Submissions are now open for the 2026 New Zealand Esri Young Scholar Award.
If you are an undergraduate or postgraduate student using the ArcGIS System for teaching or research, you could win the 2026 New Zealand Esri Young Scholar Award. This prestigious award recognises young researchers who have applied GIS innovatively in their university coursework or research. Part of the global Esri Young Scholar Award programme, it celebrates excellence, innovation, and creativity in geospatial science, highlighting students who use GIS technology to tackle real-world challenges.
Each year, one lucky New Zealand student will get an opportunity to gain exposure to the geospatial sector, and a global platform to showcase their work.
Prize
The 2026 New Zealand Esri Young Scholar will win:
- Entry to the 2026 Esri UC in San Diego
- Return flights to San Diego
- Accommodation for the duration of the event
- Young Scholar Trophy and photo with Jack Dangermond, President, Esri
- An ArcGIS Personal Use License
Terms and Conditions apply
Closing Date
The closing date for submissions will be the 29 March 2026 at 5pm.
Previous Winners of the New Zealand Esri Young Scholar Award
2025 Winner
Haukapuanui Vercoe from the University of Auckland won the 2025 Esri Young Scholar Award for his outstanding project on Adaptations of Marae for natural hazards resilience. This innovative project beautifully intergates Haukapuanui's heritage, engineering expertise and the power of ArcGIS to tackle real-world challenges faced by the Maori community. Haukapuanui travelled to San Diego in July 2025 to attend the prestigious Esri User Conference.
The judges recognised the following runners up to the 2025 NZ Esri Young Scholar Award:
- Isaac Waterman from the University of Canterbury for his Investigating the Spatial and Temporal Variation of Vape Retailers provision in Aotearora New Zealand: A Nationwide Study project.
- Amber Halton from the University of Canterbury for her New Zealand National Risk Index project.
2024 Winner
The Esri Young Scholar Award was not awarded in New Zealand in 2024.
2023 Winner
Rachel Lawson of The University of Auckland was the Winner of the 2023 NZ Esri Young Scholar Award. Rachel's winning project used ArcGIS to measure disruption to human mobility and exposure to air pollution following the New Zealand International Convention Centre Fire. Rachel attended the Esri Education Summit and Esri User Conference in San Diego in July 2023. To read about her experience visit herblog post.
2022 Winner
Reuben Painter of The University of Canterbury was the Winner of the 2022 NZ Esri Young Scholar Award. As the recipient of this award Reuben attended the Esri Education Summit and Esri User Conference in San Diego in July 2022. Reuben's winning project used ArcGIS to help the New Zealand Police Force in Christchurch to better allocate their resources and to effectively reduce the loss of lives on the road in the area. The poster that was displayed in the Map Gallery at the Esri User Conference showcasing Rueben's work can be viewed at https://bit.ly/3CWLqml. Congratulations Reuben.
Eagle Technology would also like to recognise Josiah Millar, from the University of Canterbury, as co-contributor to the project that won Reuben the 2022 Esri Young Scholar Award.
2021 Winner
The New Zealand Esri Young Scholar Award was not awarded in 2021.
2020 Winner
Bingyu Deng of the University of Canterbury is the 2020 winner of the NZ Esri Young Scholar Award for her project on the use of ArcGIS and BIM in fire rescue decision making. To learn more about her project visit bit.ly/3fbqcTw. Bingyu was honoured virtually in front of the more than 50,000 attendees at the Esri User Conference in 2020, alongside other young scholars from around the world - Congratulations Bingyu!