Overview

The Hamish Saunders Memorial Fund is a charitable trust. It was formed by family and friends of Hamish Saunders, a New Zealand marine geologist who died tragically whilst working on Pedra Branca, south of Tasmania, on 15 April 2003.

The Fund's purpose is to keep alive Hamish's strong commitment to marine conservation. To that end, it has a unique and highly focused mission:

To nurture future leaders in the knowledge, conservation and management of marine (including island and coastal) environments.

The Fund offers assistance to young people who:

• have a strong long-term interest in, and commitment to, the conservation of marine environments; and
• have leadership qualities, including displaying the values that Hamish exemplified, such as integrity, courage, testing the edges, zest for living, and a strong interest in communication.

This assistance takes two primary forms:

First, the Fund uses its extensive links and networks to create opportunities for future conservation leaders to work inside or with conservation-related organisations based in New Zealand and overseas, or to be mentored by such organisations' leaders.

Second, the Fund gives financial support to assist the education and development of future conservation leaders, eg by way of scholarships and travel grants.