Dr Janet Stephenson, (centre right ) director of the
University of Otago's Centre for Sustainability:
Agriculture, Food, Energy, Environment (Csafe), at the
centre's relaunch and renaming function on Thursday. With
her (from left) are Dr Paul Stock, his wife Colleen Stock,
Dr Rebecca Ford, Dr Kayla Russell, of Dunedin, Corey Bragg,
and Geoff Mavromatis.
After almost 15 years in existence, a University of Otago
research centre has relaunched itself with a new name, a new
structure and a redesigned website.
The newly titled Centre for Sustainability: Agriculture,
Food, Energy, Environment (Csafe) better reflected the
centre's evolution and its present research focus on
sustainability, director Dr Janet Stephenson told about 70
staff members and guests at the relaunch function last week.
The centre has 28 researchers and postgraduate fellows
looking at issues such as sustainable agriculture, renewable
energy, future energy trends, retail and consumer food
trends, Maori agriculture and medicines, and healthy
ecosystems.
Coming up with a new name for the organisation, which used to
be called the Centre for the Study of Agriculture, Food and
Environment, had taken about a year of consultation and much
debate around the staff morning tea table, Dr Stephenson
said.
After considering about 10 serious options, settling on the
new name had been "unbelievably simple".
"We couldn't understand why we hadn't gone there before. Many
people thought the S in our name already stood for
sustainability ... and we were able to keep the same
acronym."
As part of the revised structure, a five-member advisory
board has been established.
Its members are energy researcher and retired University of
Otago staff member Prof Emeritus Gerry Carrington, former
Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, Otago Polytechnic
Maori adviser Dr Khyla Russell, Wellington-based Maori
services consultant Rau Kirikiri, and Christchurch
agribusiness consultant Geoff Mavromatis.
- allison.rudd@odt.co.nz
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.