Top student earns Water Sciences Prize

Waikato Regional Council has recognised the University of Waikato’s top water sciences student, who has a particular interest in climate change, remediation and restoration.

Leeza Speranskaya, a Russian-born environmental sciences master’s student from Wellington, is researching the hydrology and carbon balances of the internationally recognised Kopuatai peat bog.

The 21-year-old says her year-long research project will be useful for predicting the effects of climate change on peatland carbon sinks and for informing the restoration of drained peatlands.

“Kopuatai has been shown to be a globally unusual peatland ecosystem due to the abundance of the peat-forming plant Empodisma robustum, which is able to conserve water exceptionally well by minimising evaporation rates,” says Leeza, who worked as a policy intern at the Ministry for Primary Industries to help analyse New Zealand greenhouse gases inventory data.

“This enables a high water table and therefore the carbon sink function at Kopuatai to be maintained year-round, even in dry periods.”

The Water Sciences Prize, established in 1990 by Sir Ross Jansen with the University of Waikato Earth Sciences Department, was presented to Leeza at Friday’s council meeting.

The water sciences prize of book vouchers worth $500 is awarded annually to the top student enrolled in level three water science papers within the School of Science.