Eureka! winner
Science student scoops Eureka! award for young science communicators
Victoria University law and biology student Evan Brenton-Rule won the top prize at the 2013 Eureka! Sir Paul Callaghan Awards for Young Science Orators on Friday.
Evan, who has studied invasive species with Professor Phil Lester and Dr Monica Gruber, says he believes life on our planet faces four key threats: over-exploitation of resources, habitat destruction, the introduction of alien species and climate change.
“I’m particularly interested in invasive species research. The globalisation of trade has increased the movement of species around the planet.
“Many of these species don’t cause problems but some do, in ways that are often damaging both economically and to the environment.
“For instance, New Zealand’s population of invasive wasps causes massive damage in our native forests in the upper South Island—competing with native birds and invertebrates, and even attacking bird chicks.
“Another example is the Psa virus which is devastating our kiwifruit orchards and will cause hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to the industry.”
Evan’s winning presentation at the Eureka! Awards outlined the damage done to the New Zealand economy and environment by invasive species such as wasps and fire ants, and proposed a range of biological initiatives to eradicate the pests.
He received a trophy from the Governor General, Lieutenant General Sir Jerry Mateparae at the Awards Dinner held on Friday evening at Government House and $5,000 towards his university studies, along with a further $1,000 for reaching the finals.
Evan says he plans to do a BSc Honours degree at Victoria, and pursue PhD studies overseas. He hopes to apply both his law and biology studies to investigate how legislation and policy are informed by science.
Evan appeared on Kim Hill’s Saturday Morning programme on Radio New Zealand following the awards. You can listen to his interview