Research excellence awards , Ngā tohu rangahau hiranga

Massey’s research medals are awarded on an annual basis to recognise and reward research excellence and impact.

The Massey research excellence awards are one of the ways for Massey to acknowledge and honour our colleagues who have delivered high quality outcomes and whose work assists the University in giving back to the many communities we serve. 

We are proud to celebrate the work of our finest researchers, across a broad range of disciplines and academic fields. Here we highlight the latest winners of Massey University Research Medals, for:

  • Individual (outstanding research contributions in a particular discipline)
  • Early Career (research potential and leadership of the highest calibre)
  • Supervisor (excellence in research supervision practice)
  • Team (outstanding research contributions by a research team)
  • Exceptional Research Citizenship Whaowhia Ngā Kete o te Wānanga (researchers and creative practitioners whose work has a high public engagement and impact value, and those who enable the creation and dissemination of knowledge through demonstrating exceptional research citizenship).

Note: In 2023, we did not award medals for the Research Team and Exceptional Research Citizenship categories.

Individual Research Medal winners

Professor David Hayman

Professor David Hayman is an internationally recognised epidemiologist and disease ecologist, working at the intersection of human, animal and environmental health. He is a Professor of Infectious Disease Ecology and the Percival Carmine Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health. Professor Hayman co-directs a large research team in the School of Veterinary Sciences, the Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory and directs a virtual infectious disease research centre.

Professor Hayman is a Strategic Leadership Group member for Te Pūnaha Matatini, a Centre of Research Excellence, has been invited to ad hoc groups by the US White House-led Global Health Security Agenda initiative and US National Academy of Sciences, and is a One Health High-Level Expert Panel member providing expertise to four United Nations agencies. His research, reviews and perspectives on diseases such as Ebola, COVID-19 and rabies are in over 100 journal articles. He has received prestigious fellowships and contracts to perform this work and is inclusive, supporting equity in science and society.

Photo of Professor David Hayman

Professor Regina Scheyvens

Professor Regina Scheyvens has achieved sustained excellence in the research field – demonstrated through the broad impact of her publications, award of three Marsden grants, recipient of one of only three James Cook Fellowships awarded across the sciences and social sciences in Aotearoa New Zealand between 2021 and 2023, recipient of the Distinguished Geographer medal from the New Zealand Geographical Society in 2022 and the John Rooney Award from the Association of American Geographers in 2019. Professor Scheyvens has supervised 69 master's and PhD students, as well as mentoring countless other students, staff and early career researchers.

Photo of Professor Regina Scheyvens

Supervisor Research Medal winner

Professor Pamela von Hurst

Professor Pamela von Hurst’s research profile and excellent teaching led to her becoming a sought-after postgraduate supervisor and successful in acquiring funding to support numerous students over the past 12 years. She is adept at creating well-funded, multi-disciplinary large projects which can accommodate up to five master's degree students and at least one PhD student.

Professor van Hurst’s research is highly translational, with nearly an immediate impact on the community once completed. Her students have all secured industry positions at universities and some in the Ministry of Health, where the firm foundation of their graduate studies was an advantage. Under her mentorship, students obtain skills in project management, data analysis and interpretation, as well as working as a team. All her research is published and presented, resulting in students gaining skills in presenting and writing for peer-reviewed journals.

Professor Pamela von Hurst

Early Career Research Medal winner

Dr Alice Beban

Dr Alice Beban’s research outputs and support letters from leaders across several fields show scholarly excellence, policy and community impact and leadership. Her PhD from Cornell University in the United States, where she was a Fulbright Scholar in Developmental Sociology, was conferred in 2017. Since joining Massey in 2017, Dr Beban has established a flourishing research programme in Feminist Political Ecology. Her research on environmental conflict, rural social change and health is propelling into new domains through feminist epistemology.

Dr Beban’s research embodies the university’s pou of Sustainability, Climate Action and Global Engagement. She has had 30 journal articles published, as well as an award-winning book and nine book chapters. As a primary investigator, she has attracted more than half a million dollars in grants, and she is a team member on grants worth more than $5 million. Dr Beban takes an active role in service to the discipline within Massey and in leading exciting research initiatives.

Photo of Dr Alice Beban

Previous winners

Individual Research Medal recipients

2022 – Professor Paul Kenyon and Professor Julieanna Preston

2021 – Professor Shane Telfer

2020 – Professor Jeroen Douwes

2019 – Professor Murray Cox

2018 – Professor Robert Jahnke

2017 – Professor Velmurugu Ravindran

2016 – Professor Marlena Kruger and Professor Tony Parker

2015 – Professor Glyn Harper

2014 – Distinguished Professor Paul Rainey

2013 – Distinguished Professor Sally Morgan

2012 – Professor Nigel French

2011 – Distinguished Professor Paul Moughan

2010 – Professor Geoff Jameson

2009 – Distinguished Professors Anne Noble and Peter Schwerdtfeger

Supervisor Research Medal recipients

2022 – Associate Professor Jenny Poskitt

2021 – Professor Marlena Kruger

2019 – Distinguished Professor Nigel French and Professor Patrick Morel

2018 – Professor Peter Kemp

2017 – Professor Dianne Brunton

2016 – Professor Kevin Stafford - Institute of Vet, Animal and Biomedical Sciences

2015 – Professors Regina Scheyvens, Martin Young and Nicolas Lopez-Villalobos

2014 – Professor Cord Heuer

2013 – Professor Steve Morris

2012 – Professor John O'Neill

2011 – Professor Emeritus Mike McManus

2010 – Professor Emeritus Ian Evans

2009 – Professor Hugh Blair

Early Career Research Medal recipients

2022 – Dr Matt Williams and Dr Claire Badenhorst

2021 – Dr Gabor Kereszturi

2020 – Dr Ruggiero (Rino) Lovreglio and Dr Linda Murray

2019 – Associate Professor Kathryn Beck and Dr Libby Liggins

2018 – Dr Krushil Watene

2017 – Dr Alexander Melnikov

2016 – Dr David Aguirre, Dr Jodie Hunter and Shannon Te Ao

2015 – David Hayman, Tanya Marriott and Natasha Tassell-Matamua

2014 – Lee Stoner, Philip Steer, Jane Allison and Jason Wargent

2013 – Mary Breheny

2012 – Karen Stockin, Sarah-Jane Paine and Max Schleser

2011 – Lara Shepherd

2010 – Murray Cox and Wayne Patrick

2009 – Aiqian Ye, Leigh Signal and Matthias Lein

Team Research Medal recipients

2022 – Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities

2021 – Te Kāhui Toi

2020 – Wildbase Research Centre

2019 – Joint Centre for Disaster Research

2018 – First World War Centenary History Research Team

2017 – Food Microbiology Research Team

2016 – Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre

2015 – Bioprotection Research Team

2014 – Centre for Postharvest Refrigeration

2013 – Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health

2012 – Health and Ageing Research Team

2011 – Sleep/Wake Research Centre

2010 – Sheep Research Group

2009 – Volcanic Risk Solutions

Exceptional Research Citizenship Whaowhia Ngā Kete o te Wānanga Medal recipients

2022 – Professor John Cockrem

2021 – Dr Trisia Farrelly

2020 – Associate Professor Grant Duncan

2019 – Associate Professor Karen Stockin

2018 – Professor Barry Scott