Kathryn Hay has received a Fulbright New Zealand Scholar Award. Photo / David Haxton
Kathryn Hay has received a Fulbright New Zealand Scholar Award. Photo / David Haxton
Kathryn Hay, of Paraparaumu Beach, is one of seven recipients of the annual Fulbright New Zealand Scholar Awards.
Hay will go to the private Drexel University in Philadelphia where she will learn from experts in the field of work-integrated learning, including how it applies to neurodivergent learners and their transition to work.
She will bring back her findings to Massey University where she is an associate professor in social work, and associate dean of work-integrated learning in the College of Health.
“A lot of my teaching and research relates to work-integrated learning … we’re currently developing a quality framework for work-integrated learning at Massey, so the findings from this project will contribute to that. I’m hoping to develop more-responsive policy, systems and processes for students across disciplines here.”
Hay was also excited to learn about American culture, visit other universities, and anticipated she would do some volunteer conservation work.
She will be joined by her husband, Craig Steed, who is finishing up as principal of Paraparaumu College at the end of term one.
Kathryn Hay is looking forward to learning about work-integrated learning at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Photo / David Haxton
It will be a good chance for Steed, who is unable to work in the United States, to unwind from the pressures of being a college principal.
“It’s worked out really well for us because throughout our careers, he’s had the less-flexible one.”
The other award recipients:
Hona Black (Tūhoe, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Te Whakatōhea, Tūwharetoa) receives the 2024 Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Scholar Award and will explore language interference with te reo Māori and the Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaii.
Jason Ingham, of Auckland, will research heritage and sacred architecture with a focus on vulnerability assessment and remediation at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
Mahsa McCauley, of Auckland, will explore transforming bee welfare with secure AI-enhanced precision apiculture at the Farm Security Operations Centre (FSOC) at North Carolina A&T State University, in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Mei Peng, of Dunedin, will research parental decision-making on plant-based food choices at the University of California, Davis, and Washington State University, Pullman.
Jesse Pirini, of Wellington, will research how innovative data visualisation can support indigenous development at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst and Boston).
Ashley Shearar, living in Rotorua, will research the emerging field of young adult justice at Columbia University in New York.
Fulbright New Zealand executive director Penelope Borland said the breadth of research interests was a sign of Fulbright’s wide impact across disciplines.
“At its heart, the Fulbright programme exists to promote mutual understanding and peace between nations, and every year a fresh group of outstanding individuals takes up that challenge.
“This year’s cohort of NZ scholars represent a wonderfully diverse range of research topics and backgrounds.
“I know they will all make exceptional ambassadors of New Zealand scholarship and culture during their time in the United States.”
The Fulbright programme of educational exchange is one of the largest and most significant educational exchanges of scholars in the world.
New Zealand was only the fifth Fulbright Commission in the world, signing up to the programme in 1948.
Since then, it has awarded more than 1900 scholarships to New Zealand graduate students, artists, academics and professionals to undertake further research in the US, and welcomed more than 1600 Americans on exchanges to New Zealand.
