MESA Co-Chairs' report - Annual Report 2024

2 July, 2025

It has been potentially the busiest year for the MacDiarmid Emerging Scientists Association (MESA) since its inception with the number of events organised by our committee. This year we ran multiple workshops at each centre as well as having multiple coffee catch-ups to keep our members connected outside of their individual research projects.

Workshops included AI integration into coding run at multiple centres. Multiple centres also ran presentation skills workshops. Some highlights were the 3D printing workshop in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and the mayor of Palmerston North even put on a workshop for our Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University members!

Our annual bootcamp this year took us to Staveley with a theme of 'The Grindstone: Sharpen yourself into an academic weapon'. There were two days of workshops facilitated by the Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury graduate school and a workshop delivered by Principal Investigator Professor Aaron Marshall followed by a panel session made up of MacDiarmid Institute alumni at various stages of their careers. We also had a group trip to the Opuke hot pools in Methven to relax and recharge.

Our members at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago who attended the outreach workshop reported that it was a fun and engaging workshop which greatly developed their understanding of outreach and its importance. A massive thanks to Dr Dave Warren, Institute Affiliate, and Associate Professor Anna Garden, Deputy Director Outreach and Education, for helping us host this workshop.

We believe it would be beneficial for every centre to run an outreach workshop near the start of the academic year so that those who are inspired to volunteer for outreach activities have the maximum number of opportunities to do so.

We would like to say a massive thank you to all the MESA members who have participated this year, and we hope you have been able to develop some skills and relationships with fellow researchers along the way!

Finally, we would like to take the time to thank this year's amazing MESA committee for putting on so many amazing events and bringing their ideas to fruition for their peers.

Thanks for an amazing year!

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