Sir Alan Mark Named 2025 BLAKE Medalist Alongside Eight Other Inspiring BLAKE Leadership Awardees

Continuing Sir Peter Blake’s legacy of inspiring
environmental leadership, the 2025 BLAKE Awards have
celebrated nine remarkable New Zealanders whose work is
helping create a more sustainable future for
Aotearoa.

Emeritus Professor Sir Alan Mark
has been awarded the 2025 BLAKE
Medal, the supreme BLAKE award which recognises
exceptional environmental leadership in Aotearoa.

Sir
Alan was awarded the BLAKE Medal to acknowledge and
celebrate his outstanding contribution to New Zealand as a
leading plant ecologist, lifelong environmentalist, and
champion of science-based conservation which has helped
protect and conserve some of Aotearoa’s most significant
landscapes.  

Eight BLAKE Leader awardees have
been announced across seven categories in a renewed format
which focuses solely on environmental leadership, and for
the first time includes a ‘group award’ in a new
category dedicated to celebrating a school that demonstrates
environmental leadership and impact through education.
 

This year’s award recipients
are:

• Emeritus Professors Steve Dawson and
  Liz Slooten: Earth Sciences New Zealand
  Pūtaiao/Science Award
• Michael Eaglen:
  Pakihi Auaha/Business Award
• Riley
  Hathaway: Westpac Rangatira mō āpōpō/Young
  Leader
• Claire
  Roper: Metlifecare Poutoko Hapori/Community
  Award
• Nikora
  Ngaropo: Whakakakau/Communication
  Award
• Sally
  Carson: Mātauranga/Education
  Award
• Stratford Primary
  School: Ngā Kura/Schools
  Award

These awards are presented to
inspirational New Zealanders whose environmental leadership
has delivered high impact results and contributed to a more
sustainable future for Aotearoa.

Sarah-Jane Blake,
daughter of Sir Peter Blake, presented the medal and awards
in Hamilton at The Pā, which forms part of the University
of Waikato, yesterday night (Thursday 13 November).

As
an artist, performance designer, and adventurer, Sarah-Jane
says it’s great to see how New Zealanders are driving
environmental change in their respective careers and
projects.  

“There are so many mediums which
can raise awareness about the challenges our planet faces.
This group of awardees brings together people from
completely different spheres, but everyone’s played to
their strengths in an inspiring effort to make a real,
tangible difference.”

James Gibson, Chief Executive
Officer of BLAKE, says Sir Alan has shown exceptional
commitment to conservation efforts in New Zealand over a
lifetime of research, advocacy, and leadership, spanning
more than seven decades to help protect some of Aotearoa’s
most protected landscapes.

“His lifetime devotion to
nature conservation is truly inspiring, as is his passion
for ensuring the next generation is equipped with the
knowledge, tools and resources to continue advocating for
our natural landscapes,” he says.

The refreshed
categories for this year’s BLAKE Awards mean there is
comprehensive recognition of qualities in the environmental
sector.

“This sets the BLAKE Awards apart from other
ceremonies in a way which continues Sir Peter Blake’s
legacy in shaping the way New Zealander’s think about the
environment,” Gibson says. 

The BLAKE Awards
not only honor outstanding leaders, but they also serve as a
catalyst to inspire future
generations.

Awardee
Biographies

Sir Alan Mark (2025 BLAKE
Medallist) – Dunedin

Emeritus Professor Sir
Alan Francis Mark is a leader in conservation in Aotearoa,
with a particular focus on our alpine environments and
indigenous tussock grasslands. As a founding member and
chairperson of the Guardians of Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau
in 1973, Sir Alan’s leadership was a strong force in the
appropriate regulation of lake levels.

He has also
been involved in protecting areas like the Denniston
Plateau, and various areas in the South Island High
country.

Sir Alan’s expertise in Botany and Plant
Ecology meant that he could bring a rigorous scientific eye
to decision making, and this led him to many other
leadership positions, including as president of Forest &
Bird, being on the Scientific Advisory Committee, Mt
Aspiring National Park Board, a member of the Fiordland
National Park Board, the Otago Catchment Board, and as a
research advisor for the Miss E.L. Hellaby Indigenous
Grasslands Research Trust. Sir Alan has been a strong
advocate for the protection of New Zealand’s indigenous
tussock grassland.

Sir Alan Mark has often linked
scientific research with conservation efforts and was
knighted in 2009 for services to
conservation.

Riley Hathaway (2025 BLAKE
Leader: Rangatira mō āpōpō/Young Leader) – Snells
Beach, Auckland

Riley Hathaway is just 24,
yet she has already spent over 11 years helping to raise
awareness of the beauty of the moana in Aotearoa and beyond.
She’s encouraging children to love it and to be kaitiaki,
so that future generations can enjoy the moana too. She is
part of the father and daughter team who started Young Ocean
Explorers.

Young Ocean Explorers was set up in 2013
after a school project about turtles and plastic sparked the
idea to create a series of short videos for children about
the ocean. These were screened on TV’s ‘What Now’ and
are still used in snippets on their social channels
today.

Riley went on to deliver a TED talk at age 14,
film many more videos, create an ocean related book with her
dad, develop lesson plans for schools, collaborate with
like-minded organisations, and become a prominent figure for
ocean advocacy. She now speaks to thousands of students in
schools every year with the aim of connecting children to
the ocean.  Their online platform is used in schools
and classrooms nationwide. 

Riley has worked
closely with teachers to plan and present the 21-day
challenge – a set of fully planned lessons which aligns
with the curriculum to help teachers empower tamariki to
make a difference for the ocean. This has reached thousands
of primary and intermediate aged children from across the
motu. 

Claire Roper (2025 BLAKE Leader:
Metlifecare Poutoko Hapori/Community) – Kapiti
Coast

Claire Roper is building a generation
of eco-conscious young entrepreneurs in Otaki.

Since
launching the Otaki Kids Market in 2023, the mum-of-three
from the Kapiti Coast has helped over 600 children learn
business basics through a dedicated market space which
encourages youth to be mindful of their products, production
methods, and environmental impact.

The market has
become a launchpad to get young entrepreneurs involved in
other regional markets, and inspires kids to be resourceful,
which Claire says is more important than ever in a world
filled with mass-produced items and online
shopping.

She’s collaborated with other community
groups and organisations to boost the initiative, and plans
to take the model nationwide, motivated by the passion and
positive impact she sees with each
market.

Michael Eaglen (2025 BLAKE Leader:
Pakihi Auaha/Business) – Auckland

Michael
Eaglen is a New Zealand-based naval architect and engineer
renowned for his leadership in the maritime decarbonisation
movement. As the CEO and co-founder of EV Maritime, he is at
the forefront of developing zero-emission electric ferries
to transform urban water transport.

Under Michael’s
leadership, EV Maritime focuses on creating
high-performance, battery-electric ferries that are
cost-effective, reliable, and scalable, aiming to
decarbonise harbor cities worldwide. They have developed the
EVM200, a 200-passenger, 25-knot electric ferry capable of
carrying up to 200 passengers. The first of these vessels
was recently launched in Auckland, with the second boat
under construction.

Michael’s vision extends beyond
local initiatives; he aims to help shipyards globally
transition to electric ferry manufacturing and supports
governments and operators in adopting these technologies
with confidence.

Emeritus Professors Steve
Dawson and Liz Slooten (BLAKE Leader: Pūtaiao/Science) –
Whangaroa

Steve Dawson and Liz Slooten have
been a team for over 35 years and have made immense
individual and collective contributions to marine science,
especially in the field of marine mammal biology.

Liz
and Steve’s research leadership has initiated, established,
and continues to produce important scientific evidence
related to Hector’s dolphins at Banks Peninsula,
Bottlenose dolphins in Fiordland, and Sperm whales in
Kaikoura.

Their extensive research and advocacy of
Hector’s and Maui dolphins underpin the current year-round
gillnet-free zone mammal sanctuary in Banks Peninsula. The
dramatic reduction in fishing pressure in this zone benefits
not just the dolphins but the entire marine ecosystem. Steve
and Liz remain strong advocates for further conservation
measures.

Together they have created many
opportunities for postgraduate research students and have
published hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific publications,
numerous books and photographs. They have served in a
variety of important leadership roles both for scientific
organisations and in conservation, and their work has led to
important changes to the management and conservation of
taonga marine mammal species.

Nikora Ngaropo
(BLAKE Leader: Whakakakau/Communication) –
Hamilton

Nikora Ngaropo is a digital animator
on a mission to give back to his community.

Through
programmes like Young Animators and Toro Academy, Nikora has
introduced over 10,000 rangatahi to digital storytelling,
and says it’s not just a technical skill, but a way to
preserve whakapapa, identity, and connection to the
whenua.

He’s passionate about giving young people,
specifically from Māori and Pasifica backgrounds, the
confidence to find their purpose working in the industry
too.

Nikora bridges the connection between learning,
technology, and the environment through rural workshops, and
is taking his concepts global, with the aim to empower
indigenous communities all around the
world.

Sally Carson (BLAKE
Leader: Mātauranga/Education) –
Dunedin

After a lifetime of studying
coastlines and rocky shores, Sally Carson still gets a buzz
out of watching others fall in love with their marine
environments.

She’s one of Aotearoa’s greatest
marine science educators, and has engaged with thousands of
people, especially young people, over three decades leading
the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre in Otago.

Her
work has spanned numerous marine education projects, notably
the Aquavan (a travelling programme) and Marine Meter
Squared, a national citizen science project on long term
monitoring of New Zealand’s seashore.

Sally’s
influence and impact has created a legion of marine
conservation ambassadors who are inspiring the next
generation to connect with their
coastlines.

Stratford Primary School (Ngā
Kura/Schools Award) – Taranaki

Stratford
Primary School is a Taranaki Enviro School which has made
sustainability simply part of “who they are”.

With
gardens, orchards, bug hotels, chickens and bees, the school
is dedicated to having outdoor learning spaces which give
students purpose while learning about the importance of
reducing their carbon footprint.

Over the years this
has contributed to positive learning outcomes in the
classroom as well, and they have built a community network
where teachers and staff feel supported, and students feel
empowered.

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