Honoured for green energy
A professor at Massey University has been made a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the the King’s Birthday and Coronation Honours List.
Ralph Sims has received the honour for research into sustainable energy. He first gained national prominence for his work at Massey in the early 1970s in making and testing biodiesel from animal fats, now a part of New Zealand’s renewable fuel mix.
Sims, pictured above, played a key role in 2001 – while on the board of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) – in establishing the country’s first energy efficiency and renewable strategy.
He led one of the expert groups contributing to the writing of New and Emerging Renewable Energy Opportunities in New Zealand in 1996 for the Centre for Advanced Engineering and EECA.
Sims chaired the panel of experts that prepared the Royal Society of NZ’s 2016 publication Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy for New Zealand, and chaired the 2021 conference, which had the theme of decarbonising the country by supporting organisations to transition to zero carbon.
From 2006-10 he was seconded to the International Energy Agency. He led the writing of chapters in three assessment reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including that on energy supply for the 2007 assessment report that won the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2013, Sims was appointed to the scientific and technical advisory panel of the World Bank’s global environment facility for a four-year term.
Appointed an officer
Professor Rochelle Constantine has been made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to wildlife conservation and marine biology having undertaken pioneering research into this field for 30 years.
She is head of the marine mammal ecology lab at the University of Auckland’s school of biological sciences.
Constantine has led ground-breaking scientific research into endemic dolphin species, and has advised government departments on threat management plans for hector’s and maui dolphins.
She led research into the “ship strike” of bryde’s whales in the Hauraki Gulf. This resulted in speed restrictions being imposed in shipping lanes – including those used by roll-on, roll-off vessels – to reduce the instances of accidental whale deaths in the area.
