An Exceptional “Knoxie”: Mia Boothroyd/Drury
“Drury” is Mia and Annise's mother’s family name and the sisters’ link to Knox College via their grandfather, who lived there in the 1940s while studying Medicine at Otago.
In 2021, after completing the first year of her university studies in Auckland, Mia Boothroyd transferred to the University of Otago to continue her degree. She chose to at live at Knox College and before too long established herself as an outstanding student fully committed to her studies and attaining excellent academic results. In 2022 she completed a Bachelor of Science in Geology and Physics and was awarded the Campbell White Scholarship for Geology and the University of Otago’s Beverly Bursary in Physics. The following year, Mia was again awarded the University of Otago’s Beverly Bursary in Physics while completing a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Physics. She was awarded a First Class Honours degree and the University of Otago’s Premier Undergraduate Prize (Sciences). This year she is doing an MSc in Mathematics with a thesis on the mathematical analysis of cosmological big bang singularities.
In both 2021 and 2022, Mia was granted a Knox College and Salmond College Foundation Scholarship. These are competitive, with selections based on contributions to the community, demonstration of leadership, and academic results. In addition, in 2022, Mia was awarded the David Galloway Memorial Scholarship, in recognition of her outstanding academic results.
Aside from her academic commitments, Mia is an active volunteer for ‘Fireballs Aotearoa’, helping to install night-sky cameras across New Zealand to observe meteorites and meteor showers in the New Zealand night skies. The data the cameras collect may then be used to calculate the trajectories and origins of meteorites. As part of the Fireballs team, Mia has also given hours of her time to scouring rural areas in search of meteorites, in hope of recording New Zealand’s 10th meteorite and contributing further to the scientific body of knowledge about the evolution of the Solar System. In April this year, Fireballs Aotearoa achieved its goal of recovering New Zealand’s 10th meteorite by using the camera network data to triangulate the location of the fallen rock. The meteorite was eventually located in a dry riverbed near Tekapo and has since been touring New Zealand, hoping to encourage people from all walks of life to engage with science and learn the history of our Solar System.
Mia is currently employed as a tutor by Knox College and generously shares her comprehensive scientific expertise by teaching and mentoring residents across a wide range of science subjects, from 100-level Physics papers to 300-level Mathematics. She is well-liked and respected and works hard to provide differentiated responses and strategies for those who seek her support.
In addition to her academic and tutoring workload, Mia has a passion for music and is an accomplished multi-instrumental performer. She is a key member of the Knox College Chapel Choir and helps to coordinate and arrange music and logistics for services and performances.
With her busy academic programme and involvement in the Fireballs project, her commitment to tutoring, and her leading role in musical activities at the College and beyond, one would think that Mia would have more than enough to fill her days. However, there is another area that she has worked tirelessly to set up at Knox. This is the programme called “Knoxie Nerds”, an intriguing endeavour that Mia explains below:
"‘Knoxie Nerds’ is our in-college weekly academic seminar series, in which we invite speakers to come and discuss their work with us over a light supper of cheese. Knoxie Nerds aim to provide a relaxed setting in which students can engage with topics they would not normally discuss in their own University courses and to promote academic debate within the College. In addition, it is my hope that Knoxie Nerds will help first-year students, who can often be quite shy about talking to professors, realise that they need not be so and translate this into their own classes.
Left: Ross McKenzie (Tūhura Otago Museum, Kāi Tahu) talks to Knoxie Nerds about his archaeology and heritage work at Tūhura Otago Museum.
Right: Dr Vandi Verma (NASA Mars rover engineer) speaks to Knox students on her recent visit to New Zealand.
I have really enjoyed running Knoxie Nerds over the past year and a half. We have hosted speakers from many walks of life, including several Knox fellows and board members: Nicola Peart, Graham Redding, Margaret Garland, Royden Somerville, Robin Gauld, and Peter Matheson, to name a few. In addition to our staple academic talks, we have also had practical chemistry demonstrations, analysed dust collected from the Knox roof for micrometeorites, learned basic radio communication, and went on a field trip to the Portobello Marine Science Centre. In April this year, a Knoxie Nerds group participated in the Knox College Relay for Life team and raised over $500 towards fighting cancer. Thank you to several of the College fellows who donated to our team – your support was greatly appreciated.
Left: Hannah Drury of the Portobello Marine Science Centre takes the Knoxie Nerds on a tour of the centre.
Right: Knox students experience New Zealand’s oceans in virtual reality! Session hosted by Hannah Drury of the Portobello Marine Science centre.
I would like to thank Caroline, Dan, and especially Helen, all very much for their support and encouragement of Knoxie Nerds, the 2023 Sub-Masters for coming up with a group name, and all the Knoxie Nerds for coming each week and joining in (especially Alex, who is there without fail and helps me set up every week). A special thank you to the kitchen staff as well for providing us with wonderful cheese platters every Friday night. Any College fellows or alumni would be most welcome to join us for Knoxie Nerds in the future – if you are interested in attending or speaking, please contact the College for dates and times. As we say at Knoxie Nerds, `Come for the cheese, stay for the chats!’"
Mia is an outstanding example of the kind of graduate Otago seeks to produce, someone who has the abilities and attitudes needed in today’s often cynical and insecure world. As well as being academically extremely able, she is genuine and purposeful, shows a high level of concern and empathy for others, and is constantly using her initiative to look for ways to engage others in activities and events that will add to the richness of their College and academic experience.
The Foundation for Knox College and Salmond College sends their congratulations and best wishes to Mia on her successes and achievements so far. We would also like to express our gratitude for her outstanding contributions to the residents and staff of Knox College during her time there. We look forward to keeping up to date with her activities as she takes on the challenges of the wider world after graduation.