19 November 2010 Ian Spellerberg made Honorary Fellow

Ian Spellerberg has received an honorary fellowship from the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand. 

The institute has but two other Honorary Fellows – Peter Skelton CNZM (awarded in 2007) and Dr Morgan Williams (awarded in 2008). In 2010 I am delighted to bestow the Award of Honorary Fellow upon Professor Ian Spellerberg.

As his extensive CV demonstrates, Ian is a proven thought-leader on matters of national and international significance relating to ecology, nature conservation, environmental education and environmental best practice. His contribution to the body of knowledge, leadership, and commitment to research and teaching is truly extraordinary. He has excelled in his academic profession and fully committed himself to the development of our Institute, its goals, and its values. His personal ethics and integrity are of the highest standard and becoming of an Honorary Fellow of our Institute.

Professor Spellerberg has been a Director of the Isaac Centre for Nature Conservation at Lincoln University since 2002. In addition to his role as Director of the Isaac Centre for Nature Conservation, Ian is a former Vice President (New Zealand) of the EIANZ. He was instrumental in the re-activation of the Students and Young Professionals Standing Committee and remains a member of that committee to this day. Ian was a member of the inaugural Certification Board. He is an Associate Editor of the Institute’s Journal, the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, and has been instrumental in a fourth coming special issue on biodiversity.”

He is a recipient of the Humboldt Fellowship, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, a Fellow of WWF (UK), Visiting Professor at University of Southampton, Member of IUCN Ecosystems Commission and Personal Chair in Nature Conservation. Additionally, in 2008 he was the winner of the Science Communicator Award from the New Zealand Association of Scientists, a prestigious award recognising his significant contribution towards communicating science and sustainable practice to the public.

I have only touched the tip of his achievements. His CV outlines his extensive professional experience, papers and publications, honours, and additional experience relevant to this nomination. Not only has Ian’s contribution to the Institute been, and continues to be, exceptional, it is his in honouring his contribution to environmental practice that I feel is most appropriate and deserved.