Urban freshwater quality has become the focus of several BioHeritage themes, including SO2: Empowering Kaitiakitanga & Environmental Stewardship. One of the goals of SO2 is to understand the underlying values and drivers that lead some people to actively protect our biological heritage. This requires understanding feedbacks between people in the landscape and the ecosystems in […]
Month: November 2023
Policy brief delivers new insight on people’s perception of environmental health
Future focus for Science Communication
Several presenters at the annual conference were associated with BioHeritage. Marie McEntee from the University of Auckland, co-lead of NRT’s Mobilising for Action and BioHeritage’s National Conversations project in the Novel Tools & Strategies programme, ran a workshop using purposeful games to address knowledge and emotional barriers to dialogue and learning. Science communication contractor Jenny […]
The right people in the room, and the mists of Mount Kenya
When envisioning biosecurity risk in Africa, a layperson might deem those big bold ecosystems as unassailable by exotic pests. However, those in the know understand that African nations contend with an array of invasive organisms, and even share some problem situations with Aotearoa. “The fall armyworm threatens massive economic damage when it infests food crops,” […]
Collaborative research on hybrid species receives Marsden Fund grant
Aisling co-leads BioHeritage’s early career group Ngā Pī Ka Rere with Symon Palmer and Dr Helen Warburton, a research area in Freshwater for Our Taonga with Dr Matthew Wylie, and a research project in the Impact Pou with Helen Warburton. She says the research will have important implications for the conservation of taonga species in Aotearoa. “Traditionally, the focus […]
Eco-index Restoration Map has launched! Here’s the buzz.
In case you missed it, the Eco-index Ecosystem Restoration Map has been in the news, garnering national coverage from RNZ, The Spinoff, and New Zealand Herald as well as featuring in The Conversation. Catherine Kirby, Eco-index Communication and Relationships Manager, was hopeful that there would be broad interest in the Ecosystem Restoration Map, but the […]
New MBIE Endeavour Programme on gene technologies
On 15 September, MBIE announced the successful Endeavour Programme bids. One of these was “Whatu raranga o ngā koiora – weaving cultural authority into gene technologies targeting invasive wasps”, a five-year programme worth over $11 million. Professor Phil Lester of Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington and co-lead of Novel Tools & Strategies […]