SCANZ Annual General Meeting 2025
The Science Communicators Association of New Zealand (SCANZ) 2025 Annual General Meeting was held online on Thursday 19 March 2026.
Agenda
Welcome, note of attendees, apologies
Confirmation of the minutes from the previous AGM
President/Chair’s report
Financial report (1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025)
Executive committee member retirements and elections
SCANZ’s member access to Australian Science Communicator’s members portal
Any other business
Documents for approval
If you spot any issues with accessing these documents that would prevent your approval, please email us hello@scanz.co.nz.
Proxy Voting
Under the terms of our current constitution, if you are unable to attend the General Meeting, you are allowed to vote on motions by proxy. This means finding another SCANZ member who will be present at the meeting and who agrees to vote on your behalf.
If you wish to vote by proxy, you must download, complete, and email this document to hello@scanz.co.nz no later than 12:00 pm on 19 March 2026.
If you need help finding a proxy voter, contact hello@scanz.co.nz prior to 19 March.
SCANZ Executive Committee - Election
As a SCANZ member, you’re invited to participate in our 2025 AGM election process.
how to vote
Please use this online voting form to cast your vote.
Votes must be submitted by midnight 17 March 2026.
candidates
Below are the people who submitted Expressions of Interest to joint the SCANZ Exec. We asked each of them to provide a short bio and why they were interested in joining our Committee. Their answers are below.
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Bailey Wilson
I have recently completed a Master of Science Communication at Te Herenga Waka. My work sits at the intersection of strategic storytelling, digital engagement, and public-facing communication. In my recent internship with UN Women Aotearoa, I led the creative strategy and digital content for the Women Empowerment Principles. My background also includes executive-level administration and stakeholder coordination roles, which have strengthened my organisational capability and ability to operate effectively within complex environments. I am particularly interested in how science communication can build trust, increase accessibility, and strengthen connections between research, communities, and decision-makers. I enjoy working across digital platforms, crafting compelling narratives, and thinking strategically about how science is positioned within public discourse.
Why are you interested in joining SCANZ?
I am interested in joining the SCANZ Executive Committee because I believe science communication plays a critical role in shaping public trust, policy conversations, and equitable access to knowledge in Aotearoa. As an emerging science communicator, I have benefited from observing the strength and diversity of this community. I am keen to contribute to strengthening networks, supporting early-career communicators, and helping elevate the visibility and impact of science communication across sectors. I bring experience in digital strategy, content development, stakeholder coordination, and organisational systems — skills that I believe could support SCANZ’s communications, member engagement, and operational effectiveness. I am comfortable working collaboratively in small teams, contributing ideas, and taking ownership of tasks to ensure initiatives move forward. I am particularly interested in supporting initiatives that connect science communicators across disciplines, strengthen professional development opportunities, and increase recognition of science communication as a vital profession in Aotearoa. Being part of the SCANZ Executive would be an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to a sector I am deeply committed to growing and supporting.
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Ana Podolyan
A scientist by training, I have been working in research and development molecular laboratories for the last two decades. My endeavours into science communication started in 2022, when I wrote my first science stories featuring ongoing molecular research. This and other science communication outputs I produced since (a website, videos, learning modules, outreach and training), encouraged me to undertake further studies in Science Communication. Through studies, I discovered my creative side and science communication is now my new passion, which (as my grade can attest) I am also good at.
Why are you interested in joining SCANZ?
I would love to immerse myself in all things science comms and contribute to science communication efforts around New Zealand. Excited science comms newbie, I am full of energy and enthusiasm. I hope I can be helpful to the science comms community with my background in science (PhD) and my recent Postgraduate Diploma in Science Communication (December 2025).
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Jodie Evans
My name is Jodie Evans, and I’m a science communicator and writer from Ōtepoti, now based in Tāmaki Makaurau. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology and a Master’s in Science Communication from the University of Otago. My ongoing academic research explores how cultural narratives around wildlife shape public perceptions of and attitudes toward the environment in Aotearoa. I’m passionate about making science accessible, thoughtful, and engaging for different audiences. My work spans science writing, exhibit and interpretation development, and digital communication, including animation and social media. I’ve been lucky to develop these skills through a range of science communication roles. These include working as a features editor for Critic Te Ārohi, guest podcasting for RNZ’s Our Changing World, and contributing to natural hazard communication as a communications advisor for Alpine Fault Magnitude 8. I currently work in interpretation at Auckland Zoo, where I help develop educational resources and experiences that connect visitors with conservation and wildlife. I’m particularly interested in how storytelling shapes the way people understand science and their relationship with the natural world, and I’m excited to continue learning and growing in this field.
Why are you interested in joining SCANZ?
I first joined SCANZ as a postgraduate student after meeting Andrea, and it was such a valuable experience. Being part of the community helped me realise the range of careers in science communication, and it showed me the importance of having a supportive network of like-minded, inspired people. It also reinforced for me that while I’m passionate about science, it’s storytelling that has always helped me make sense of the world. Hence, science communication has felt like a natural home. I’m interested in joining the SCANZ Executive Committee because I want to help keep this vibrant community thriving. I hope to contribute to events, communications, and initiatives that connect and inspire members, and to support other young aspiring science communicators as they find their path in a field I love so deeply. Being on the exec would be a chance to give back to a community that has shaped me, while continuing to learn, grow, and share the joy of science communication with others.
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Nehara Pandey
Kia ora! My name is Nehara Pandey. I moved to Aotearoa New Zealand about four years ago from Goa, a small coastal state in India, to study marine biology and environmental studies. During my degree, I discovered a love for science communication and interned at DOC across their Predator Free 2050 and communications teams. After graduating, I worked at Te Araroa Trust as a Communications and Engagement Coordinator, and I currently work at Zero Invasive Predators as a Communications and Reports Coordinator. Prior to university, I had a background in social media for biodiversity and conservation, and have been writing about climate and environmental issues in a voluntary capacity since about the age of 12.
Why are you interested in joining SCANZ?
I believe science should be accessible to everyone and am deeply passionate about the subject. I would love to contribute my time to SCANZ's vibrant community and the incredibly talented communicators as well as learn from them.
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Waqas Munir
I'm Waqas, a researcher turned founder. Through AcademicFellows, I'm building the infrastructure New Zealand's research sector needs to recognise its own capability at scale. I came to this work through my PhD and postdoc in Electrical Engineering and a career as an Algorithm Engineering consultant. I experienced firsthand what many researchers experience quietly: the structural reality of working in silos. Not for lack of curiosity or ambition, but because the infrastructure to support genuine cross-disciplinary connection simply wasn't there. Research fragmentation isn't a personal failing. It's a systemic gap, and one that costs New Zealand science real opportunities. The Science System Advisory Group has said as much itself. That recognition matters to me, because AcademicFellows is not a product I built to sell. It is infrastructure I built because I lived the problem, understood its scale, and believed someone needed to do something serious about it. Built to connect researchers across every institution and discipline, not just the ones already known to each other. I'm based in Ōtautahi Christchurch, and I'm in this for the long term.
Why are you interested in joining SCANZ?
Science communication and research infrastructure are solving the same problem from different ends. Both exist because knowledge that cannot be found, understood, or connected to the right people loses its value. That shared purpose is why joining SCANZ feels less like a new direction and more like a natural continuation of the work I am already doing. AcademicFellows maps New Zealand's academic ecosystem across universities, Public Research Organisations, and Centres of Research Excellence, covering approximately 90% of the country's research community. It builds the structure researchers need to be found, the visibility institutions need to understand their own capacity, and the capability mapping the sector needs to collaborate strategically. But at its heart, it is a science communication project: making what New Zealand researchers actually do legible, discoverable, and connected. I want to join the Executive Committee because I have something concrete to offer: a working understanding of how research networks are structured, where the invisible gaps sit, and why closing them is as much a communication challenge as a technical one. That perspective is not common in science communication circles, and I think it should be. I am here to contribute, and to learn from a community that has been doing this work seriously for a long time.