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WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, Tuesday 13 June 2023 — Fulbright New Zealand is delighted to announce the 2023 Fulbright New Zealand scholarship award winners. The new cohort will be honoured at the 2023 Fulbright New Zealand Awards Ceremony at Parliament Buildings on the 28th of June, hosted by the Deputy Speaker, Greg O’Connor.
Penelope Borland, Executive Director of Fulbright New Zealand said; “This year, as we celebrate 75 years of Fulbright in New Zealand, we’re thrilled to be able to return to our normal programme and to announce a full cohort of New Zealand Fulbright grantees who will be taking up their awards in person in the US shortly. We are also excited to have been able to welcome a cohort of US grantees to New Zealand this year – some who have been waiting almost three years to get here due to the challenges of the pandemic and border closures.”
“Every year, it is rewarding to see the wide array of disciplines represented, and 2023 is no exception – from space engineering to climate change policy to arts management and entrepreneurship. I know that whatever the area of research, all the new grantees will uphold the key mission of the Fulbright programme – to enhance global and intercultural understanding and advance public good.”
Established in the US in 1946, the Fulbright programme is one of the largest and most significant educational exchanges of scholars in the world. Fostering academic excellence and people to people connection, the Fulbright Programme seeks to “bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs.”
This year, there are 51 Fulbright New Zealand Award winners in total.
From New Zealand, they are:
Fulbright Science and Innovation Graduate Awards
These awards are sponsored by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Jennifer Berry
Jennifer Berry from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will complete a Master of Science specialising in Space Engineering at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.
Nico Hackner
Nico Hackner from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington will complete a PhD in Physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
Isabel Kelly
Isabel Kelly from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington will complete a Master in Public Policy specialising in climate change policy at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Nina Opacic
Nina Opacic from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington will complete an LLM in Environment and Energy Law from New York University in New York City, New York.
Andrea (Andi) Shirtcliffe
Andi Shirtcliffe from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington will complete a Master of Public Health specialising in Health Behaviour and Society at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland.
Naomi Simon-Kumar
Naomi Simon-Kumar from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will complete a Master of Public Health specialising in Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University in New York City, New York.
Amy Spittal
Amy Spittal from Kirikiriroa Hamilton will complete a Master of Arts in Economics at New York University in New York City, New York.
Krystal Wright
Krystal Wright from Kāpiti will research improving adherence to endocrine therapy for young women with breast cancer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She is studying for a PhD at the University of Auckland.
Fulbright Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Graduate Award
This award is offered in partnership with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, the Māori Centre of Research Excellence – funded by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and hosted by the University of Auckland.
Yasmin Olsen (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Tīpā)
Yasmin Olsen from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will complete a Master of Laws at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Fulbright New Zealand General Graduate Awards
Emerita Baik
Emerita Baik from Kirikiriroa Hamilton will complete a Master of Fine Arts at Columbia University, New York City, New York.
Bonita Bigham (Ngāruahine, Te Atiawa)
Bonita Bigham from Manaia, Taranaki will research impacts of laws and conventions on the retrieval and use of marine mammal resources for artistic purposes, in Aotearoa and Hawai’i.
Rebecca Hawkes
Rebecca Hawkes from Methven will complete a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Timothy (Tim) Lawler
Tim Lawler from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will research rights protection in presidential counter-terrorism policy at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and at George Washington University in Washington DC.
Te Maiora Rurehe (Tūhoe/Te Arawa)
Te Maiora Rurehe from Tūhoe/Te Arawa will complete a Master of Environmental Laws at Pace University in White Plains, New York.
Lachlan Taylor
Lachlan Taylor from Ōtautahi Christchurch will complete a PhD in Art History at the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas.
Leah Thomas
Leah Thomas from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington will complete a Master of Arts Management and Entrepreneurship at the New School in New York City, New York.
James (Jimmy) Toebes
Jimmy Toebes from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington will complete a Master of Laws with a focus on criminal law and theory, therapeutic jurisprudence, and the implementation of its principles via the Te Ao Mārama model at New York University in New York City, New York.
Katherine (Kat) Werry
Kat Werry from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington will complete a Master of Laws specialising in Criminal Justice at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Fulbright New Zealand Scholar Awards
Siautu Alefaio-Tugia (Fagamalo, Matautu-Tai, Sāsina ma Manunu)
Siautu Alefaio-Tugia from South Auckland is researching Pacific-Indigenous and urban diasporic resilience across disaster and humanitarian contexts, at the National Disaster Preparedness Training Centre (NDPTC) University of Hawai’i, and the Centre for Human Rights & Humanitarian Studies (CHR&R) at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
Gillian (Gill) Bonnett
Gill Bonnett from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will research the Migration 5 collaboration between New Zealand, the US, UK, Canada and Australia at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University in Washington DC.
Alice Chang-Richards
Alice Chang-Richards from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will research building recovery trajectories following the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
Siân Halcrow
Siân Halcrow from Ōtepoti Dunedin will research the bioethics of the use of anatomical human remains in Aotearoa and the United States at the University of California, Berkeley.
Murdoch Stephens
Murdoch Stephens from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington will research how countries respond to global humanitarian emergencies at California State University Northridge in Los Angeles, California.
Annie Te One (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga)
Annie Te One from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington will research connections between Māori and Hawai’ian political philosophies and the ways they inform political practice in the Indigenous Politics Programme at the University of Hawai’i in Mānoa.
Fulbright Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Scholar Award
This award is offered in partnership with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, the Māori Centre of Research Excellence – funded by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and hosted by the University of Auckland.
Hinekura Smith (Te Rarawa, Ngā Puhi)
Hinekura Smith from Northland will research Native American and Native Hawai’ian women’s traditional clothing making as decolonising and culturally regenerative arts praxis.
Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer’s Residency
This award is offered in partnership with Creative New Zealand, the national arts development agency developing, investing in and advocating for the arts.
Gina Cole
Gina Cole from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, New Zealand will attend a three-month writer’s residency at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa to work on a science fiction fantasy novel in the genre of Pasifikafuturism.
From the USA, they are:
Fulbright US Graduate Awards
Abi Bartlett
Abi Bartlett from Monticello, Minnesota will research geomorphology of rivers and the relationship people have with them in New Zealand, learning Māori ways of knowing.
Emily Beck
Emily Beck from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina will complete a Master of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Auckland University of Technology.
Michael Bishop
Michael Bishop from Honolulu, Hawai’i will research sacred ground, legal personhood, the rights of nature, and creative non-fiction writing at the University of Auckland.
Caroline Caldwell
Caroline Caldwell from Cascade, Montana will complete a Master of Management in Agribusiness at Lincoln University.
Nicholas (Nick) Dragone
Nick Dragone from Boulder, Colorado will research the microorganisms found in New Zealand’s geothermal and volcanic environments at the University of Canterbury.
Madison Emond
Madison Emond from Providence, Rhode Island will be creating photographic work at Massey University’s College of Creative Arts in Wellington, New Zealand.
Alex Hawley (Diné, Navajo)
Alex Hawley from Farr West, Utah will pursue a Master of Arts degree in Museums and Heritage Conservation at the University of Auckland.
Kevin Lujan Lee Chamoru, familian Capili
Kevin Lujan Lee from Johor Bahru (Malaysia) and Guåhan will research Pasifika community organisations and low-wage work at the University of Auckland.
Samantha (Sammi) Maza
Sammi Maza from Englewood, New Jersey will research Mana Wahine epistemology and indigenous feminist knowledge production at the University of Auckland.
Wilson (Will) McNeil
Will McNeil from Morgantown, West Virginia will research the impact of outdoor air quality on stormwater runoff contamination at the University of Canterbury.
Melanie Stowell
Melanie Stowell from Denver, Colorado will support the evaluation and expansion of a health promotion intervention designed to support new mothers and families in preventing childhood obesity, at the University of Auckland.
Mark Stukel
Mark Stukel from Naperville, Illinois will research the evolutionary relationships and history of hybridisation events in New Zealand cicadas at the University of Auckland as part of his PhD dissertation work at the University of Connecticut.
Lael Tate
Lael Tate from Portland, Oregon will complete a BA (Hons) in Māori Studies at the University of Auckland.
Christina Dawa Kutsmana Thomas (Numu-Northern Paiute, Newe-Western
Shoshone, Hopi)
Christina Thomas from Wadsworth, Nevada will be based at the University of Auckland, working with iwi across Aotearoa to conduct research on Te Reo Māori, performance and culture.
Lanea Tuiasosopo
Lanea Tuiasosopo will complete a Master of Global Studies at the University of Auckland. Her focus is on sport as a developmental tool for health, education, and gender equality in Pacific communities.
Fulbright US Scholars Awards
Kelley Barsanti
Kelley Barsanti from Boulder, Colorado will research the linkages between fuels, fire behaviour, fire emissions, and air pollutant formation with the Rural Fire Research Group at Scion in Christchurch.
Jacqualine (Jackie) Grant
Jackie Grant from Cedar City, Utah will research native plant seed collection and cultural significance at the New Zealand Indigenous Flora Seed Bank at Massey University in Palmerston North.
Jessica Hardin
Jessica Hardin from Staten Island, New York will research medical decision making in Samoan communities at the University of Auckland.
Hannah Johnson
Hannah Johnson from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will research rhetoric deployed against marginalised outgroups in Western history at the University of Otago.
Emily Levesque
Emily Levesque from Seattle, Washington will research Thorne-Zytkow Objects and the evolution of binary massive stars at the University of Auckland.
Robin Prichard
Robin Prichard from Munroe Falls, Ohio will research Aotearoa/New Zealand Māori Dance and Decolonising Dance Education at the University of Auckland.
Joellen Russell
Joellen Russell from Tucson, Arizona will help design the modelling framework to combine atmospheric and oceanic observations in order to provide near-real-time information about carbon dioxide emissions and uptake with scientists at the National Institute of Water and Air (NIWA) in Wellington.
Katharine Suding
Katharine Suding from Boulder, Colorado will research trajectories of biodiversity change at the University of Canterbury.
Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching for US Teachers
Emily Julien Musta
Emily Musta from Flagstaff, Arizona will research Ka Hikitia and culturally responsive and relational strategies for teachers at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. Emily is the Honours & AP Biology teacher at Flagstaff High School in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Andrea Ruizorvis
Andrea Ruizorvis from New York City, New York, will be researching the ‘Teaching as Inquiry’ framework, employed in the New Zealand public education system, at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. Andrea is a primary school teacher at Mott Haven Academy Charter School in the Bronx, New York.
Contact: Molly Nunns
Senior Communications Advisor, Fulbright New Zealand
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 027 522 8142
Find out more about the Fulbright New Zealand Awards programme at fulbright.org.nz
About Fulbright New Zealand
Fulbright New Zealand opens doors for tomorrow’s leaders and thinkers through life-changing educational and cultural exchanges between New Zealand and the United States.
The Fulbright programme has been operating for over 75 years. Fulbright offers a range of prestigious awards for New Zealand and American graduate students, academics, artists and professionals to study, research and teach in each other’s countries. Fulbright New Zealand has granted more than 3,000 exchange awards, sending over 1,900 New Zealand graduate students, artists, academics, teachers and professionals on exchange to the US and welcoming over 1,600 Americans on exchanges to New Zealand.