Research

Susannah has been Acting Manager of the Research Office in 2023 and is working to further embed the systems already established and support the Research Professors and Research Coordinator.  The Innovation and Research office's aim has been to create a culture in which our academics can thrive, and as an Acting Manager, Susannah wants to maintain that.

Susannah started as a tutor at NMIT seven years ago, and has been responsible for a number of Academic Departments, including Research.  She is also currently Curriculum Director.

Read more about Susannah Roddick here(external link).

As the Research Support coordinator at Te Pūkenga NMIT, Velma supports staff and tutors of degree programmes who have been allocated time to conduct research. She enjoys meeting and engaging with the academics and tutors and assisting however she can.

“I like learning about their specific research projects, seeing them start collaborations and improve their research skills,” Velma says.

She trained at Utrecht University, in the Netherlands while doing her PhD, as an academic and researcher in the multi-disciplinary field of logic, linguistics and computer science.

 When she arrived in New Zealand, she accepted a coordinator role for quality assurance at Victoria University of Wellington.

“It was great working with academics in different disciplines and working alongside staff and management to improve teaching and learning practice.”

She then became self-employed, supporting older people and children with IT needs.

“My current role at Te Pūkenga NMIT is a great combination of my experiences, where my technical skills and people-oriented approach come together,” she says.

Velma takes an active role in the Te Tauihu community, partly thanks to her young daughter. She enjoys organising and participating in cultural events for the Dutch community and has set up a restoration group with her neighbours to enhance the esplanade and protect the native bush and wildlife along the Brook Stream (Te Waimārama).

Velma believes Te Pūkenga NMIT offers great opportunities and is looking forward to working on projects she is passionate about.

“I very much enjoy the collegiality here. My first days were so welcoming and everyone was happy to have a chat.”

Kirsten Coppell

Associate Professor Kirsten Coppell is a specialist in public health medicine and has also trained and practised as a general practitioner in New Zealand and the UK. During her public health medicine training Kirsten became involved with diabetes quality of care improvement initiatives. She has undertaken diabetes and diabetes related research at Edgar Diabetes and Obesity Research since it was established in 2003.

She has established the Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) network, a research group looking at dietary treatments and disease monitoring. In addition to research, Kirsten has contributed to national diabetes clinical guidelines. She is also a member of the National Diabetes Service Improvement Group, an executive member of the NZ Society for the Study of Diabetes, a steering committee member of the Gut Health Network, Health Research Council of NZ College of Experts member, and the NZ College of Public Health Medicine Training Programme Supervisor for the South Island.

Ellen Cieraad

As a quantitative ecologist, Ellen contributes to varied research projects in New Zealand and around the world, which are centered around the impacts of human activities on biodiversity, including the effects of climate change, pesticide use, and light pollution. She studies how to minimise the effects that these human impacts have on interactions between species, and the services that nature provides to people (such as pollination). 

Born in the Netherlands, Ellen came to New Zealand while studying biology. She was a Technician and later Research Scientist at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, before becoming an Assistant Professor in ecology and Director of Education at the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Recently, the lifestyle opportunities and natural environment in New Zealand have drawn her back. Read more about Ellen here.(external link)

Eric Buenz

Dr Eric Buenz completed his Doctorate in Biomedical Science at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, his Master of Business Administration at the University of St. Thomas, and his Master of Agriculture at the University of the South Pacific in Samoa. He is an expert in natural products, immunology, neurology, drug discovery and business development. He has secured United States Food and Drug Administration Investigational New Drug status for novel compounds and directed the associated clinical trials for these compounds at Mayo Clinic.

Dr Buenz has authored numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, many in high-impact journals such as The British Medical Journal and Trends in Pharmacological Sciences; his work has also been covered in the popular press in publications such as The New York Times, The Economist, Wired, and The Scientist. He has a wide range of business management experience from successfully securing venture funding for start-up organisations, to serving on non-profit boards, advising governments and running departments of multinational firms.