Cawthron Memorial Lecture empowering communities

Two speakers will cast the spotlight on mobilising communities on land and at sea during this year’s annual Thomas Cawthron Memorial Lecture on 8 August.

Student Volunteer Army founder and former chief executive, Sam Johnson, and Cawthron’s Dr Xavier Pochon are both keynote speakers at this year’s event which is themed around “Citizen Science, Empowering Communities”.

“I’m going to be doing a whistle-stop tour through 10 years of disasters and community mobilisation that changed people’s lives, and looking at our own ability to resolve problems that are right in front of us, and how we’ve got to restructure our society to look at this,” Sam says.

The Student Volunteer Army, founded by Sam when he was a student living through the Christchurch Earthquakes, has grown into a national network with a strong Nelson contingent that was highly active during the August 2022 floods. His talk will be followed by Dr Pochon presenting on an exciting new project called Citizens of the Sea, for which he is the co-founder and lead scientist.

“This involves equipping a community of ocean-loving seafarers with new tools and technologies to gather marine biodiversity and measure ocean health at scale,” he says.

Now in its 81st year, the lecture is moving back to the Annesbrook Event Centre this year.

The lecture takes place from 7pm–8.30pm and is suitable for a wide range of ages, from teens to retirees. It is free for students and those under 25 to attend. General admission is a $10 koha or pay what you can afford. Bookings are essential and tickets can be purchased here.