Research excellence awards - Ngā tohu rangahau hiranga

Professor Mohan Dutta

Professor Mohan Dutta is a multiple award-winning academic who is involved in extensive international collaborations focused on research that drives transformative social impact. His work as Dean's Chair and Professor of Communication, and Director of the Centre for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) resulted in community-led solutions across 17 countries and more than 100 projects set up to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Professor Dutta's community-led research collaborations continue to shape a wide array of community development projects, including community-owned food systems, hospitals, Indigenous cultural resources, educational infrastructures, systems for clean drinking water and community and worker-owned advocacy and activist campaigns.

Mohan has published 10 books and 182 journal articles, with 36% of his publications ranking among the top 10% cited globally. He was awarded the NCA's 2025 Carol Arnold Distinguished Lecture, 2024 Global Communication Award, 2023 Gerald M Phillips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Scholarship, 2021 Distinguished Scholar and ICA's 2020 Fellow.

Professor Steve Flint

Professor Steve Flint's impressive research record over his career in microbiology demonstrates the highest levels of excellence and impact nationally and internationally.

Professor Flint leads a successful food safety and microbiology team, commended for their groundbreaking research on the composition of microbial biofilms, which impacts food safety, clinical, environmental and veterinary fields. The team's work is further defined by very impressive research outputs.

As a Professor of Food Safety and Microbiology, Steve demonstrates strong publication metrics and a commitment to applied research addressing real-world problems – in particular, food production and health impacts. He maintains ongoing engagement with the industry and is committed to developing researchers into industry-focused networks. Professor Flint's international collaborators include many of the highest globally recognised researchers and institutions in his field.

Ms Gwen Isaac

Gwen Isaac is a Senior Lecturer in Te Rewa o Puanga School of Music and Screen Arts from Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts. Since joining the School of Design Te Rewa o Puanga in 2018, Gwen has built a distinguished research career. She produces documentary films that address societal issues and advance gender equity for women.

Gwen's creative work explores themes of social class, ableism and how limited social and cultural circumstances affect mental wellbeing. Women's stories have been traditionally underserved in cinema. Gwen's work actively shifts this by centralising women as subjects in her projects. Her work is widely used as an exemplar in university curricula both internationally (Delaware University, USA) and nationally at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University, Waikato University and the University of Auckland. Gwen is well respected by her colleagues, which is a testament to her collegial nature and research excellence.

Dr Kealagh Robinson

Dr Kealagh Robinson's research addresses one of the most urgent challenges in mental health – reducing self-injury and suicide – through a rigorous and multifaceted approach. By uncovering the role of emotion dysregulation, designing targeted interventions for youth and advancing research practices, her psychological research contributes solutions that are both theoretically robust and lifesaving. Her suicide prevention programme has achieved a remarkable 41.7% reduction in suicidal behaviour among at-risk youth, and her expertise has informed government policy, World Health Organisation initiatives and wider public discourse.

Dr Robinson is a Principal Investigator on a Marsden Fund Fast Start grant and has demonstrated exceptional ability to attract research investment. Kealagh has published 42 peer-reviewed papers, and almost a third of her papers published since 2020 rank among the top 10% most cited worldwide, confirming her international standing and the global relevance of her work.

Professor Cathryn Conlon

Professor Cathryn Conlon is a nutrition and health researcher in the School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition, who is recognised for having a profoundly positive influence on her students’ careers. Her supervision substantially contributes to the School’s research profile, enhancing the College of Health’s reputation for producing skilled graduates who are ready for academia, research and professional practice.

Cathryn’s achievements include supervising 80 postgraduate students, with a 100% completion rate and timely completions across Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes. She secured more than $5 million in funding from prestigious bodies, consistently including students in grants and projects. Notably, 75% of MSc theses she supervised were awarded an A grade and all PhD completions were supported by Massey or external scholarships.

Professor Conlon has authored 100 peer-reviewed publications, with 60% co-authored by students. Her students’ research has influenced national clinical guidelines, advanced Massey’s research strategy and addressed inequities in Māori and Pacific health, including global nutrition challenges.

The Healthy Active Learning Evaluation Team, led by Professor Ajmol Ali

Professor Ajmol Ali's extensive research on physical activity, nutrition and wellbeing in children, involvement in nationwide projects and transdisciplinary networks laid the foundation for this team project.

A competitive grant of $1.4 million was secured to conduct a comprehensive process and impact evaluation of a national initiative implemented in 40% of New Zealand kura, aimed at improving student wellbeing over a 6-year period. The team delivered 4 excellent evaluation reports for 3 government agencies covering sport, health and education.

The team, which included 3 PhD students and 7 master’s completions, has produced 8 research publications with 2 papers accepted pending corrections (and with several in preparation).  The team’s research is highly impactful, resulting in changes to Government policy around physical activity and nutrition environment in New Zealand schools. The size and scope of the research also attracted interest from overseas governments.

Associate Professor Emma Hudson-Doyle

Over the past 15 years, Associate Professor Emma Hudson-Doyle has built a reputation as a trusted and reliable advisor through relationship building and sustained guidance to the National Emergency Management Agency, Earth Science New Zealand, GeoNet, the Ministry for Business Innovation and Enterprise (MBIE), Department of Conservation, MetService and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). She has supported crisis communications in numerous responses from the Canterbury Earthquakes through to recent volcanic unrest, shaping policy to reduce disaster risk.

Emma's ability to bridge the science-to-policy gap is recognised through her secondment as Principal Advisor to the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake and her roles on Aotearoa New Zealand's Earthquake and Volcanic Science Advisory Panels and the World Meteorological Organisation's World Weather Research Programme Sub-Seasonal Applications for Agriculture and Environment Steering Group (2024–2029). She has secured major competitive funding, including co-leading an MBIE Endeavour programme, generating evidence to advance communication practice while also supporting colleagues and early career researchers.

Distinguished Professor David Johnson

The late Distinguished Professor David Johnston was an exceptional scholar who embodied the qualities of a critic and conscience of society, providing regular expert commentary and calls for action in emergency preparedness and natural hazard reduction.

As Director of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR) within the School of Psychology, Distinguished Professor Johnston consistently communicated the importance of human preparedness, well before scientists fully realised the need to go beyond understandings of disasters in terms of the physical world. Extensive research into the human experiences of coping with, adapting to, and enduring trauma resulting from natural disasters provided David with evidence to inform, persuade, and advocate action among scientists, agencies, politicians, and communities – nationally and internationally. His impact was maintained over decades, in research, policy and practice, from small, localised communities through to government agencies in Aotearoa and globally.

Before he died suddenly in January 2025, Distinguished Professor Johnston had made an exceptional contribution to educating and activating the public's knowledge and preparedness for emergencies and reducing the harm from natural hazards.