Bruce Hayward


Bruce William Hayward is a New Zealand geologist, marine ecologist, and author. He is known as a leading expert on living and fossil foraminifera.

Education and career

At the University of Auckland, Hayward graduated in geology with B.Sc. in 1971 and Ph.D. in 1975. In 1976–1977, he was a postdoc at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
From 1978 to 1991, Hayward was a micropaleontologist for the New Zealand Geological Survey, Lower Hutt. In March 1991, Hayward became the curator of marine invertebrates at the Auckland Institute and Museum, after the retirement of Walter Olivier Cernohorsky. From 1997 to 2002, he was a self-employed research associate in the Geology Department of the University of Auckland, as well as from 1998 to 2000, a James Cook Research Fellow at the University of Auckland. In 2003, he became the founder and principal scientist of Geomarine Research, located in Auckland. He was the principal scientist for three Marsden Fund grants: from 2000 to 2002 "Foraminifera and paleoceanography of Bounty Trough, east New Zealand", from 2003 to 2005 "The last global marine extinction: causes and consequences for global biodiversity", and from 2007 to 2010 "Causes of evolution and global extinction in the deep sea". In addition to his research on foraminifera, he has done research on "northern New Zealand geology and landforms, marine invertebrate ecology, industrial archaeology and lichens."
Hayward was, from 1980 to 1989, an editor for the Geological Society of New Zealand, from 1988 to 2012, an associate editor for the Journal of Foraminiferal Research, and from 2010, chief editor for Foraminifera, World Register of Marine Species. He is founder and convenor of the New Zealand Geopreservation Inventory and from 1990 to 1993, a member of the New Zealand Conservation Authority and from 1993 to 1996 a member of the Auckland Conservation Board. He co-founded the Offshore Islands Research Group in 1977 and co-founded the Auckland Geology Club in 1993. He is the author or co-author of "over 1000 publications, including more than 280 peer-reviewed papers, hundreds of popular articles, 13 scientific monographs and more than 20 popular books."

Legacy

The New Zealand foliose lichen species Pseudocyphellaria haywardiorum was named after Bruce and Glenys Hayward in 1988 by David Galloway, after the pair collected the type specimen of the species in 1971, on Red Mercury Island.
Also the lichens:
Flavoparmelia haywardiana Elix and Johnston 1988
Lecanora haywardiorum Lumbsch 1994
Buellia haywardii Elix, A.Knight & H.Mayrhofer, 2017
Foraminifera:
Palliolatella haywardi Kawagata, 2016
Tubulogenerina haywardi Gibson 1989
Rhombobolivinella haywardi Popescu & Crihan, 2005
Quinqueloculina haywardi Parker & Le Coze, 2025
Ostracoda:
Microcytherura haywardi Milhau, 1993
Radiolarian:
Lophocyrtis haywardi O’Conner, 1999.

Awards and honours

  • 1978 — McKay Hammer Award of Geological Society of NZ for publications on "Waitakere Ranges geology"
  • 1988 — New Zealand Association of Scientists Research Medal
  • 1989–1991 — President of the Geological Society of New Zealand
  • 2001 — elected Honorary Life Member of New Zealand Marine Sciences Society
  • 2003 — elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi
  • 2006 — Hochstetter Lecturer of the Geological Society of New Zealand
  • 2006 — appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to earth science and conservation
  • 2013 — McKay Hammer Award of Geoscience Society of NZ for publications on "The last global extinction of deep-sea benthic foraminifera"
  • 2013 — elected Honorary Life Member of Geoscience Society of New Zealand.
  • 2017 — Joseph A. Cushman Medal for Excellence in Foraminiferal Research
  • 2018 — Hutton Medal of the Royal Society Te Apārangi for "outstanding contributions to the knowledge of New Zealand's marine ecology and geology"
In the 2026 New Year Honours, Hayward was promoted to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to geology, particularly micropaleontology.

Selected publications

Scientific publications

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  • Books

  • The book recounts "the fascinating geological history of the formation of Northland, Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula and the history of its past animal and plant life."