Benjamin Rowe

• My specific role as a teaching assistant was with Maori and Pasifika students and assisting them in all undergraduate earth science courses, with the knowledge I have learnt throughout my academic journey.
• I also assisted with the Manaaki program, which assists Maori and Pasifika students who may be struggling at University because of academic or personal challenges. This includes identifying students through their grades in their courses and allowing them to know that assistance is available.
• Running the School of Environment tuakana room with tutors from other subjects, including keeping track of the budget and ensuring the tuakana room is a comfortable and welcoming place for everyone.

Enza Zaden are a vegetable seed growing company. I was a part of the Research and development team. This included looking after vegetables grown to breed new varieties of onions and pumpkins. I did this job for three summers from November to March

In this position, I oversaw the growth progress of onions within eight different greenhouses, ensuring irrigation worked, weeding, pollinators were ok, and fixing any holes in nets or the greenhouse plastic. These tasks were imperative for the survival of onions, which were used for making new varieties. Analytical precision was necessary as the slightest bit of pollen or a wrong tag on an onion could cause the entire breeding program to fail.

I also assisted with the pumpkin team when needed and general maintenance around the farm that the manager required help with or if I recognised the job needed to be done.

• My specific role as a teaching assistant was with Maori and Pasifika students and assisting them in all undergraduate earth science courses, with the knowledge I have learnt throughout my academic journey.
• I also assisted with the Manaaki program, which assists Maori and Pasifika students who may be struggling at University because of academic or personal challenges. This includes identifying students through their grades in their courses and allowing them to know that assistance is available.
• Running the School of Environment tuakana room with tutors from other subjects, including keeping track of the budget and ensuring the tuakana room is a comfortable and welcoming place for everyone.