Aceh and Sri Lanka were the areas worst affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami on Boxing Day 2004, which killed an estimated 225,000 people.
Miss Johnstone described the 10 months she spent in Indonesia on post-tsunami and civil conflict resolution work as the best year of her life.
‘‘It was such a privilege to work in these parts of the world. To play a small part in a much wider struggle for recovery, peace and development and to gain insights into various aspects of culture, dispute resolution and law,'' Miss Johnstone said.
Miss Johnstone was awarded a Dispute Resolution Prize from Leadr NZ, which helped partly fund her time spent in Aceh.
Leadr NZ executive officer Gabrielle O'Brien said she was extremely impressed by the work that Naomi had already been involved in.
‘‘She was such a selfstarter. She also demonstrated a real interest in the value of mediation and alternative dispute resolution,'' Ms O'Brien said.
Miss Johnstone was involved in research, policy support and analysis relating to issues arising from the tsunami and the decades of internal conflict in both countries.
She was in Indonesia from January to October this year.
Miss Johnstone is in her final year of a combined arts and law degree.
