Janet Holm

Janet Rutherford Holm (née Morse, 12 August 1923 – 14 July 2018) was a New Zealand environmental activist and historian.

Biography Holm was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1923 and grew up on a farm near Waiau in North Canterbury. She attended Rangi Ruru Girls' School in Christchurch and studied English and philosophy at Canterbury University College, and Victoria University College in Wellington. In 2004, she received the Outstanding Contribution Award from Environment Canterbury for her work for clean air and environmental education in the Canterbury Region.

Controversy The open fire ban and later phrase out of solid-fuel burners was, and still is, controversial. Opponents argue that burning wood and coal is less costly and more self-sufficient than cleaner home heating options.

The city of Christchurch is prone to air pollution in the winter for a combination of reasons. In winter, when a high pressure system settles over the South Island, it brings cold temperatures and light winds. Locally, air flow is restricted by the terrain and a strong temperature inversion forms. The residents feel the cold. Their response is to fire up their home heating. For many, this means a wood or coal burning fire. With little wind to disperse the coarse particles emitted from home fires, smog builds up under the inversion layer. In summer, it's windier and winds tend to blow pollution away.

In 1997, there were approximately 15,500 open fires, 3,500 closed coal burners and 31,000 wood burners in the city.

Historical work In the 1980s, Holm returned to the University of Canterbury to complete a master's degree in history; she wrote her thesis on her grandfather George and his six siblings, and later published the research as a book, Nothing but Grass and Wind. She was also a keen genealogist and travelled the country visiting cemeteries and photographing headstones. The Canterbury History Foundation awarded Holm the 2005 A. C. Rhodes Memorial Award in recognition of this work. In the same year, she published her book on the lives of early surveyors, and became the first woman appointed an honorary member of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors.

Publications Air Pollution. Christchurch: Epicentre, 1989.

Caught Mapping: The Life and Times of New Zealand's Early Surveyors. Christchurch: Hazard Press, 2005. On Zealand's Hills, Where Tigers Steal Along. Wellington: Steele Roberts, 2008.

Legacy Following Holm's death in 2018, her family established the Janet Holm Prize in History in her memory at the University of Canterbury. The inaugural award of the prize was made in December 2018.