Jenny Pollock - Branches Representative
In June I was honoured to be elected to the Royal Society Te Apārangi Council as the Branches’ Representative. This is a position I will hold for three years, from 2020 – 2023. Many thanks to the hard work of the late Kenneth Strongman and Phil Lester, the previous Branches’ Representatives.
A warm and welcoming pōwhiri was held by Royal Society Te Apārangi on August 6th for the new members to the Council: President Elect Brent Clothier, incoming Chair of the Academy Executive Charlotte Macdonald, incoming Constituent Organisation's representative Cate Macinnis-Ng, and myself. Wendy, Andrew, the Council and the staff of Royal Society Te Apārangi has made us feel very welcome and I am very appreciative of the support that I have received from everyone.
There are 10 Branches, more accurately called Regional Constituent Organisations (RCOs), spread around most regions of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Some of the branches even pre-date Royal Society Te Apārangi and there is a friendly rivalry as to which is the oldest. Read more about the histories of the different branches.
The object of the Society is the advancement and promotion in Aotearoa/New Zealand of science, technology and the humanities. The branches do this in many different ways, depending on their regions and the make-up of their councils and committees. The range of activities include organising talks and events, hosting lectures and events from national bodies such as Royal Society Te Apārangi, helping run the local Science Fairs, liaising with local universities, CRIs and other institutes such as the Cawthron Institute in Nelson, making donations to secondary and tertiary students for travel, research scholarships and holiday programmes, fundraising for initiatives such as Dark Skies regions and offering Mātauranga Māori prizes for students.
Royal Society Te Apārangi over the years has made a conscious effort to reflect the diversity of Aotearoa/New Zealand. The President, Wendy Larner, has had three priorities. These are to address issues of equity and diversity in all its forms, to strengthen the relationships between the Society and Te Āo Māori, raising the profile of Mātauranga Māori, and to address Early Career research issues as highlighted in the recent discussion paper ECRs in Aotearoa - safeguarding and strengthening opportunity after covid-19. These issues are being addressed, where relevant and when possible, by the Branches as well.
I have already had interesting discussions with most of the branch Presidents, and in August we held our first Branch Forum with me as chair. A report on this forum is included in this Link newsletter.
My contact email is jenny.pollock2@gmail.com. I’m looking forward to interacting with the branches and their members, and with anyone else interested in branch activities, or even in forming a branch in a region of New Zealand without one.