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February 2007631

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Royal Society: Realize the Dream

One of the opportunities available to the win-ner of the Year 13 Geography Competition isan automatic entry in the ‘Realize the Dream’event run by the Royal Society. Stacey Wrenattended the 5-day event and, following thefinal presentation of the students’ work, wasawarded the

Genesis Energy Excellence inResearch Award

($2000 Education Scholar-ship) for the quality of her work.

Details about this competition are availableat http://www.rsnz.org/education/dream/2006/winners.php.

Annette Lanigan

Chairperson,New Zealand Board of Geography Teachers

February 2007631

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Senior Subject Advisors: Geography

The New Zealand Post Primary TeachersAssociation and the Ministry of Educationhave spent considerable time in recent yearsnegotiating new ways to support classroomteachers and to offer alternative career pathsto keep good teachers in schools. As a resultsome new positions are being trialled for2007. These positions, entitled ‘Senior SubjectAdvisors’ (SSAs), offer a career enhancementopportunity to teachers whilst offering supportto teachers of senior subjects. Previously, sup-port for senior subjects has been very patchyacross the country. There are 24 positionsacross the curriculum, so only seven or eightsubjects will have an SSA in 2007 and Geo-graphy is fortunate to be included. Thesepositions are secondments to School SupportServices for one year, at the end of which timethe person will return to their own school,hopefully energized by all they have seen andbeen able to work on.

Margaret Williams of Waitaki Girls Collegewill be covering all of the South Island, work-ing with Roger Baldwin in the Canterburyregion. Martin Newton from WhangaparoaCollege will be covering the Auckland andNorthland regions, and Annette Lanigan willbe covering the Wellington and Massey regions.The key tasks are to provide support for

teachers to improve student outcomes and tobuild self-sustaining communities of teacherswho will in future be able to provide supportfor each other.

This initiative is a trial for 2007 and if it doescontinue, the subjects chosen may change insubsequent years so it is important that we useas much of this opportunity as possible. Contactdetails for this year’s Senior Subject Advisorsare available on the Society’s website and havealso been sent directly to schools.

Annette Lanigan

Chairperson,New Zealand Board of Geography Teachers

February 2007631

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Presidential Changeover

The New Zealand Geographical Society’snew President is Professor Michael Crozier ofthe School of Geography and Earth Sciencesat Victoria University of Wellington. He waselected at the 2005 Annual General Meeting,and took up office at the start of this year.With a distinguished academic career and along period of close involvement with govern-mental and non-governmental environmentalagencies, he brings important skills and experi-ence to an increasingly demanding position.

Professor Crozier takes over from ProfessorPeter Holland of the University of Otago,who served as President for four years from2003 to 2006. He oversaw a busy period for theSociety, encouraging it to adapt to rapidlychanging circumstances. During his term, herevised the Society’s constitution to ensurethat it provides a better framework for itsactivities, and worked tirelessly towards thesimplification of those activities, to focus onthe essentials of supporting and promotinggeography in New Zealand.

A good example is the encouragement heprovided in the rationalization of the Society’spublications programme, in the merging of the

New Zealand Geographer

and the

New ZealandJournal of Geography

into one title, with pro-duction responsibility assumed by BlackwellPublishing in Melbourne. He worked closelywith the New Zealand Board of GeographyTeachers, judged the Society’s annual competi-tion for outstanding teachers, researchers and

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postgraduate students and, by no means least,had the honour of presenting DistinguishedNew Zealand Geographer medals to sevenrecipients. It is a distinguished presidentialrecord that sums up Peter’s commitment toand enthusiasm for the Society and its mission.

Eric Pawson

University of Canterbury

February 2007631

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New Treasurer for the Society

Dr David Hayward, School of Geography,Geology and Environmental Sciences at TheUniversity of Auckland, is the new Treasurerof the New Zealand Geographical Society.He has taken over from Professor RichardBedford (University of Waikato) who hasoverseen the Society’s financial affairs formost of the past 30 years. The Society’soperations changed considerably during the1970s and 1980s, driven in large measure bydemands from teachers for support in thedevelopment and resourcing of the secondaryschool geography curriculum. The New Zea-land Board of Geography Teachers wasformed in 1974, followed soon after by theGeography Resource Centre. A second journalwas also established in the 1970s when the

New Zealand Journal of Geography

replacedthe Society’s

Record

. Associated with thesedevelopments was a more complex systemof membership as different groups wished totake advantage of particular publications andaffiliations.

In the mid-2000s the Society is faced with anumber of challenges as it endeavours toprovide relevant services and products to adiverse membership in a web-based informa-tion environment. There has been a return toa single journal, and the development ofsome new activities for secondary schools (e.g.,Mataangi Whenua and the EXITO-sponsoredresource kits) that offer opportunities for fur-ther reorganization of financial management.David brings fresh perspectives to the Societyand its roles in an era of greatly enhancedelectronic communication.

Richard Bedford

University of Waikato

February 2007631

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The IGU Regional Conference, Brisbane, Australia, July 2006

IGU 2006 Brisbane was a very successful con-ference, with about 1000 people registered forthe week of plenaries, paper sessions, workshopsand field excursions in Brisbane, Australia,held between 3 and 7 July 2006. Brisbane livedup to its reputation as a sunshine city andparticipants were treated to an excellent ‘down-under’ experience. The good weather and asurprisingly convivial venue encouraged a veryrelaxed atmosphere for the conference, whichwas further enhanced by some great Austral-ian wine and food. The academic programmewas very well planned and attendance at theplenaries and the paper sessions remained highthroughout the week. The theme – ‘Regionalresponses to global changes: a view from theAntipodes’ – was both popular and successful,allowing the diverse array of Commissions andTaskforces to organize challenging and topicalprogrammes. Over 700 papers were presentedduring the week – a major achievement for theProgramme Committee led very ably by Pro-fessor Nigel Tapper from Monash University.

The Institute of Australian Geographers,the New Zealand Geographical Society, andthe Royal Geographical Society of Queens-land, hosts for the conference, played a majorrole in organizing meetings of Commissionsand Taskforces in different parts of Australiaand New Zealand before and after the mainconference. Some significant regional initi-atives were launched at IGU 2006 Brisbane –the late Professor Adalberto Vallega (Presidentof the IGU until his sudden death in November2006) was particularly keen to ensure thatregional conferences provided opportunitiesfor geographers in surrounding countries tostrengthen their connections through IGU-sponsored networks designed to promotecollaborative research opportunities. At IGU2006 Brisbane the South-east Asia, Australasiaand South-west Pacific (SEAASWP) Networkwas launched, led by Professor Philip Hirshfrom the University of Sydney. SEAASWP isthe third of the IGU Regional Networks to beestablished, following similar initiatives in theMediterranean and in Latin America.

These regional networks are part of awider strategy to develop intercultural and