The Estuary Art and Ecology Awards are Aotearoa’s only annual contemporary art awards with ecology at the core. Artists have been invited to research and respond to the Tāmaki Estuary, explore the ecological value of this vital waterway, and encourage action against its pollution. The exhibition of finalists will be on display in the Malcolm Smith Gallery at UXBRIDGE Arts and Culture.

Opening function and awards ceremony Saturday 5 July 2025, 4:30PM

JUDGE – HANNAH BUCKLEY, PhD.

Image courtesy of Hannah Buckley.

Hannah Buckley is a Professor of Ecology and the Head of the School of Science at Auckland University of Technology who specialises in biological variation in community ecology and understanding the processes that structure biological communities. Her current focus is on how a better understanding of biological diversity can be used to enhance the functioning of human-modified ecosystems, such as sand dunes, tussock grasslands and agricultural landscapes. She received her PhD from the University of Alberta, Canada in 2000. In 2016, whilst Associate Professor at Lincoln University, Buckley was awarded a Bullard Fellowship at Harvard University. From 2017 to 2019, she was a lead investigator in the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge.

Buckley has co-written many publications, including ‘Predicting Ecological Change in Tussock Grasslands of Aotearoa New Zealand’, ‘Connecting through space and time: catchment-scale distributions of bacteria in soil, stream water and sediment’, and ‘Is there gender bias in reviewer selection and publication success rates for the New Zealand Journal of Ecology?’

SPONSORS
The 19th Estuary Art and Ecology Awards are generously funded by Auckland Council’s Howick Local Board, Tāmaki Estuary Environmental Forum (TEEF), the Rice Family Partnership, and Gordon Harris Art Supplies.

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