Two to Australia to learn and share: The Wendy Mead Professional Development Award
Category: Canterbury/West Coast. Posted: 19 July 2024
The NZBI Executive considered that two applications were worthy of professional development awards this year.
Juliet Brebner from Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Reuben Harland from Greater Wellington Regional Council, will each receive assistance to attend the 19th Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference in Sydney this month (July 2024). This triennial conference was last held virtually in 2021.
Here’s a summary of how Reuben and Juliet described how their attendance will benefit themselves, the Institute and biosecurity in general:
“The theme of the conference is “Translating Science into Effective Management” and has some really interesting keynote speakers from both Australia and NZ. It attracts a really high-calibre of experts in the pest animal space across Australasia and some from further afield, so attending will allow me to learn from, and build some really beneficial relationships with people I wouldn’t normally have the chance to rub shoulders with. The conference also alternates between Australia and NZ so having a good contingent of kiwis attending and presenting shows our continued support and interest in collaboration and information sharing across the ditch, and hopefully will encourage a good number of Aussies to come over the next time it is in NZ.”
Juliet Brebner, Biosecurity Officer, Terrestrial animals and plants, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana
“This would be my first opportunity to attend an Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference since beginning my career in Biosecurity in 2018.
My key areas of interest for attending this conference include further development of urban ungulate control methods, community lead rabbit control programmes and biocontrol options as well as macropod eradication methodologies and practical applications.
In addition to furthering my technical knowledge, I feel it is important to foster and grow professional relationships with experts in these field to assist with future knowledge transfer.
The opportunity to attend will allow me to to advocate for New Zealand and the New Zealand Biosecurity Institute while bringing some of the wide array of knowledge and experience which would be available, back to New Zealand to assist in further developing and implementing best practice methods backed by the latest science.”
Reuben Harland, Senior Biosecurity Officer, Pest Animals, Te Pane Matua Taiao Greater Wellington Regional Council.
This award is for up to $1500 to cover professional development expenses such as travel and training costs in the field of biosecurity. When assessing the applications, The Executive considered chiefly among other things the value of the proposed professional development to furthering New Zealand’s biosecurity interests, the practical relevance to the aims of the NZBI, and the individual’s work history in the biosecurity field.
The Award was renamed the Wendy Mead Professional Development Award in 2019 to honour Wendy Mead who worked in various biosecurity roles, chiefly with the Waikato Regional Council during which time she became Team Leader Plant Pests. She also served in a biosecurity role at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Wendy had many roles within the Institute at branch and national level. She served the Institute as national secretary from 2010 to 2014. She died in 2019 aged 55.