Otago staff and alumni have scooped five of this year’s prestigious Fulbright New Zealand Graduate and Scholar Awards.
UoO Wellington Professor Michael Baker, UoO Christchurch Senior Lecturer Kelly Tikao (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu), current Otago PhD candidate and MB ChB tauira Cameron Young, and recent graduates Laura Gemmell-Sinnott (Kahungunu, Tūwharetoa, Waikato, Ngāruahine, Raukawa, Pahauwera), Leteisha Te Awhe-Downey (Ngāti Ruanui, Ngaa Rauru) received their awards at a ceremony in Wellington last week.
Otago’s Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) Martin Gagnon says the Fulbright programme is one of the largest and most prestigious educational exchanges in the world, so to have five recipients from the Otago community is “an outstanding achievement”.
“Securing a third of all Fulbright Scholar awards nationally in this round speaks volumes about the calibre of our academic community and the strength of our research culture.
“This result is a testament not only to the excellence and dedication of our researchers, but also to the University’s deep and ongoing commitment to supporting world-class research and global collaboration.”
He congratulated all recipients.
“Their success reflects years of hard work, intellectual rigour and a passion for making meaningful contributions to society – values we hold at the heart of our University’s mission.”
Recipients
Fulbright NZ Scholar Award: Professor Michael Baker, Department of Public Health, Wellington
Michael will research the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases at the Harvard University Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics in Boston, Massachusetts.
Fulbright Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Graduate Award: Kelly Tikao, Department of Nursing and the Department of Māori Indigenous Health Innovations, Christchurch
Kelly will research how native Hawaiian practitioners and traditional healers rejuvenate customary native Hawaiian maternity practices in the hospital and community environments.
Fulbright Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Graduate Award: Leteisha Te Awhe-Downey, graduated with a BA in Geography and Indigenous Development from Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka – University of Otago in 2020, and a BA (Hons First Class) in Geography and Māori Studies in 2021.
Leteisha will be a visiting student researcher looking at Indigenous experiences of diaspora at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Fulbright NZ Graduate Award: Laura Gemmell-Sinnott, graduated with a BHSc from the University of Otago in 2021 and a MHSc (Distinction) in 2023 from Massey University.
Laura will research health policy design in sexual and reproductive health with a focus on Indigenous health equity at Columbia University, New York City, towards a PhD at the University of Otago.
Fulbright NZ Graduate Award: Cameron Young, graduated with a BSc (Hons First Class) in 2022 and is partway through a PhD and MB ChB at the University of Otago.
Cameron will research chronic disease progression, focusing on how diet during pregnancy causes epigenetic changes in offspring at the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery, University of Wisconsin–Madison in Wisconsin, and nutritional public health interventions at the Centre for Indigenous Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Arizona and New Mexico.