Shaun Hendy
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Shaun Cameron Hendy is a New Zealand physicist. He is the chief scientist at climate innovation company Toha. He was previously a professor at the
University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
and was the first director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a
centre of research excellence The Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) are interorganisational research networks in New Zealand funded through the Centres of Research Excellence scheme, which is administered by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). History The scheme w ...
in complex systems and data analytics. During the
COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand was part of COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zeala ...
, he led a team of scientists developing mathematical models of the spread of the virus across the country that influenced the government's response to the outbreak.


Early life and education

Hendy was raised in
Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...
, and earned a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in mathematics in 1992, and a Bachelor of Science with first-class honours in mathematical physics the following year. He went on to undertake doctoral studies in physics at the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
between 1994 and 1998. The title of his
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
thesis was ''Cosmic strings in black hole spacetimes''.


Career

After completing his PhD, Hendy went to work at
Industrial Research Limited Industrial Research Limited (IRL) was a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand that was established in 1992 and merged into Callaghan Innovation, a new Crown entity, on 1 February 2013. IRL provided research, development and commercialisatio ...
in
Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...
on a New Zealand Science and Technology post-doctoral fellowship. Hendy stayed on at Industrial Research until 2013. During that time, he also held a joint academic position at
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...
and served as deputy director of the
MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology (often simply called the MacDiarmid Institute) is a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence (New Zealand), Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) specialising in materials science ...
based at the university. He continued to be involved with the institute on researching properties of advanced materials as well as the application of mathematical models to innovation. Hendy has been a professor of physics at the University of Auckland. He led research on the computer modelling of
nanostructure A nanostructure is a structure of intermediate size between microscopic and molecular structures. Nanostructural detail is microstructure at nanoscale. In describing nanostructures, it is necessary to differentiate between the number of dimen ...
s and how they could be applied to
nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...
. He left the university in October 2022.


Te Pūnaha Matatini

Hendy was motivated to study the science of complex systems after hearing about the work of physicist Geoffrey West on the link between population distributions and innovation. He was the founder and first director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a centre of research excellence in complex systems and data analytics, since 2015. It is one of five centres of research excellence hosted by the University of Auckland. Te Pūnaha Matatini develops tools to analyse data from a range of social, economic and biological systems, to inform and evaluate government policy and decision-making. In 2021 Hendy stepped down as the director of Te Pūnaha Matatini and as at 1 July 2021 Priscilla Wehi replaced him as director.


Science communication

Hendy is known in New Zealand for his science communication, often contributing to publications such as ''
The Spinoff ''The Spinoff'' is a New Zealand online magazine and news website that was founded in 2014. It is known for current affairs coverage, political and social analysis, and cultural commentary. It earns money through commercial sponsorship and su ...
'' and Sciblogs.co.nz to discuss his latest research and issues related to science policy. He was awarded the Prime Minister's Prize for Science Media Communication in 2012. He is a former president of the
New Zealand Mathematical Society The New Zealand Mathematical Society is a New Zealand based learned society of mathematicians. It is listed by the Royal Society of New Zealand as the affiliate organisation responsible for mathematics research, and by the International Mathematic ...
. In 2013, Hendy co-authored his first book with physicist Sir Paul Callaghan, discussing approaches to diversify and innovate New Zealand's economy. He has written a book on the role of scientists in public discourse and one on taking personal responsibility towards reducing the effects of climate change. He has written about his experience of cutting out all air travel for a year in an effort to reduce his carbon footprint and why individual action matters.


Coronavirus pandemic

During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Hendy led a team of scientists at Te Pūnaha Matatini to study the spread of infection under various mitigation scenarios. His team's modelling showed that if no measures were taken, the coronavirus could infect 89 percent of the New Zealand population and kill 80,000 people. Subsequently, his team's advice to the government contributed to strong suppression measures across the country. His team continues to update their models based on new information and demonstrate the impact of the government's strict lockdown measures. In 2020 towards the end of the country's four-week lockdown, Hendy recommended it to be extended by two weeks to achieve the goal of eliminating the virus. He expressed concern about New Zealand's
Anzac Day Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...
long weekend (25–27 April) encouraging a rise in social activity if the lockdown were eased before then, potentially spreading the virus further. His data and recommendations were among those considered by the government on 23 April before announcing the decision to extend the strict lockdown until 11:59pm on 27 April. In late December 2021, Hendy and epidemiologist Siouxsie Wiles filed a complaint with the
Employment Relations Authority The New Zealand Employment Relations Act 2000 (often known by its acronym, ERA) is a statute of the Parliament of New Zealand. It was substantially amended by the Employment Relations (Validation of Union Registration and Other Matters) Amend ...
against the University of Auckland for allegedly not protecting them from abuse by anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination elements. According to the Authority, the pair had been harassed at home and work, and also received vitriolic personal responses. The pair had been raising concerns about their personal safety to the University since April 2020. The University of Auckland had responded by issuing a written statement in August 2021 advising them to minimise their public commentary and social media interaction; which Hendy and Wiles regarded as insufficient. The Employment Relations Authority also expedited their complaint, allowing it to proceed to the Employment Court, and ordered the University to pay their legal costs. Hendy settled with the university when he left employment there.


"Listener Seven" controversy

In late July 2021, Hendy and Wiles co-authored an open counter-letter disagreeing with seven fellow
University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
academics, who had penned a
letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...
in the ''
New Zealand Listener The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...
'' current affairs magazine arguing that
mātauranga Māori Mātauranga (literally ''Māori knowledge'') is a modern term for the traditional knowledge of the Māori people of New Zealand. Māori traditional knowledge is Interdisciplinarity, multi-disciplinary and Logical holism, holistic, and there is c ...
(
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
indigenous knowledge) was incompatible with science. Hendy and Wiles contended that mātauranga Māori complemented Western knowledge systems. Their letter also asserted that the diminishing role of indigenous knowledge in science was contributed to exclusion and exploitation. Hendy and Wiles also claimed that mistrust in science was fuelled by science's role in perpetuating
scientific racism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscience, pseudoscientific belief that the Human, human species is divided into biologically distinct taxa called "race (human categorization), races", and that empirical evi ...
, colonialism, and injustice. By 30 July, Hendy and Wiles' counter-letter had attracted more than 2,000 unverified signatures.


Awards and honours

* 2020 – Appointed a
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...
, for services to science, in the
2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...
* 2013 – Awarded the
ANZIAM The Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS) was founded in 1956 and is the national society of the mathematics profession in Australia. One of the society's listed purposes is to promote the cause of mathematics in the community by representing ...
E. O. Tuck Medal * 2012 – Elected Fellow of
Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...
* 2012 – Received the Prime Minister's Prize for Science Media Communication * 2012 – Awarded the
Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...
Callaghan Medal * 2010 – Received the
New Zealand Association of Scientists The New Zealand Association of Scientists is an independent association for scientists in New Zealand. It was founded in 1941 as the New Zealand Association of Scientific Workers, and renamed in 1954.Gregory, G., 2013. Not to be forgotten: New ...
Research Medal


Books and selected publications


Books

* * *


Selected academic publications

* * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendy, Shaun Year of birth missing (living people) Massey University alumni University of Alberta alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand Academic staff of the University of Auckland New Zealand physicists Place of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand climate activists Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit