Emeritus Professor Paul Williams, of Auckland, ONZM, for services to geoscience and environmental science
Emeritus Professor Paul Williams has held several roles at the University of Auckland, including Deputy Dean of Science and Head of the Geography Department. He led establishment of Environmental Science teaching. He led the 1974 Waitomo Cave Research Project and directed the 1983 Upper Waitemata Harbour Study for the Auckland Regional Authority. He researched and assembled New Zealand stable isotopic data spanning 125,000 years. He is a world-leading expert in karst landscapes, landforms and aquifers formed by the dissolution of soluble rocks. He is a member of the World Commission for Protected Areas, an expert specialist for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Councillor of the IUCN Geoheritage Specialist Group. Professor Williams has authored books which remain foundational texts for geological and geographical research and teaching.