Ironically, last night the University of Otago infectious diseases researcher was awarded a prestigious prize for communicating complex information about infectious diseases and the response to pandemic threats.
Prof Geoghegan said when told she would be receiving the award she was ‘‘quite shocked’’ because she got into science communication ‘‘by accident, rather than design’’.
In early 2020, she had just moved back to New Zealand when Covid-19 began emerging in China, and rapidly started spreading across the globe.
Because of her background in infectious diseases, people started coming to her for advice about what it would mean for New Zealand.
‘‘I was sort of busy working in an area, which all of a sudden became important, and important for the public to know about.
‘‘And so it was, I guess, sort of by accident that I got into science communication.’’
She explained the scientific implications of the situation so well, she became one of the main faces of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Beyond public communication through news media, she worked closely with public health decision-makers to use data from genome sequencing of Covid-19, to inform policies and responses to the pandemic.
The prestigious Prime Minister’s Te Puiaki Whakapā Pūtaiao Science Communicator Prize is the second time Prof Geoghegan has received a prime minister’s award.
A few years back, she received the Prime Minister’s Te Puiaki Kaipūtaiao Maea MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize for being an outstanding early career researcher.
‘‘That was quite amazing. And then to receive the one for actually communicating research that I do, is quite overwhelming to have that one as well,’’ she said.
Rutherford Discovery Research Fellow and psychology senior lecturer Dr Olivia Harrison also won the Prime Minister’s Te Puiaki Kaipūtaiao Maea MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize for her outstanding early career research on understanding and managing anxiety.
Dr Harrison won an emerging scientist prize for developing a multidisciplinary approach to understanding and managing anxiety and mental health.
She said there had been an increase in the prevalence of anxiety around the globe, and New Zealand had the fourth-highest prevalence in the world.
She has been studying the link between breathing and anxiety, an area of research called interoception - the mental perception of internal sensations, such as heart rate, hunger, temperature, pain and emotions.
Dysregulation of interoception could contribute to anxiety disorders if the brain misinterpreted signals from the body, or vice versa, she said.
Dr Harrison said breathing could be a valuable window into studying this.
‘‘We can use breathing to change symptoms in our body and measure what happens in our brain, or in our behaviour.’’
She said breathing was a ‘‘phenomenal tool’’ to understand anxiety, and it was also a great tool for treatment.
‘‘It’s a way we can change what’s happening on the inside.
‘‘If we’re really tense - our heart is beating fast, our stomach is churning and we’re breathing differently - we can use breathing to change those other automatic processes that we don’t have access to.’’
She said it was ‘‘an incredible honour’’ to win the prime minister’s prize, and it would help her lab to continue the research and create more exposure for the issue.
‘‘What I want to do with all of this is to make a positive difference for people who are suffering from anxiety.
‘‘We’ve made huge strides in talking about mental health and anxiety, but, especially in New Zealand, I don’t think we’re quite there yet.’’
The science communicator prize and the emerging scientist prize were two of five prizes awarded at a ceremony in Wellington last night.
