Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard
A Front Row Seat – Science Advice in Emergencies
In this talk, Juliet will share insights into her role as Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor over the last three years, focusing in particular on how the role has adapted during a series of national crises that required input from the science community. Juliet trained at Oxford University and moved to Aotearoa in 1993. In 2018, following a stellar career of academic and governance achievements, Juliet was appointed as the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Kaitohutohu Mātanga Pūtaiao Matua ki te Pirimia. She has supported the science and science advisor community to provide advice to the PM, ministers and the public on a wide range of topics, including advice on the Christchurch mosque shootings, the response to the Whakaari | White Island eruption, the Cannabis referendum and the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, the Office released a major report, Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand, which created a vision for a new relationship with plastic.