Life cycle management student symposium held

The inaugural symposium for life cycle management students was held at Massey’s Manawatu campus last week.

The symposium saw students from a number of universities give presentations to an audience of researchers and industry representatives.

University of Waikato student Jim Bier was awarded best paper for his presentation on the implications and experiences of performing life cycle assessment early in the product development cycle, using bio-plastic produced from bloodmeal as an example.

He says the symposium was fantastic opportunity to meet and engage with other students from around the country that share a research interest in life cycle thinking.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to share my research, and to hear what other students have been up to in the fields of life cycle management, life cycle assessment, carbon footprinting and water footprinting,” he says.

“Along with presenting our work, we were given updates on developments with regard to international standards on carbon and water footprinting, and were able to take part in discussion groups on future options for LCA and footprinting in New Zealand. It’s often said that postgraduate research can be a lonely experience. It was nice to be reminded that there are other people working in this area in New Zealand and championing its cause.”

Massey University PhD student Helene Sterzik gave a presentation entitled A Framework of Barriers and Enablers to Successful LCM Uptake in Primary Industry Sectors.

Her research focuses on the New Zealand primary industry – specifically wine, kiwifruit, and meat. “It’s important we improve our environmental performance to stay competitive,” she says. “Consumers overseas want scientific proof that New Zealand deserves its clean-green image – so we have to be able to justify that.”

She says the symposium provided a great opportunity to not only link with students, but also with researchers from the industry.

New Zealand Life Cycle Management Centre director Associate Professor Sarah McLaren says the symposium was a great success.

“There were nine student presentations on topics that varied from assessment of soil carbon in apple orchards, to the water footprint of wine, to the use of bloodmeal to create bioplastics” she says. “Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to discuss issues with others who understand the life cycle approach and how it can be used to support decision-making.

“The workshops in the afternoon provided an opportunity to debate the ‘sustainability story’ for New Zealand, how to do water footprinting, and whether Life Cycle Assessment should model the consequences of decisions – or just the status quo.”

The centre is a partnership between Massey University, AgResearch, Landcare Research, Plant and Food Research, and Scion. Its aim is to build capability for life cycle management in New Zealand through education, training and research.