Scientists’ Awards

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32381, 21 August 1970, Page 20

Scientists’ Awards

Three scientists have been awarded medals by the Association of Scientists for the contributions their work has made to the New Zealand economy.

Dr D. E. Wright, of the Agriculture Department’s animal research station at Ruakura, Hamilton, has been awarded a research medal, and service medals have been awarded to Dr F. B. Shorland, a former director of the Food Chemistry Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and Dr W. M. Hamilton, Director-General of the D.S.I.R.

Announcing the awards, the association said Dr Wright’s work covered three important areas of considerable economic significance in animal nutrition and disease—the foaming properties of plant proteins involved in bloat disease in cattle; the chemistry of the poison responsible for facial eczema in farm animals; and the factors involved in the uptake of magnesium in farm animals in the hope that this will provide a method of controlling grass staggers, an important disease in New Zealand cattle. Dr Shorland’s award was in recognition of his extensive contributions to various scientific societies. His work on vitamin A in fish oils led to the establishment of an estimated $400,000-a-year industry. Dr Hamilton, who will retire later this year, had a long and distinguished record in the organisation and administration of science in New Zealand, the association said.