Royal Society of New Zealand Awarded Teaching Fellow – Jim Young

Jim Young, a teacher from Catlins Area School and a recipient of a Royal Society of New Zealand – Awarded Teacher Fellowship, spent 2010 working at Long Point. Jim ‘s project, ‘Whakaora Irahuka: restoring the white cliffs’, investigated aspects of seabird restoration at Long Point/Irahuka. This included surveying and mapping seabird habitat, establishing vegetation plots, examining predator species composition and abundance, and surveying the lizard fauna and distribution.

Jim returned to the classroom in 2011 with “an increased knowledge of local ecology and methodology and how to involve students”.

The Trust acted as the host organisation, responsible for supporting Jim and providing the resources and equipment necessary for the project to be successfully undertaken. It is unusual for a conservation trust to undertake this role, which would usually be taken by universities, Crown Research Institutes, local authorities, and museums.

Crucial support for the application was received from Dr Bill Lee (Landcare Research) and Dr Jamie Newman (University of Otago) who acted as science mentors for the project.