At the Kaurilands Summit 2023, early career researchers Colan Balkwill and Amy MacDonald presented new research on the conservation genetics of maire tawake and ramarama, two of our native myrtles. Both studies found higher genetic diversity in northern populations than southern populations. These results will be valuable for future seed banking and restoration activities.
Month: June 2023
Maire tawake and ramarama: higher genetic diversity in the north than the south
Horror in the ngahere: myrtle rust is graphic novel’s ‘big bad’
With The Last of Us making cordyceps a household name, and many other evil moulds creeping through our screens and libraries, it seems that fungi and horror are a match made in… hell.
Aroha Novak (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Te Rangi) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Ōtepoti Dunedin and has added fertiliser to the fungal horror garden with her graphic novel, Myrtle Rust.
Immersive tool tells kids to “Grab your virtual gumboots!”
BioHeritage and Manaaki Whenua have co-funded an Unlocking Curious Minds project to develop Kiwi Kai, an evidence-based educational tool wrapped up in an online role-playing game. Playing as an up-and-coming farmer, the player aims to balance food production with caring for nature and their community.
Mobilising for Action stars in a Knowledge Cultures takeover
The Mobilising for Action research theme is excited to announce that their special edition in the journal Knowledge Cultures is now out. Many excited congratulations to the team for their 13 peer-reviewed articles published in this edition.
Rakiura brings a sense of wonder to prize-winner
Back in May last year, Maisie Hamilton Murray attended Crazy & Ambitious 3 and won the grand prize of flights and accommodation to Rakiura (Stewart Island) – somewhere she’d never previously set foot . . .
Strengthening connections through taonga pūoro
On Tuesday 9 May the Kaurilands Summit had a delayed start thanks to pūroro (driving rain). But by Friday, Rangi-nui had drawn the clouds aside, and let through the rays of Tama-nui-te-rā, the sun. Perfect timing for Kelly Kahukiwa’s field trip, ‘Reading mauri through the biophonic signature of the ngahere’.
Kerry Donovan Brown had the privilege of attending this hīkoi . . .
Kaurilands Summit 2023: “The hui that finally happened”
After two years of lockdowns and the threat of being washed away, Ngā Rākau Taketake (NRT) was finally able to host a Kaurilands Summit kanohi ki te kanohi this year. As event MC Stacey Morrison put it, Kaurilands Summit was “the hui that finally happened.”
Documentary shows how sound can connect us to the forest and raise awareness of plant health
The concept for this film evolved over several years through an ongoing conversation between close friends Kelly (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Aitanga ā Māhaki) and Dan (Te Roroa, Ngāti Torehina). They had been exploring ideas for a project based around mātauranga Māori, plant intelligence, and the reinvigoration of the rhythmic language of taonga pūoro […]