Professor Ceri Warnock receives RMLA Outstanding Person Award 2026

The Resource Management Law Association is pleased to announce Professor Ceri Warnock as the recipient of the 2026 RMLA Outstanding Person Award.

Presented at the RMLA Annual Awards in the Bay of Islands, the award recognises outstanding contributions to the advancement of resource management law, theory or practice in New Zealand, including nationally recognised impact, professional excellence and leadership.

Ceri has made a significant and enduring contribution to resource management law and practice through teaching, research, writing, mentoring and public sector work. In selecting Ceri for the award, particular weight was placed on her influence across generations of resource management practitioners, together with her nationally and internationally recognised scholarship and thought leadership in environmental adjudication and resource management law.

For Ceri, receiving the award was particularly meaningful because of its recognition of teaching.

“I am blown away to receive this award. Thank you to the National Committee for honouring a teacher in this way. It feels like a double bonus to be recognised for doing something you really love. I get immense pleasure from seeing ex-students take up ‘my’ subject, excel and become skilful lawyers or brilliant MPs, Lan.”

An influence across generations

Education has been a defining part of Ceri’s contribution to the profession.

Through her teaching, she has introduced many students and emerging professionals to resource management and environmental law, encouraging critical thinking, professional rigour and public-interest engagement. Her contribution has helped develop the capability and confidence of those entering the profession, with many former students going on to build careers in planning and environmental law in New Zealand and internationally.

Ceri’s own reflections on receiving the award placed that contribution within a much wider community of teachers, colleagues and students:

“First, the concept of an outstanding person is anathema – it’s meaningless to me – there are only outstanding teams and serendipity. This award makes me think about my RM teacher – Ken Palmer – and how fortunate we are in Aotearoa to have such fantastic environmental law lectures – like the indominable Cathy Irons who is here tonight. And it makes me think of my big-hearted DOC colleagues, and those students who pushed and challenged me to become a better teacher. It is always a team effort – so pay it back people. Give a guest lecture, judge a moot. I can guarantee, spending time with the beautiful young people I teach - their lack of cynicism - will fill your cup. So, I’ll happily accept this award on behalf of the team.”

Scholarship, practice and thought leadership

Alongside her teaching, Ceri is nationally and internationally recognised for her scholarship and thought leadership in environmental adjudication and resource management law.

She was awarded the New Zealand Law Foundation International Research Fellowship in 2014 and undertook research at the University of Oxford into environmental adjudication. Her research has been published in the Journal of Environmental Law, Legal Studies and Public Law, and she is the author of Environmental Courts and Tribunals: Powers, Integrity and the Search for Legitimacy.

Ceri also delivered the 2018 RMLA Salmon Lecture and has contributed to international conferences and special-edition journals focused on environmental adjudication.

In 2026, Ceri joined Auckland University of Technology (AUT) as Professor of Law, continuing a career spanning academia and legal practice. AUT has appointed her Head of School / Dean of Law from 28 September 2026.

Holding on to what matters

Ceri concluded her acceptance speech by reflecting on what first drew her to this field — and on the connection between resource management and the natural world:

“Second and finally, I want to thank the Conference Committee and mana whenua for hosting us in their special place – and what a place! In the quiet moments - walking back from the conference to my hotel along the coast, watching the white-faced heron and oystercatchers – I’ve reflected on why I got into this gig in the first place, and that’s a love of nature – an empathy for the non-human. That emotion can sometimes be dismissed as irrational, even inexplicable, but it’s not – it’s the essence of what makes us the complex human beings that we are. I must confess, at times recently I have felt despair threatening to overwhelm me – a fear that we are collectively losing our empathy for the natural world – so I will leave you with this thought – hold on tight, hold on tight.

Ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa.”

RMLA congratulates Professor Ceri Warnock on receiving the 2026 Outstanding Person Award and recognises her enduring contribution to resource management law, environmental scholarship and generations of practitioners across Aotearoa New Zealand.