Jacinda Ardern has been ranked among the top 10 individuals who played a pivotal role in shaping science this year, according to the editors of a leading academic journal, for her effective and swift response against COVID-19.
The prestigious, multidisciplinary science journal Nature placed the Prime Minister alongside the likes of biologist Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization; American physician and immunologist Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and virologist Professor Zhang Yongzhen, the first to share the genome sequence of the coronavirus online.
The Nature's 10 list explores key developments in science in 2020 and the people who played critical roles in these milestones, acknowledging individuals who "helped to make amazing discoveries and brought attention to crucial issues", according to the journal.
Lauded as a crisis leader, Nature hailed the Prime Minister for her swift and effective action against the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. Ardern guided New Zealand through a nationwide lockdown in March and a second resurgence in August with compassion and decisive action, said the journal, successfully stamping out both outbreaks.
"She unified the country of 5 million behind unprecedented measures that have made New Zealand a rare success story in the pandemic," wrote Australian science journalist Dyani Lewis.
Citing management expert Michaela Kerrissey from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, Nature praised the Prime Minister for her deft navigation of scientific uncertainties as the novel and little-understood virus found a firm foothold in New Zealand.
At the height of New Zealand's battle against the virus, Ardern and Director-General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield, fronted daily press briefings to keep the country informed through transparent communication on case developments and the stringent lockdown restrictions. The Prime Minister ensured New Zealanders were up-to-date with a powerful level of "empathy and honesty", Kerrissey told Nature.
Ardern's chief science adviser, biochemist Juliet Gerrard, told the outlet that Ardern's communication was informed by a "depth of understanding" on complex evidence, such as genomics and the evolution of the virus.
However, Nature also noted the criticism levelled at the Government and its blunders at the border, with concern over insufficient levels of staff testing at quarantine facilities. It also highlighted New Zealand's economic downturn as a result of the strict lockdown measures, impacting employment and the economy - the latter plummeting into the steepest recession on record in June.
The journal also recognised Ardern's science-backed commitment to fighting climate change, enacting legislation - the Zero Carbon Act - to become a carbon-neutral country by 2020.
In October, Ardern's Labour Party was re-elected in the general election by a landslide majority, getting enough votes to govern alone without the need for a coalition. The landmark victory illustrated New Zealand's widespread support for Ardern, Nature noted - but the role comes with a heavy set of responsibilities, with the weight of a withering economy on her shoulders.
The Nature's 10 list: Ten people who helped shape science in 2020
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: a biologist, public health researcher and the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), who led the WHO's response to the pandemic
- Verena Mohaupt: a logistics chief who embarked on the largest Arctic research expedition in history
- Gonzalo Moratorio: a virologist and associate researcher who played an important role in Uruguay's successful response to COVID-19
- Adi Utarini: a public health researcher and scientist leading a pivotal trial of a cutting-edge approach to battle dengue fever
- Kathrin Jansen: the head of Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer, who managed the pharmaceutical giant's development of a COVID-19 vaccine
- Zhang Yongzhen: a scientist who was the first to share COVID-19's genome sequence online, kickstarting global research responses
- Chanda Prescod-Weinstein: a cosmologist studying dark matter while fighting racism in science with the Strike for Black Lives online movement
- Li Lanjuan: an epidemiologist who advised officials to impose lockdown measures in Wuhan, China - the first city to battle a viral outbreak and where the beginnings of the pandemic have been traced to
- Jacinda Ardern: The Prime Minister of New Zealand, who successfully stamped out two community outbreaks of the virus through an informed, effective and globally-praised response
- Anthony Fauci: an immunologist, physician and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who became the controversial voice of reason in America's ongoing battle to contain its rampant COVID epidemic.
