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Scholarship for outdoor access research

Published 14 October 2016

A $5,000 scholarship is available to Kiwi students researching public access to the outdoors and New Zealand's farming heritage. Applications close on 11 November.

The annual John H Aspinall scholarship is a partnership between the Aspinall family and the New Zealand Walking Access Commission. It is named after a South Island farming leader who died in 2011.

Last year, the inaugural scholarship was awarded to Caroline Dépatie, a teaching and research assistant at Lincoln University's Department of Tourism, Society and Sports, for her research into the impact of technology on outdoor recreation.

Ms Dépatie was chosen from among 13 applicants from across New Zealand. Her work stood out because of its relevance to access to the outdoors and the absence at the time of similar research on the topic. Her research was based on fieldwork in the Christchurch Port Hills examining the use of technology in outdoor recreation.

NZWAC chief executive Eric Pyle said the scholarship was an important way in which the Commission could actively support research that promotes a better understanding of public access to the outdoors.

“An amount like this can make a real difference to students. It can give them welcome boost and help them get to the end of their project,â€