Dr Christine Liang, Environmental Management Programme Manager at Southern Institute of Technology (SIT), has recently been announced as a finalist in the Environment category of the 2021 Women of Influence Awards.

Nominated by SIT colleagues and the community collaborators she works alongside, Dr Liang has a larger story to tell about how her journey has informed an interesting life and

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the passion behind the more recent recognition she has received for her work on Micro-Investigators, the citizen science programme which measures microplastic quantities in Southland waterways.

Born in China, Dr Liang became an immigrant at a young age when her parents decided to settle in Canada to give their daughter the chance at a better life. The immigrant family experienced poverty in the early years, but despite this, she remembers being given opportunities within a very supportive family and community environment.

“I learned how to play a musical instrument because of a non-profit organisation whose mission was to provide accessible music education to all children. Performing not only gave me confidence, but my skills also allowed me to teach music and earn an income while attending university,” she said.

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Dr Liang naturally gravitated towards studying Environmental Science, “so I could save the planet”, she said. After gaining a Master’s at the University of Toronto, she came to New Zealand as a student and completed a PhD – investigating coastal systems in response to rising sea levels, at the University of Auckland.

Initially attracted to SIT through the SIT Zero Fees scheme, because it offered students qualifications with no course fees, therefore lessening their financial burden, Dr Liang said she jumped at the chance to join the Environmental Management teaching team in 2018, after finishing her PhD.

Starting Micro-Investigators occurred not just out of Dr Liang’s scientific interests and concern for the environment, but as the child of immigrants, she has always been grateful to the groups who offered accessible education her parents couldn’t otherwise afford and relishes opportunities to pay it forward.

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Micro-Investigators provides environmental field sessions to students from all walks of life; the programme includes students from some low-decile schools. “I wanted to give back and show all tamariki they are capable of science, no matter their background or how resourced their school is,” she said.

“I am cognisant that I am where I am now because of initiatives that seek to close the equality gap in education. I have always wanted to be an educator and to make the world a better place by supporting others.”

Micro-Investigators is now a regional success – it recently won the Environment Southland Environmental Action in Education Award – and Dr Liang says she’s applying for funding in collaboration with ITPs (Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics) in five different regions, looking towards a nationwide roll-out of the programme.

She finds it challenging to have her achievements put in the spotlight because she is aware of how recognition of her work on Micro-Investigators is tied to the Southland community: “… I think my successes actually highlight how amazing the Southland community is!” she said.

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“What I am most proud of, I have to say, is all my students and Micro-Investigators tamariki – I am truly honoured to be part of their ako | journeys.”

Another area of academic interest has grown out of Dr Liang’s experiences in being a woman in the geosciences/engineering field, where she saw firsthand the gendered barriers to career progression. She said she put all of her frustrations into a published article about the maternal wall bias, which led to an outpouring of support and responses from other women who felt the same way.

“This has opened doors for my current research on the gendered impacts of Covid-19 on wāhine educators,” she said. Dr Liang believes that creating the opportunity to continue the dialogue around women in academia and how to successfully achieve a family and career within that environment, matters, because it remains a contemporary issue for women across many sectors.

“I hope this is an issue that can be explored further – while I still struggle with anxiety over starting a family while pursuing an academic career, knowing that my citizen science project is inspiring the community and tamariki is truly a respite.”

“I don’t know when exactly I went from quantitative environmental scientist, to promoting citizen science, to championing women’s rights in academia, but I really like where I have ended up in my career,” she added.

Dr Liang’s fellow colleague, SIT Research Manager, Sally Bodkin-Allen, was a Women of Influence 2020 finalist in the Arts & Culture category. This year’s winners will be announced and celebrated at the annual Awards Dinner on Thursday, 10 February 2022, in Auckland.

SIT Programme Manager Finalist in Women of Influence Awards

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