RMLA Scholarship Report 2014

Nicola Hulley from the University of Canterbury and Rachael Witney from the University of Waikato were the winners for 2014.

Nicola proposes that it is a poignant time to reflect on the foundation of resource management law in New Zealand.  She proposes to undertake a comparative analysis of the foundation and development of resource management law in the United States.  The focus of her research will be to determine the extent to which, including whether at all, the Public Trust Doctrine is relevant in the New Zealand context.

Rachael Witney will be undertaking a thesis into climate change, examining both the New Zealand and international legal arenas.  Rachael proposes to explore the question of whether energy can ever be clean enough to allow for both the development of a society’s social and economic needs and aspirations, while at the same time mitigating the effects of climate change.  Rachael will then analyse the approaches our legal system would have to undertake in order to realise this goal of sustainable energy use.

RMLA looks forward to closely watching how Nicola and Rachael get on in the forthcoming year.

Ian Fraser
Scholarship Convenor