Two UC academics honoured for outstanding contribution to science
Published by Communications and Development
24 November 2009
Two University of Canterbury academics have been honoured at the annual Royal Society of New Zealand science awards.
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Professor Peter Steel |
Professor Peter Steel (Chemistry) was presented with the prestigious Hector Medal for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of the chemical sciences. Professor Matthew Turnbull (Biological Sciences) was awarded the Roger Slack Award in Plant Biology for his outstanding contribution to the study of plant biology.
Also honoured at the awards held in Auckland on 18 November was UC alumnus Dr Richard Garland, Managing Director of New Zealand Pharmaceuticals Ltd who received the Thomson Medal for outstanding and inspirational leadership in the management of science.
Professor Steel received the Hector Medal for his “world renowned research in the field of metallosupramolecular chemistry leading to potential applications in medicine and nanotechnology”.
Metallosupramolecular chemistry is concerned with the synthesis and properties of large assemblies of organic molecules held together by metal atoms. These macromolecules can behave as nanoscale flasks within which one can isolate individual molecules. The research has potential applications in the fields of catalysis, drug delivery and nanotechnology.
Professor Steel said he was “honoured to receive the award and the many messages of congratulations”.
“However, the real recipients should be the wonderful group of graduate students that I have had over the last 20 years or so, without whom this would not have been possible. I would also like to acknowledge the academic and technical staff in the Chemistry Department who have been very supportive colleagues.”
Professor Steel is currently researching the assembly of new supramolecular structures with unusual architectures, such as cages, boxes, rings, chains, necklaces and ladders, as well as the discovery of new interactions to hold together such species.
The Hector Medal was established in 1915 in memory of Sir James Hector KCMG FRS. Sir Hector was manager and editor of the New Zealand Institute from 1867 to 1903 and its president from 1905 to 1907. The Royal Society of New Zealand is the successor to the New Zealand Institute.
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Professor Matthew Turnbull |
Professor Turnbull received the Roger Slack Award from the New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists (NZSPB). The award is based on the merit of original published research, focused on one area, in the five years preceding the presentation of the award.
It is named after Dr Roger Slack, a New Zealand plant biologist and biochemist who discovered C4 photosynthesis, also known as the Hatch-Slack Pathway.
Professor Turnbull said it was “very gratifying but humbling” to be given such an award.
“It's nice recognition and the award is a significant one from our society. There are a lot of very good plant biologists in New Zealand so it’s nice to get this award from my peers.”
Professor Turnbull and his graduate students have been studying environmental constraints on the acquisition of carbon and nitrogen by plants, with particular focus on the impact global warming could have on photosynthesis and respiration. Much of their research has been carried out in the field in forests and shrub lands.
He said photosynthesis and respiration were huge carbon exchange processes that had a major influence on the Earth’s atmosphere. Any changes to their carbon balance could have significant implications, such as more carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere or a decrease in the CO2 already present.
Professor Turnbull said the research of his team had found that while plant photosynthesis increased as temperatures increased, respiration acclimatised very strongly, “making it much less sensitive to temperature”.
He said this meant that increases in temperature may favour carbon intake by plants and could help mitigate climate change.
Professor Turnbull, who has been at UC since 1996, has authored 60 peer-reviewed publications, has served on the editorial boards for a number of journals and the advisory committees for the Marsden Fund and the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, and served as president of NZSPB in 2005 and 2006.
As part of the award, Professor Turnbull will deliver an invited lecture during the NZSPB’s annual conference in December.
For further information please contact:
Jeanette Colman
Communications Manager
University of Canterbury
Ph (03) 364 2260 or 027 233 0974
jeanette.colman@canterbury.ac.nz