The Trustee of the Yvonne A M Smith Charitable Trust is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2009 Yvonne A M Smith Charitable Trust Scholarship is Brigid Te Ao McCallum Livesey (“Biddy”).

Biddy will be studying a Master of Science in Urban Management and Development at Erasmus University, Rotterdam in the Netherlands at the Institute for Housing & Urban Development Studies.

Biddy is currently working for the Ministry for the Environment as part of an inter-departmental project group working on sustainable urban development.

Biddy obtained a double degree from Victoria University of Wellington: a Bachelor of Arts in Te Reo Maori and a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Bio-Diversity, with an A average.

Biddy’s talents in sciences and the arts and her vision for the sustainable, diverse and inclusive development of New Zealand’s cities, greatly impressed the interview panel and they chose Biddy out of 40 applicants to be awarded the $50,000 Yvonne A M Smith Charitable Scholarship.

Biddy has now completed her postgraduate studies and is taking on new challenges.