Published Nov 1, 2021
Applications are open for Wellington UniVentures’ Jeremy Bloomfield Memorial Scholarship for the translation of education or environmental research into innovations that benefit the community. This scholarship, worth $20,000, is eligible to postgraduate students enrolled at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington who have conducted research in a discipline substantially related to education or the environment at postgraduate level.
Jeremy Bloomfield was Wellington UniVentures’ Senior Education Programme Manager who suddenly passed away in 2019. Amongst Jeremy’s passions were a love for education and the environment which he demonstrated by being an active member of his community. His pioneering work helped to establish the Predator Free New Zealand group in Ngāiō. Jeremy was also instrumental in establishing and delivering the KiVa bullying prevention programme here in New Zealand. This scholarship was created to commemorate Jeremy, cultivating his vision to make a tangible, positive impact in education and the environment.
This year’s applications are open from 1 November 2021 to 1 March 2022 and is available to students enrolled at Te Herenga Waka who are undertaking postgraduate research (PhD or Masters level) in any discipline related to education or the environment.
Worth $20,000, the award was set up in close collaboration with Jeremy’s loved ones, including his wife Chris who, as part of the decision panel, plays an integral role in ensuring that the winning project closely aligns with Jeremy’s values. The award aims to fund a substantial step towards applying an existing research-derived innovation to the wider community for practical use and impact. This could include the development of a new product, service or prototype that allows the research innovation to find use in the community.
Last year’s scholarship was awarded to Baptiste Roucau who plans to use the funding as a platform to bring his research on navigating disagreements in school children to fruition in a pilot study. He hopes that his results will help provide the foundation to develop resources that can be used by educators in the classroom, to effectively guide children to have better conversations and get the most out of their disagreements.
Using Jeremy Bloomfield as a role model for the impact that can be made in our communities, the award calls out to individuals who share the same drive for real change and improvement. Jeremy was able to identify the problems that affected our educational institutions and endangered our native bird life and take the necessary actions to innovatively implement long-term solutions while working closely with our local community. In the same way, we seek problem solvers and innovators who will seize this opportunity to make a genuine difference.
Anne Barnett, Wellington UniVentures’ CEO says: “This is an exciting scholarship to help postgraduate students take their research to the next stage of development and we’re looking forward to seeing the range of innovations and creative thinking that comes through from applicants who want to make an impact and make a difference now.”
Find out more and apply online here.
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