Join us for the next Excellence Series event 2025. This series highlights leadership across diverse disciplines while providing a platform to showcase the University's distinctive and influential applied research. It celebrates research excellence and fosters public engagement, extending Lincoln University's specialist land-based expertise to a wider audience, driving New Zealand's prosperity and intergenerational well-being.
Our affinity with marine ecosystems, particularly coastal and estuarine systems, significantly influences the public and political will to protect those environments from human-mediated impacts. Both Australia and New Zealand place iconic value on their ocean environment and the unique natural heritage it holds. As a consequence of these held values, and the geographic isolation of the two countries, both have developed world class biosecurity systems since the earliest days of self-governance. Originally this was focused on quarantine systems for protection of human health and land-based primary production. However over the last 50 years both systems have increasingly expanded to include marine ecosystems in recognition of the marine introductions that have occurred from multiple pathways, including intentional and government-sanctioned introductions.
Join us for our next Excellence series event where Professor Chad Hewitt provides a 30 year retrospective illustrating how both countries have pursued an evidence base to support their risk management approaches and how sharing of information and policy development have created better outcomes between the two systems. Noting that many of the approaches employed by Australia and New Zealand have been exported to the global stage, Prof. Hewitt will provide a high level perspective on the successes of both systems with observations on future challenges.
Wednesday 16th April
4.00pm - 5.30pm
Pātiki, Waimarie Building, Lincoln University
Timings
4.00 pm - Networking and drinks
4.15 pm - Welcome & introduction from LU Vice-Chancellor
4.20 pm - Presentation from Speaker
4.50 pm - Summary
5.00 pm - Networking and questions over drinks and nibbles
5.30pm - Event Ends
About Our Speaker
Professor Chad Hewitt
I am currently the Provost at Lincoln University. I have previously held positions as Professor at Murdoch University responsible for establishing the Murdoch Biosecurity and One Health Research Centre within the Harry Butler Institute and as the Murdoch Defence Research Coordinator; Dean of Science and Head of School of Science at the University of Waikato; Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at CQUniversity; Director of the National Centre for Marine Conservation and Resource Sustainability at University of Tasmania; Chief Technical Officer – Marine Biosecurity for the New Zealand Government; and Invasion Biologist at CSIRO Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests as Leader of the Invasion Processes Group. My research portfolio revolves around the role humans play in changing the natural world, particularly in marine systems, and how natural science can influence management and policy. I have delivered capacity building activities for operational and governance with small island states and other developing countries throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans around biosecurity, One Health, aquaculture development, and coastal management. Most recently I am engaged with philosophy colleagues in assessing the epistemology of evidence-based policy with regards to the science policy interface and internal organisational information flows to enhance social responsibility.
Research profile Chad Hewitt
Click here to see more events