ProfessorEric Pawson

I am a member of the Academy by virtue of receiving a National Tertiary Teaching Award in 2009. In 2013, I was elected to the Academy executive and organised the Academy annual symposium in Wellington in December 2014. I also organised a regional Spotlight for tertiary teachers in Christchurch in June 2013. My Ako activities support and are informed by my research interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning.

as above

Member, cycle 4 Academic Audit of Otago University (2011). Appointed by NZ Universities Academic Audit Unit to the panel of five (including one overseas member) for the academic audit of Otago University in October 2010. The audit covers the full range of university activities, including review of quality assurance processes for research, research planning and and support for PhD students. My wider activities as an academic auditor are more fully described in CRE4.

Distinguished Service Medal, New Zealand Geographical Society (2010). The citation reads, in part: 'He receives the Distinguished Service Award for his ongoing role as Managing Editor of the New Zealand Geographer, his pre-eminence as a geographical educator and his organisational capabilities in general, for which New Zealand geography has been a primary beneficiary'.

Conference chair, New Zealand Geographical Society (NZGS) with Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG) Conference, Christchurch (2010). This is the main conference for academic geographers in New Zealand; I convened the Organising Committee for the 2010 conference in downtown Christchurch. It was joint with the IAG, and attracted the biggest attendance (340) of an NZGS conference in New Zealand for many years. Keynote speakers were from Australia and the US. Part of the citation for my Distinguished Service Award from the Society reads: 'Most recently Eric’s strategic skills and organisational acumen were a major factor in the highly successful NZGS 2010 conference in Christchurch in July'.

Member, Ako Aotearoa Academy of Teaching Excellence (2009-present): there are just over one hundred Academy members, each National Tertiary teaching Award members. Our role is to share and develop good teaching practice. I am encouraging the Academy to take the next step into setting up research projects to assess which practices lead to high levels of student engagement (see ORO4), using the model that I have developed with my co-chairs in the INLT (International Network of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education in Geography) (see PE9).

national teaching award 2009

Co-organiser, workshop, International Congress for Environmental History, Copenhagen: in 2009, I co-organised this workshop at the First International Congress on Environmental History. It was a critique of Alfred Crosby's concept of ecological imperialism, from Southern Hemisphere perspectives. It was attended by over 60 people, many of them from the Northern Hemisphere and was probably the largest single meeting at the Congress. My own contribution, which was developed from NRO3, received considerable discussion and positive feedback.

as above

Distinguished New Zealand Geographer Medal (2007). This is the highest award of the New Zealand Geographical Society, given on the basis of nomination and international references. The citation begins: “New Zealand Geography has a reputation for producing new knowledge through novel practices. Professor Eric Pawson is one of New Zealand geography’s intellectual leaders. His geographic contributions have added greatly to this reputation .. His remarkable capacity to align theoretical expertise and energise collective contributions has meant that what has been achieved by him and the New Zealand geographical community is more than the sum of the individual parts". One or two medals are awarded most years to New Zealand geographers working in or outside New Zealand.

Member, Social Science Panel, Marsden Fund (2006-2008). I served for three years as a member of the Social Sciences Panel. This involved two rounds of assessment each year, with the initial round consisting of up to 120 applications, which had to be reduced to about 30 for the second round. The final outcome was a list of about 15 successful applications. This has led on subsequently to regular mentoring of Marsden grant applicants on my own campus (see CRE2).

Organiser, INLT workshop, Brisbane, 2006: I organised this two day workshop for over 50 international colleagues as part of the International Geographical Congress in Brisbane, 2006. It focused on research-informed pedagogy, with nine groups working to produce articles for peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education. I was subsequently successful in encouraging eight of the groups through to publication (see ORO19)

Chair, Macmillan Brown Board, University of Canterbury (2005-2009). Elected as Chair in 2005 to the governance Board of the main Pacific Research Centre in NZ universities. I successfully introduced a strategic planning process (in 2007) and steered a new Constitution through the Board at the end of 2008, to recast its membership so that all Colleges are represented, thereby more firmly rooting the Centre in the research profile of the University. I stayed on as chair in 2009 at the request of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor to see the Centre through a difficult period. I was succeeded by Sir Tipene O'Regan in 2009. The letter of thanks from the relevant PVC when I stepped down stated: 'I am writing on behalf of the College of Arts and University to express our sincerest thanks for the fantastic contribution you have made as chair ... you have made a very significant contribution, positioning the Centre for a much brighter, better and stronger future'.

Member, Advisory Board, Te Ara, New Zealand on-line encyclopedia (2001-present). Member of the National Advisory Board since Te Ara was established by government in the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, 2001. It is organised by themes: I have also been a member of the committees for theme 4, Settled landscape, and theme 5, Economy and urban life. This is a multi-year, research-based national encyclopedia, to which I have also contributed peer reviewed entries (ORO 9, ORO 10).