Waikato Business News | January 12, 2024

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14 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS JANUARY 2024 Director's Māori roles recognised Tania Te Rangingangana Simpson and Megan Balks have long-standing associations with the University of Waikato. The women were both honoured in the New Year’s Honours list and our staff reporters covered their backgrounds. Tania Te Rangingangana Simpson has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to governance and Māori. Simpson (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngā Puhi, Ngāi Tahu) is a professional director with more than 27 years’ experience in governance encompassing a range of iwi, not-for-profit, commercial and public sector positions. She was born in Ōtorohanga and lives in Matangi and is one of three from The News circulation area. The others are Cambridge’s Peter Carr and Puketōtara soil scientist Megan Balks. Throughout her career Simpson has focused on projects and roles aimed at improving outcomes for Māori, iwi development and recognising Māori values within business. She has specialised in roles focused on the environment, sustainability and climate change and has been recognised with a range of awards for her contributions to Māori business. She was recognised in 2020 Waikato University with a Distinguished Alumni Award. The award is given to a small number of alumni who have achieved significant success in their career and made outstanding contributions to their communities. Simpson arrived at the university with the intention of studying languages, however realised early on that Māori language and culture was the right pathway for her. She graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She joined the Housing Corporation the following year as Māori advisory officer in Hamilton and then as Te Kuiti office manager responsible for effective management of tenancy and lending portfolios in Ōtorohanga, Te Kuiti and Te Awamutu. Simpson is a director of Auckland International Airport, Meridian Energy and Tainui Group Holdings and has chaired the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge since 2016. It has funded several innovation projects and development of a business model to allow for the creation of small whānau-owned aquaculture farms. She has been a member of the governance group for the Deep South National Science Challenge since 2014, deputy chair of Waitangi National Trust since 2017 and a member of the Waitangi Tribunal since 2008. Simpson is a past director of Global Women, AgResearch, Radio Maniapoto, Mighty River Power/Mercury Energy from 2001 to 2015, Landcare Research, Ngāi Tahu Tourism and the New Zealand Conservation Authority. Ms Simpson was the first Māori director and a deputy chair of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand between 2014 and 2022. • See Waikato Business News February for full profile Tania Te Rangingangana Simpson. Photo: Mary Anne Gill Antarctic scientist returns to roots Megan Balks of Waikato University works in -15 degree wind chill conditions in the Wright Valley, one of Antarctic’s dry valleys. Balks’ team is drilling for ice core samples (pictured) that are believed to be thousands of years old. Photo: Martin de Ruyter, Antarctica New Zealand Pictorial Collection. Megan Balks (pictured right) has been awarded the New Zealand Antarctic Medal for her services to Antarctic soil science in the 2024 New Years Honours list. “It is really lovely, I don’t necessarily feel like I deserve to be singled out, in some ways I feel it is far more than I ever deserve,” she said. Balks owns a small hill country sheep farm at the end of Pekanui Road, 18kms south west of Pirongia which includes over 20ha of QEII covenanted forest. From there, she pursues her interests in wool crafts, landscape art, photography and geology. She and her husband of 45 years, Errol, have lived there for the past 16. Balks says it is somewhat of a return to her rural roots, having grown up on a Wairarapa sheep farm. Balks completed a BSc (Hons I) in Soil Science at Massey University and worked for three years for DSIR Soil Bureau undertaking soil surveys for irrigation development in Central Otago then moved to the University of Waikato where she was employed as a “junior lecturer” and completed her PhD on “Impacts of meat works effluent irrigation on soil physical properties”. In 1990, she joined other soil scientists beginning research into permafrost and human environmental impacts in Antarctica, going on to complete 19 Antarctic expeditions, 12 as field leader. Her most recent trip was in 2016. “Every one has been the adventure of a lifetime,” Balks told The News on Tuesday. While the nature of soil research and of itself is specific and calculated, my favourite aspect is absolutely exploring the Antarctic environment. “Soil science is obviously a very particular line of work and those fantastic experiences have led to me having the wonderful experience of making lifelong friends from all over the world.” “Lots of people tend to perhaps glamorise the Antarctic environment, and it is wonderful, but I just love the outdoors so walking something like the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is amazing too. Balks’ inaugural 1990 trip, she says, was possible thanks Antarctic soil research pioneers Drs Iain Campbell and Graeme Claridge. “They opened doors to opportunities I could never have dreamed of.” Through this research, a series of Antarctic soil climate monitoring stations were established that contribute to an international programme to monitor the effects of climate change in polar regions. Since retiring in 2018, Balk has written an award winning book on the soils of Aotearoa New Zealand and she has also served on the Waikato Conservation Board and the QEII National Trust.
JANUARY 2024 Out and about… Waikato Business News contributors attend many events around the region and capture highlights. This month’s contributions are from the opening of Peake Mews, the ordination of Bishop Richard Laurenson, a Destination Cambridge presentation and a new gluten-free food business. If you have photos and captions you would like to contribute, contact editor@goodlocal.nz Hannah and Sabine Lang of Lang’s Little Bakery, Cambridge have opened a new wheels in motion gluten-free food business. Sabine, right, completed a business certificate with Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga and set up the business as a way of helping her daughters, including Hannah, left, who both have coeliac disease. Photo: Saul Osborne Photography. WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS 15 Selfies were order of the day following the ordination of Richard Laurenson, pictured centre, as the new Catholic Bishop of the Hamilton diocese last month. Photo: Mary Anne Gill. Bridge Housing trustee Leah Gordon with Westpac’s Steve Atkinson at the Peake Mews opening. Photo: Mary Anne Gill. It is an uncertain future for tourism in the region with the announcement by Waipā District Council it will stop funding i-Site information centres in Te Awamutu and Cambridge and cut its annual grant to Hamilton and Waikato Tourism. Destination Cambridge general manager Ruth Crampton, pictured, explains what difference losing $157,000 a year from the council means for her organisation. Photo: Mary Anne Gill. Bridge Housing trustee Sharleen Nathan, right, with TSM Draughting Services Tala and Suria O’Brien at the Peake Mews opening. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
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Waikato Business News | January 12, 2024

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