Hutton Medal

The Hutton Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society Te Apārangi to a researcher who, working within New Zealand, has significantly advanced understanding through work of outstanding scientific or technological merit.

Frederick Wollaston Hutton

Requirements

Prior to 2017 it was awarded in rotation for research in animal sciences, earth sciences, or plant sciences. From, and including, 2017, it is awarded to any of the three disciplines but will not normally be awarded in the same discipline two years in a row. The awardee must have received the greater part of his/her education in New Zealand or have resided in New Zealand for not less than 10 years.[1]

The bronze medal has a portrait of Hutton on one side, with a landscape on the reverse featuring a kiwi, a tuatara, New Zealand plants (Celmisia, Phormium, Cordyline) and an active volcano in the background.

Background

The award is named after Frederick Wollaston Hutton FRS (1836–1905). Hutton was the first President of the New Zealand Institute (the forerunner to the Royal Society), serving from 1904 to 1905. In 1909 the Hutton Memorial Fund was established to support the Hutton Medal and also grants for research in New Zealand zoology, botany or geology.

Until 1996 the medal was awarded not more than once every three years, from 1996 to 2008 the medal was awarded biennially and from 2009 it has been awarded annually.

Recipients

There have been the following recipients of the Hutton Medal.[2]

Year Recipient(s) Citation
2023 Nicholas Golledge "for his cutting-edge contributions to modelling of the Antarctic ice sheet, and research on climate change, including his role as a Lead Author for the most recent Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)"[3]
2022 Rupert Sutherland "For fundamental discoveries in global plate tectonics, the evolution of Zealandia and the implications for active faulting and large magnitude earthquakes in New Zealand"[4]
2021 Richard McDowell "For his work on nutrient flows in soils and water, and informing farm management and environmental policy"[5]
2020 Neil Gemmell "For his research that is fundamentally changing our understanding of animal ecology and evolution and is driving the development of new approaches for conservation and management of the world’s rarest species"[6]
2019 Philip Hulme "For his outstanding contributions to the knowledge of plant invasions in New Zealand, especially his innovative insights in why and how non-native plants become invasive weeds"[7]
2018 Bruce Hayward "For outstanding contributions to the knowledge of New Zealand's marine ecology and geology"[8]
2017 Roger Cooper "For his contributions to understanding the geological foundations and the earliest organisms of Zealandia and beyond and for his role in maintaining and developing paleobiology expertise in New Zealand, which uses rocks to study ancient biology"[9]
2016 Wendy Nelson "For her significant contributions to understanding the diversity, biology and evolution of marine macroalgae"[10]
2015 Lionel Carter "For his career-long contributions to marine geology in New Zealand through fundamental investigations of sea-floor geological processes and their application to assessment of hazards and resources"
2014 Not awarded
2013 Dave Kelly "For developing knowledge of native flora in New Zealand and defining the key interactions between plants and animals. He has made long-term studies of South Island ecosystems, including decade-long studies to understand ‘mast seeding’ where plant species synchronise production of an unusually large seed crop"
2012 Ewan Fordyce "For his seminal contributions in New Zealand vertebrate paleontology, particularly for whales, dolphins and penguins"
2011 Robert Poulin "For his leading research in the field of parasitic diseases, especially for his work in ecological parasitology, an area of particular relevance to New Zealand’s marine and freshwater ecosystems"
2010 David Galloway "For his significant contributions to understanding the New Zealand environment, particularly through his botanical work on New Zealand lichens"
2009 Colin Wilson "For his outstanding work on volcanism"
2008 Bryce Buddle "For his world-leading research into controlling infectious animal diseases"
2006 Colin Webb "For major contributions to plant systematics and evolutionary biology"
2004 Campbell Nelson "For major contributions in the fields of sedimentology and paleoclimate research"
2002 Roger Morris "For his outstanding contribution to the advancement of animal science as a veterinarian and epidemiologist"
2000 Henry Connor and Elizabeth Edgar "For their extremely meritorious contributions to the botanical classification and documentation of New Zealand’s flora"
1999 Hugh Bibby "For fundamental contributions to earth sciences in earth deformation analysis and geo-electrical prospecting"
1998 Alan Kirton "For his outstanding contribution to meat science and technology"
1997 Alan Mark
1996 Richard Norris "For his major impact on the understanding of geological processes at the continental (New Zealand) plate boundary"
1995 Geoff Baylis
1992 George Scott
1989 Rufus Wells
1986 Eric Godley
1983 Pat Suggate
1980 George Knox
1977 William Philipson
1974 Maxwell Gage
1971 Ray Forster
1968 Norcott Hornibrook
1965 Lucy Moore
1962 Barry Fell
1959 Laurence Richardson
1956 Charles Fleming
1953 John Marwick
1950 Walter Oliver
1947 Charles Cotton
1944 Noel Benson
1941 Harry Allan
1938 David Miller
1935 Gordon Herriot Cunningham
1932 Arthur Bartrum
1929 George Hudson
1926 Charles Chilton
1923 Allan Thomson
1920 John Holloway
1917 Patrick Marshall
1914 Leonard Cockayne
1911 William Benham

References

  1. ^ "Hutton Medal". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Recipients". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Linda Tuhiwai Smith receives Rutherford Medal alongside other Research Honours Aotearoa winners". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Research Honours Aotearoa winners celebrated in Te Whanganui-a-Tara". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  5. ^ "Influential healthy homes research recognised with top honour". NZ Herald. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  6. ^ "2020 Hutton Medal: Understanding the biology of 'mother's curse', sex change in fish and the tuatara genome". Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  7. ^ "2019 Hutton Medal: Why New Zealand is one of the weediest nations and what to do about it". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  8. ^ "2018 Hutton Medal: What microscopic marine amoeba can tell us about our past climate, sea levels and earthquakes". Royal Society Te Apārangi. 17 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  9. ^ "2017 Hutton Medal: Understanding the geological and evolutionary origins of Zealandia". Royal Society Te Apārangi. 10 October 2017. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  10. ^ "2016 Hutton Medal: Understanding New Zealand's diverse marine flora". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2020.