The Dr Eileen Fair Master’s Scholarship has been created to support and encourage people from the Manawatū region to complete postgraduate studies related to the environment.

This $40,000 (inclusive of tuition fees) scholarship is tenable for one year.

Apply here

Applications open in late 2026

Dates for the 2027 scholarship will be announced in July 2026.

To be eligible candidates must:

  • Be accepted for enrolment for a Master’s in environmental studies at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University Palmerston North campus. “Environmental studies” means the topic undertaken must provide environmental benefit; study can be within any discipline. For advice as to whether a topic falls within the scope of environmental studies, please contact research@eileenfair.org.nz for a determination.
  • Be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident.
  • Have a connection to the Manawatū region – to be eligible for this scholarship, you must have grown up in the region or have other close family ties to it.
  • Demonstrate that your research topic will:
    • close research gaps
    • have lasting impact
    • involve the community
    • relate to one of the following: sea / river / wetlands / dry land / urban areas
    • relate to one of the following: environmental conservation / restoration / monitoring.

Selection is made on the basis of:

  • Academic merit (25%)
  • Quality/relevance of the research and research plan (25%)
  • Quality/relevance of the community engagement plan (25%)
  • Two referee reports, with at least one from an academic with some level of research supervision over the applicant, preferably their studies supervisor (10%)
  • Alignment with the eligibility criteria (15%)

The Eileen Fair Charitable Trust makes the award.

For more information or questions about the Dr Eileen Fair Master’s Scholarship, contact research@eileenfair.org.nz.

Dr Eileen Fair’s story

Eileen broke into the male-dominated world of science in the 1960s and 70s. She graduated from Massey University in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science in geography and went on to complete her Master’s with honours in 1968. Her Master’s thesis, Structural, tectonic and climatic control of the fluvial geomorphology of the Manawatu River west of the Manawatu Gorge, identified the date of the formation of the Manawatū River valley. Her dissertation dated the river terraces to glacial outwash periods of the late Pleistocene, with the earliest terrace identified as being approximately 50,000 years old.

Continuing her career in geomorphology, Eileen was awarded a scholarship to study her PhD at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA. The research for her PhD dissertation, The carbonation process in karst geomorphology: A climatic model,was undertaken in a bat-filled cave in the Ozark Mountains. Eileen’s work showing the relationship between surface precipitation and flow rates on cave formations is still used today in workshops run by the Tumbling Creek Cave Foundation. It demonstrates the intimate relationship between the surface and subsurface ecosystems in karst terrains.

After being awarded her PhD in 1974, Eileen lectured in physical geography at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and at Perth University in Western Australia before returning to New Zealand. Eileen grew up in Palmerston North and was a passionate advocate for Manawatū, a region she called home for most of her life.