Dr Elliston Rowland, Palmerston North, ONZM
For services to genetic research. Dr Rowland was Associate Professor of the Institute of Molecular and Biosciences at Massey University from 1982 to 2009. He was one of the top 10 finalists in the New Zealand Herald’s list of New Zealanders of the Year in 2009 for his chromosome research on former military personnel exposed to nuclear testing in the 1950s. A British High Court Judge described Dr Rowland’s research as ‘pivotal’ in allowing former servicemen to seek compensation from the British Government. Dr Rowland’s study, which compared the health of 50 New Zealand military personnel who were exposed to radiation, with 50 military people of the same age who were not exposed, found significant chromosomal damage in the military personnel.