Top Bay marine ecologist honoured for Rena work

Top Tauranga marine ecologist Professor Chris Battershill and his colleague Professor David Schiel have been jointly named Science Communicator of the Year.

Professor Battershill, chair of Coastal Science and Head of the Coastal Marine Field Station at University of Waikato, and Canterbury University marine scientist Professor Schiel received their award from the NZ Association of Scientists today.

Presented at the Royal Society of NZ in Wellington, the award was for their collaborative efforts in communicating the complexities of science surrounding the Rena grounding and oil spill off Tauranga in 2011.

The Rena incident was one of New Zealand's greatest marine environmental disasters, affecting habitats, kai moana, tourism, fishing, recreation and the well-being of the Bay of Plenty region, Professor Battershill said.

Right from the outset, both he and Professor Schiel became the public faces of the Rena oil spill, reporting on the clean-up effectiveness from an environmental perspective and the longer term consequences.

Over a period of 30 months, they gave over 100 talks at numerous marae, public meetings and conferences and also dozens of media interviews.

Recognised as one of New Zealand's top marine ecologists, Professor Battershill said he was honoured to receive the award.

"The grounding of the Rena on Otaiti (Astrolabe Reef) led to a remarkable chain of events that continues to have an impact on the national psyche. The outrage expressed locally and nationally was considerable.

"It quickly became apparent the public wanted to know what was being done to minimise environmental impacts and what the likely consequences of the oil spill and the debris contamination would be.

"In the early days, many of the meetings were quite heated as people vented their outrage about the oil spill. Over time the public became increasingly well informed and grew interested in following the science behind the impact and the environmental recovery phases of the incident," he said.

Professor Battershill said it was also important to the citizens involved in the clean-up operation that they knew their efforts were worthwhile and would lead to quick recovery of the marine environment.

Professors Battershill and Schiel devoted the years following the Rena incident to communication and follow-up about the science related to environmental recovery from the oil spill.

In doing so, they greatly served iwi and the general public in the Bay of Plenty, as well as satisfying a national craving for impartial and high quality information about the oil spill effects, the award citation said

Both Professors agree the public and media have benefited from having top quality scientists front recent disasters in New Zealand.
"This has helped to thoroughly explain events in understandable terms to every audience and help allay fears about potential consequences from that disaster."

The University of Waikato's Coastal Marine Field Station in Tauranga has experienced unprecedented growth in research demand since opening in 2011.

This has created significant opportunities for students to be involved in crucial research which influences science at a global level. Over the last few years, Professor Battershill has had over 20 Masters and PhD students under his tutelage.

As part of the University's Environmental Research Institute, the coastal science team are involved in teaching, coastal and marine research and discovery, and environmental monitoring.

Researchers work in collaboration with industry, government agencies and Crown Research Institutes across a number of areas including biosecurity, coastal sustainability, ecology and agri-science.

The NZAS is an independent body that stands for and advocates for science and scientists in New Zealand and endeavours to increase public awareness of science.