The Department of Biochemistry would like to congratulate the following students, who have won the 2018 student academic prizes:
Sarah MacKie
Mervyn Smith Prize - for the student with the highest level of attainment in biochemistry in the first year MSc class.
Sarah hails from Hamilton, she went to Hillcrest High School, and is interested in sport and reading. She studies biochemistry because she "likes to learn about how things work, especially in a cancer context".
Joshua McCluskey
The Petersen Prize- for the student who has shown the greatest promise for original research in biochemistry in the 400-level class.
Josh was born aboard the hospital ship MV Anastasis, where he lived with his family until I moved to Whangaparaoa at the age of 10. He attended Orewa College until 16 years old before leaving to enter the workforce. At 21, he began 3 years of service as a sailor in the Royal New Zealand Navy. In 2015, his tertiary studies commenced at the Otago where his course evolved from health sciences to genetics and finally to biochemistry. As his studies progressed he developed a passion for intricacies of how life functions. For understanding life, it was hard to beat studying its chemistry.
Cameron Reddington
The Edson Prize in Biochemistry - for the student in the 400-level BSc(Hons) class who has reached the highest attainment in biochemistry.
Cameron hails from Dunedin, where he attended King's High School. He's interested in scuba diving, social football and, of course, science. Having initially been unsure of which field of research to pursue at university, BIOC192 unveiled the world of biochemistry, a field that he had not previously heard of. Last year, Cameron completed his Honours project under Dr. Peter Mace and eventually intends do a PhD, potentially after a short study break.
Emily Rhoades and Helena Cooper
The Edson Prize in Biochemistry - for the student(s) in the 300-level class who have reached the highest attainment in biochemistry.
Emily Rhoades attended Avonside Girls' High School in Christchurch, and upon finishing she decided to move to Dunedin to start at Otago University. Emily chose Health Science First Year, which then lead her to the "wonderful world of biochemistry". She says she has learnt many valuable skills over the three years of her undergraduate degree, thanks to the incredible Biochemistry Department. This year she is going to complete Honours to further her knowledge and allow her biochemistry to take me places in the world of research.
Helena Cooper went to high school at Bethlehem College in Tauranga and her main interest is in music, which has meant she has been a member of numerous bands and choirs. Helena has always been passionate about science and particularly enjoyed chemistry and math during high school, which led her to continue studying science at university. During her second year at university she realised that she found the topics from the biochemistry papers to be the most interesting to study and learn about, which meant that she changed to majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Mathematics.