To be a Companion of the Queen's Service Order:
DICKSON, Mr Gary John
For services to search and rescue
Mr Gary Dickson has contributed more than 30 years of voluntary service to Search and Rescue (SAR) organisations in the South Island.
Mr Dickson has served as the Communications Advisor for Wanaka SAR for the past 18 years and has served as the Alpine Rescue Leader for nine years. He was an advisor to Land SAR New Zealand and President of the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association. He represented New Zealand at the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR) and the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA). He facilitated Land SAR New Zealand's membership into the ICAR. He has also developed qualification standards for the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association, which was vitally important for New Zealand's mountain climbing tourism industry. He is credited with developing Wanaka SAR from a group of casual volunteers to one of the most professional volunteer alpine cliff rescue teams in New Zealand. Mr Dickson has personally been involved in more than 200 rescue operations during his time volunteering at Aoraki/Mt Cook and in the Wanaka and Fox/Franz Josef Glacier regions.
To be a Companion of the Queen's Service Order:
WILLIAMS, Dr John Morgan (Morgan)
For services to the State and the environment
Dr Morgan Williams is one of New Zealand's leading scientists, earning his PhD in population ecology and working in Antarctica and Fiji before dedicating his work toward the public sector.
Dr Williams worked for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for 21 years leading major ecological research on pests before serving as the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) from 1997 to 2007. As PCE he led many investigations that advanced understanding of environmental and sustainability issues and he remains an active environmental leader. He chaired the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in New Zealand for eight years until May 2019 and was also a member of the WWF International Council. During his time as Chair, WWF contributed to doubling the size of the Maui dolphin protected area, facilitated a large landscape protection project in Northland, initiated annual Environmental Innovation Awards, and contributed to major efforts to secure the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary. He now chairs the Cawthron Foundation that raises funds, provides scholarships, runs science fairs and the New Zealand River Awards, all in association with the Cawthron Institute. Dr Williams is a Trustee of the National Energy Research Institute and the New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law, as well as Chair of a Water Futures group.