, kaupapa Māori
frameworks, Indigenous peoples’ human
rights and medicine”.
But Rhys says teaching didn’t come
naturally. “I’m an introvert, so it was a Dr Rhys Jones won the Prime Minister’s 2020 National
challenge for me in the early days. I’m not Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award at an online
someone who likes the limelight.” ceremony in September. Photo: Elise Manahan
ANOTHER The research has been adopted around the
world and Jane now leads a major research MORE NEWS &
HONOUR FOR programme into the school-age outcomes
of babies at risk of low blood-sugar levels.
RESEARCH
JANE HARDING “We’re assessing the long-term outcomes after
randomised trials of treatments given around
Keep up to date
with University news
auckland.ac.nz/all-
The 2019 Rutherford Medal winner the time of birth, from two years to as long as
UOA-news-stories
50 years later.”
adds Dame to her title
I
Jane takes great joy in her work.
nternationally renowned neonatologist “It’s rewarding to watch
Distinguished Professor Jane Harding the next generation of
became a Dame Companion of the New researchers grow and
Zealand Order of Merit in the 2020 develop and, of course,
Queen’s Birthday Honours. to know that our work
Jane’s research at the Liggins Institute has led will help babies and
to paradigm changes in the care and treatment their families in the
of babies before and after birth, across the future.
globe. “There are many
“Jane has always been a trailblazer,” says the great up-and-coming Distinguished Professor Dame
Jane Harding: a trailblazer in
director of the Liggins Insitute, Professor Frank researchers at the
neonatal health.
Bloomfield. Liggins Institute. I’m
“Her reputation means she is in great demand sure they will be much
around the world as the leader in her field.” better than me.”
Jane’s research on the impact on brain
development of low blood sugar in premature
babies led to a simple, inexpensive oral
treatment with dextrose gel that has kept many
babies with their mothers rather than sending
them to neonatal nurseries.
It has improved breastfeeding rates, with
potential benefits for long-term well-being.
auckland.ac.nz/ingenio | 15News
PROVEN NURSING
QUALITY
University awarded $18.6m to train
nurse practitioners
T
he quality of the School of Nursing
has been acknowledged with a sector. They can deliver the full range
$18.6 million contract from the of primary care services in a similar way Dr Julia Slark, Head of the
Ministry of Health to lead the to general practitioners (GPs), including School of Nursing.
training and placement of nurse practitioners prescribing medication and making referrals
(NPs) in New Zealand. The contract replaces an to medical specialists. Their role contributes to
existing pilot due to end in December. addressing the shortfall of GPs, particularly in
The new funding enables the programme to parts of rural and regional New Zealand.
support the transition of nurse practitioners into “With the additional funding to train more
employment. The programme will be delivered Nurse Practitioners over the next four years,
in partnership with the University of Otago, and an emphasis on equity, we expect the
Northland primary health entity Mahitahi opportunity to deliver healthcare back in the
Hauora and Auckland Pacific health provider community will be particularly attractive to
The Fono. Māori and Pacific students,” says Dr Julia Slark,
“This is an acknowledgment of the high Head of the School of Nursing. “There are so
standard of teaching and calibre of graduates many employment opportunities in health for
delivered by our School of Nursing,” says anyone with strong connections or a desire to
Professor John Fraser, Dean of the Faculty of serve communities outside of the main centres.”
Medical and Health Sciences. Read the full story: auckland.ac.nz/
Nurse practitioners work across the health nurse-practitioners-contract
SET TO TACKLE is the CCRC’s Chief Commissioner.
Morag, whose legal practice has had a
IMPORTANT TASKS strong focus on healthcare law, says being
the Health and Disability Commissioner
aligns closely with her passion for health
Alumnae both add ‘commissioner’ and disability law. “I’m excited and
to their CVs privileged to take on the role and I’m fully
T
committed to promoting and protecting
wo University of Auckland the rights of the users of health and
alumnae have been appointed disability services.”
to significant government roles. She says her past roles sit well with
Professor of Indigenous Studies her latest at the Health and Disability
Tracey McIntosh (Ngāi Tūhoe) has Commission. “They’ve taught me the
become a commissioner for the Criminal importance of fair, timely, transparent
Professor Tracey McIntosh,
Cases Review Commission (CCRC). and culturally appropriate processes, left, and former law lecturer
Morag McDowell (LLM, 1997), a coroner where people are engaged and given the Morag McDowell: a focus
in the Auckland region since 2007, is the opportunity to be heard.” on justice in their roles.
new Health and Disability Commissioner.
Tracey is co-head of Te Wānanga o
Waipapa in the Faculty of Arts and is
also the Chief Science Advisor for the
Ministry of Social Development. Her
research field includes incarceration,
particularly of Māori and Indigenous
peoples, inequality and social justice.
Tracey has been appointed as one of five
inaugural commissioners to the CCRC,
an independent Crown Entity set up to
investigate possible miscarriages of
justice and will serve a four-year term.
Colin Carruthers QC, also an alumnus,
16 | Ingenio magazineIN THE DEEP END
Ōtāhuhu opera singer’s artistry
rewarded with a rare opportunity
T
enor Manase Latu is set to join the
Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann
Young Artist Development
Programme in New York. The
School of Music graduate is the first singer of
Tongan heritage – and one of just two of New
Zealand or Pacific origins – to gain a place on the
prestigious two-year programme, which attracts
world-class applicants from around the globe.
Manase will be joined on the programme’s
2020-21 roster by another former University of
Auckland student, New Zealand-born Samoan
bass-baritone Samson Setu. The singers have
been friends since they met as voice students
at the University and performed together in
Auckland-based quartet The Shades.
“I was offered the place within an hour of
auditioning and … I was shocked,” Manase says.
“I took about a month to accept because I was
just trying to come to grips with how big this
opportunity was. Then I told myself to jump in
the deep end.” Manase Latu has been studying at the
He has been studying at the Royal College Royal College of Music in London, but came
of Music in London, but came home ahead of home because of the pandemic.
the borders closing. “My time there gave me the
chance to concentrate on languages as well as
the singing. It’s a demanding course vocally and
physically, but so worthwhile. At Auckland there “I was going to buy a chicken panini from the school
was a lot of academic writing, which is beneficial, tuck shop and the choir conductor pointed to me and
but being in a conservatory model at the Royal said, ‘Hey, you look like you can sing!’”
College hones in on performance, language and
diction, and it was great to be immersed in that.” “I saw these people sing and was inspired to get
He says he knows this opportunity will involved. That snowball effect is driving the next
open doors. The Metropolitan Opera, aka generation of Pacific singers,” he says. “Being
‘the Met’, is North America’s largest classical Tongan, I grew up in the church and music is
music organisation. Founded in 1883, it brings so embedded in our culture. I grew up in a very
together leading singers, conductors, composers musical background without really knowing it.”
and musicians and has hosted performances by His first foray into formal singing was joining
some of the greatest artists. It established the his school choir at Saint Kentigern College after
Lindemann programme in 1980 to identify and a chance encounter with the conductor. “I was
develop extraordinary young talent. walking around one lunchtime going to buy a
He is “excited and nervous” about the chicken panini from the school tuck shop and the
opportunity to mingle with leading opera figures choir conductor pointed to me and said, ‘Hey,
and, in his second year, to perform on the Met’s you look like you can sing!’
main stage. It’s the latest achievement for the “I thought, ok, why not, lunch can wait. So I
24-year-old from Ōtāhuhu, who graduated in went with him into this music room and sang a
2018 with honours in classical performance couple of songs.”
(voice) under the tutelage of Dr Te Oti Rakena. That led to an invitation to rehearsals and so
“Manase came to work with me when he began his road to a singing career.
was only 16,” says Te Oti. “He had a young “So that just popped out of nowhere and
instrument with a beautiful free quality, but what changed the course of my life,” says Manase.
distinguished him was his artistry, which was “Just being in the right place, at the right time,
mature and refined for his age. It was clear he with the right people.
was on a trajectory to the international stage.” “That’s what I think about getting into this
Manase has drawn inspiration from the likes programme, too; everything aligned. It was luck.
of Kiri Te Kanawa, Jonathan Lemalu and, more But luck is when opportunity meets preparation.
recently, alumnus Moses Mackay and Pene and A lot of hard work has gone into this, too.”
Amitai Pati of classical trio Sol3 Mio. Story: Pete Barnao
auckland.ac.nz/ingenio | 17Feature
“This has felt very much
like living in history and
having our team be a
really key part of it.”
Kate Hannah, executive director, Te Pūnaha Matatini
T
he written proposal to set up
Te Pūnaha Matatini (TPM) has an
eerie prescience to it. The national
Centre of Research Excellence,
hosted by the University of Auckland, is a
transdisciplinary centre whose name means ‘the
place where many faces meet’. It was founded
to apply complexity science ‘to the critical issues
of our time’, with a focus on communication
and connection to government and the private
sector, and launched in 2015.
“You could have added ‘and then we’ll tackle
Covid-19’ to the end of the first paragraph,”
jokes TPM’s director, Professor Shaun Hendy.
Shaun and his colleague, Associate Professor
Siouxsie Wiles, have become household names
thanks to their science communication in the
media during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But they haven’t been working alone.
Around two dozen TPM researchers from this
University and around New Zealand have
worked across multiple areas in response to
Covid-19. That includes PhD students who
suspended their studies to be involved in the
project and postgraduate students whose
employment had been put on hold.
Their models predicting the spread of the
virus contributed to the swift initial lockdown
in March and informed the alert levels used in
response to the outbreak in August. They have
DOING THE
also contributed to modelling hospital capacity,
genome sequencing and tracking the spread of
disinformation.
“This has felt very, very much like living
NUMBERS
in history and having our team be a really
key part of it,” says TPM executive director
Kate Hannah.
TPM’s involvement with Covid-19 began
early in the year.
“Siouxsie Wiles is one of our superstars, and
The faces of Shaun Hendy and Siouxsie Wiles have she’d been talking about Covid-19 in the media
become very familiar since March. They’re just two since January,” explains Shaun. Siouxsie and
names in a national group of dedicated scientists Professor Michael Baker of the University of
working on the Covid-19 crisis. Jonathan Burgess Otago had been fronting the Government’s
communication about the pandemic, and Shaun
talks to some of those behind the scenes at Te Pūnaha wanted to ensure they had good information.
Matatini, a Centre of Research Excellence. He put Siouxsie in touch with the Prime
Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor
Juliet Gerrard (Faculty of Science), and was
pulled into the middle of the whole response.
18 || Ingenio
18 Ingenio magazine
magazineListening to Siouxsie talk about the epidemic, for the healthcare system. Associate Professor
Shaun started to wonder whether TPM’s annual in Statistics Ilze Ziedins worked with Dr Mike
hui planned for April would go ahead. O’Sullivan and Associate Professor Cameron
“I put some data from Italy into a basic Walker from the Faculty of Engineering to
epidemic model,” says Shaun. “I went ‘okay … model the effect on hospitals if the virus spread
we’re not going to be holding our hui in April’.” through New Zealand. “It was this one moment
TPM’s catchphrase of “data, knowledge, where you bring all your knowledge and
insight” couldn’t have been more relevant. expertise to bear,” Ilze says.
“At that point I realised this was going to be
something really serious. What I’d calculated
– if it was anywhere near right – was an
important thing to start communicating.”
Peter-Lucas Jones from northern iwi
“More complex models allow
Te Aupōuri was present at the TPM board
meeting at which Shaun presented his
you to answer specific policy
modelling and communicated the decision for questions, like what if we shut down
TPM to focus its work on Covid-19.
“Peter-Lucas told the story of Te Aupōuri’s Ponsonby?” – Dr Oliver Maclaren, Faculty of Engineering
experience in the 1918 influenza pandemic
and the mass graves,” remembers Kate. “It was “We looked at what the loads would be on
really profound to be reminded of it. We came intensive care units and in wards.”
away from hearing that, knowing this was the Ilze is thankful that we haven’t reached
only thing we needed to be working on.” the point where their work has been needed. Far left: Professor Shaun
Statistician Andrew Sporle (Ngāti Apa, Intensive care specialists advised the team that Hendy has led the Covid-19
modelling. Below: Members
Rangitāne, Te Rarawa) was brought in to co- the surge capacity that they had modelled was
of Te Pūnaha Matatini.
lead work focusing on at-risk communities. not sustainable for extended periods. Back, from L to R: Dr Emily
“This research directly informed the iwi-led During lockdown, questions were arriving Harvey, Dr Oliver Maclaren,
pandemic response that kept Covid-19 out of from the Government with one-hour deadlines. Associate Professor Ilze
at-risk communities during the first outbreak,” “The first question was around breaking Ziedins, Andrew Sporle.
Front L to R: Professor Shaun
says Kate. “Because as soon as Shaun said we things into waves,” says Shaun.
Hendy, Kate Hannah,
could have tens of thousands of people die in “There had been some work done in the Associate Professor Siouxsie
New Zealand, I knew it would be vastly more United Kingdom about mitigation versus Wiles, Dr Dion O’Neale.
impactful on Māori and Pacific peoples.” suppression. Suppression is basically going hard Photo: Billy Wong
This prediction also had big implications to try to contain things. Mitigation is going
Dr Oliver Maclaren is in
a group using network-
based models to help
answer questions that can’t
be answered with simple
models.
auckland.ac.nz/ingenio | 19TPM’s work had previously predicted a much
“It was this one moment where higher infection fatality rate for Māori and
Pacific peoples, and a new infection in South
you bring all your knowledge and Auckland was cause for concern.
Alongside getting prompt projections to the
expertise to bear.” Government, their more complex models were
quickly fired up again, and work began on
– Ilze Ziedins, Associate Professor in Statistics genomic sequencing to see whether community
transmission was from the same or different
just hard enough to keep things within your strains of the virus.
hospital capacity. Shaun says TPM’s involvement in the
“We got asked if we could produce the Covid-19 response demonstrated the value of
New Zealand version of that in an hour. It turns having a rapid-response team of scientists ready
out we could, with about a minute to spare.” to go at short notice. As a New Zealand-wide
In order to respond to more nuanced centre, it was equipped to handle a complex and
questions, a team led by Dr Dion O’Neale, a fast-moving national challenge.
lecturer in physics in the Faculty of Science, has “On the one hand, you can tell the sort of
built a statistical network of everyone in New Forrest Gump-like story of how we just had the
Zealand, linking people by dwelling, workplace right conversations at the right time and then
and school, and with attributes such as age, found ourselves in this position,” reflects Shaun.
ethnicity and sex. Their data was drawn mainly “On the other hand, we’ve been building a
from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) national community at Te Pūnaha Matatini
research database created by Stats NZ. to do exactly this and we’ve put emphasis on
“Individuals are different,” says Dr Emily communicating our work and working with
Harvey, an honorary academic in physics who policymakers.”
is also part of TPM. “They have quite different Shaun says the Covid-19 crisis has shown
ways that they’re getting exposed to things, and the Government and its agencies need to have
different people they’d interact with.” access to trusted expertise.
Dion, Emily, Dr Oliver Maclaren and “Some of us will be working on Covid-19
Steven Turnbull have used the computing power until March 2021 and beyond, so we’ll keep the
of the New Zealand eScience Infrastructure models active and going.
(NeSI) to run contagion processes on their “I’m hoping that’ll be in perpetuity so that if
five-million-node network. in the next 20 years we have another pandemic,
“Network-based models help you answer there is a set of New Zealand-specific modelling
questions that you can’t address with simple tools. We didn’t have that when we started this
models,” says Oliver, a lecturer in engineering time round.”
science and the James & Hazel Lord Emerging
Faculty Fellow.
“For rapid-response stuff, simple models are UNI-WIDE EFFORTS
very useful, but more complex models allow you As well as the significant work
to answer specific policy questions, like what if done by scientists at Te Pūnaha
we shut down Ponsonby?” Matatini, there are many others at
the University helping battle the
pandemic. For example, thousands of
AUGUST CLUSTER Covid-19 tests have been conducted
The call that came on Tuesday 11 August in partnership with the Auckland
was the one they had been standing by for: a District Health Board as part of the
positive case with no known link to the border Auckland Academic Health Alliance.
had been found. TPM was back on the job Seven projects from the University
by 6pm, with Associate Professor Alex James were also awarded funding from
of the University of Canterbury getting the the MBIE Covid-19 Innovation
first modelling results back to officials by Acceleration Fund, one of which was
7.30pm. Alex’s initial estimates of the size of to Professor Shaun Hendy. Others
the outbreak were used directly in the Cabinet include Dr Yvonne Anderson in
meeting that evening. the Faculty of Medical and Health
“We were prepared for this,” says Shaun. “We Sciences (reuse of PPE), Dr Nikki
had recently held a workshop in Wellington Moreland for Covid-19 antibody
between the key government agencies in the testing, and Associate Professor Nick
Covid-19 response and our modelling teams. Gant for monitoring large groups of
There was a period where both Alex and I were people, such as in rest homes.
hoping it was a drill, because this was one of the Read more: auckland.ac.nz/MB-Covid-
worst-case scenarios that we’d considered.” projects
20 | Ingenio magazineYou can also read
