Ocean Mercier (Ngāti Porou) hosted four third-year students from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts through Novel Tools and Strategies – Invertabrates and Te Kawa a Māui – School of Māori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. In just seven weeks, the students (Rafaela Kanli, Lily MacDonald, Liam Hemmerling and Joey Horowitz) completed a project to understand social perspectives of gene-based pest control in Aotearoa.
News & Events
Farming & Nature Conservation attracts over $2.7 million in co-funding
A Tranche 1 BioHeritage project has attracted over $2.7 million in funding for its spin-off programmes – the AUT Living Laboratories Programme and the Farming with Native Biodiversity pilot.
Pūniu River Care: Investing in kaupapa Māori governance creates benefits for community and culture
A recent study into Pūniu River Care Inc. found that there is “an urgent need for kaupapa Māori led and designed organisations” such as PRC within environmental management in Aotearoa to have “longer term impact”.
Ngā Pī Ka Rere spotlight: Karla Carey, interrogating the use of kaitiakitanga in policy
Karla Carey has arrived in environmental stewardship through growing her passion for psychology and her interest in her Māori culture. We welcome Karla, a Master’s student at Massey University, to the Empowering Kaitiakitanga & Environmental Stewardship team.
Provoking possibilities for stronger relationships with nature
Scientific information tends to be distributed as neatly packaged facts with simplified stories. This can be effective at raising awareness of issues, but it can also make solutions seem simpler than they are – people are then left wondering why change isn’t happening faster.
How to: form a national biodiversity vision
Iwi, conservation groups, farmers, industry, businesses, government and individuals… everyone has options they can take to help reverse the decline of native biodiversity in Aotearoa New Zealand. But which options are best?
Ngarara in the Ngahere – a Toi Taiao Whakatairanga project
On 21 June 2021, about 25 adults and children assembled in the Auckland Art Gallery | Toi o Tāmaki’s Todd Foundation Creative Learning Centre to participate in an immersive art and science workshop.
Kauriland Summit 2021
Over 120 attendees representing community groups, iwi, research organisations, councils and government agencies came together online for the inaugural Kauriland…
The role of gene editing in pest control
The Challenge supported a panel discussion on the role of gene editing for pest control in Aotearoa New Zealand, as a part of the New Zealand International Science Festival, in Ōtepoti Dunedin.
Invasive wasp control: Are Māori businesses keen?
A new paper in New Genetics and Society details the perceptions of Māori businesses around using biotechnologies in pest control.