Member of NZ government’s Covid-19 Technical Advisory Group honoured alongside social work lecturer
Michael Baker, a public health expert at the University of Otago, has been awarded a special Critic and Conscience of Society Award and $50,000 in funding by the Gama Foundation for his work on the Covid-19 pandemic.
The annual award recognises academics at New Zealand universities who speak out and provide independent expert commentary on issues affecting the public. Baker is a member of the government’s Covid-19 Technical Advisory Group and has helped inform New Zealand’s response to the pandemic.
For the first time, two $50,000 awards were presented this year. The other winner for 2020 was Anita Gibbs, a lecturer in social work, sociology and criminology at Otago.
Grant Nelson, co-founder of the Gama Foundation, said: “The judges decided to make a special award to professor Michael Baker for making an outstanding contribution by providing independent, expert commentary on New Zealand public health issues from 2016 to 2020 and notably during the Covid-19 crisis.”
Responding to the award, Baker said: “I feel privileged to work in the university sector, where being a ‘critic and conscience’ is part of the job description.”
He added: “New Zealand’s proactive response to the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that good science and good political leadership are a powerful combination that can protect both public health and the economy.”
Gibbs was recognised for her work in highlighting foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which affects some 3,000 babies born every year in New Zealand.
“As a nation we are not recognising this disability or supporting families attempting to care for the children and young people who end up filling our care, prisons and mental health systems,” she said.
The awards were presented last week at a ceremony held at the university.