New Zealand Association of Scientists

[6] The history of the Association is documented in a sequence of articles in the NZ Science Review (NZSR) written by Geoff Gregory.

[1] Initially formed as the New Zealand Association of Scientific Workers, an inaugural meeting with a ‘large attendance’ was held at the Central Library Hall in Wellington in December 1941.

With editorials and Presidential addresses emphasising 'exploring new horizons opened up through intensive war-time research' and that the ‘future of science and of scientists must be fought for, not in the laboratory, but in the broader sphere of society’.

[7] The 1970s saw the Association begin to develop clearer messages around social responsibility including topics such as nuclear research, genetics, and environmental preservation.

[8] Gender equality was a central theme from the mid 1970s-on with the Association electing its first woman President, Dr Ann Bell, in 1982.

Past-president Professor Nicola Gaston published the high profile book on the topic explaining how science is sexist.

[13] The Association produced strong responses to the science reforms in New Zealand in the early 1990s which saw the formation of the Crown Research Institutes.

[9] This was repeated around three decades later with the Association's response to the MBIE-led Te Ara Paerangi Future Pathways review of the New Zealand Science Sector.

The journal included editorials, Association matter and also dedicated significant space to the inclusion of abstracts from recent publications.

[16] The revised scope for the Journal states that it "provides a forum for the discussion of issues of relevance to science in Aotearoa New Zealand in the past, present and future".

The initial editorial board comprised Craig Stevens, Troy Baisden, Lucy Stewart, Simon Hills, Ben Dickson, Tara McAllister, and Alexis Marshall.