Category: News

A Tika Transition to a Flourishing Aotearoa

A Tika Transition to a Flourishing Aotearoa Tika Banner

As a pre-eminent researcher in Māori political representation and constitutional change, especially in relation to environmental politics and policy, Maria is often in a position where she is assessing consultation documents and proposals that seek to transition Aotearoa to a better environmental future. She conducts these assessments from a Māori perspective.   “If we want to […]

New paper a vehicle for sparking positive change

New paper a vehicle for sparking positive change Campus, University Of Otago (excio)

As an environmental psychologist, Lynette McLeod is very aware that there are lots of different people out there.   “I study human behaviour change,” says Lynette. “I work with organisations to help them decide who they target and how they get them participating in positive environmental behaviours.”  Her expertise makes her a great fit for the […]

Mapping connectedness and contribution towards te taiao

Mapping connectedness and contribution towards te taiao Cba17conference

Through the BioHeritage Crazy and Ambitious Think Tank, Sandy Wakefield is helping create an online repository of Māori-led conservation projects from all over the country. The Think Tank repository is an online GIS (Geographic Information System) map. The repository will map places in Aotearoa where Māori and community-led environmental restoration projects are being undertaken, everywhere […]

Tūhura Papatūānuku Geo Noho grows knowledge and connection in Te Hiku Northland

Tūhura Papatūānuku Geo Noho grows knowledge and connection in Te Hiku Northland 6

To inspire Northland tamariki to consider a future career in the field of science, Tūhura Papatūānuku is designed to give students a more engaging learning experience under the guidance of professional scientists and local mātanga Māori leaders. With hands-on exploration and whakawhanaungatanga at the heart of Tūhura Papatūānuku, the four-day wānanga were based at local […]

Representing BioHeritage mahi at Waka Ama

Representing BioHeritage mahi at Waka Ama Img 4102

It was a mint Waka Ama National Sprint Champs on Karāpiro hosted by Ngāti Korokī Kahukura. The Challenge stall saw around 100 kids per day across 6 days during extreme heat and even a flooded tent. The kids were especially interested in learning more about our tunatuna (also known as elvers or juvenile tuna/eels), why […]

New maps for swamp maire restoration coming soon

New maps for swamp maire restoration coming soon Lake Wairarapa Shoreline Excio 1

Julie Deslippe, a Senior Lecturer at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, is one of many researchers working to reverse the decline of wetland health in the Wairarapa and nationally.  “I’ve been working in the Wairarapa for about a decade now. “If there’s one message that I get from Wairarapa iwi, it’s that […]

The future is seedy for ex situ plant conservation in Aotearoa

The future is seedy for ex situ plant conservation in Aotearoa Img 4620 Scaled

Not only providing the set and stage for our native fauna, Aotearoa New Zealand’s trees are themselves diverse and dynamic players in our native ecosystems. Sarah Wyse calls them the “main event.”  “Prior to human arrival, Aotearoa was 80 to 90% forest. They’re the heart of our ecosystems,” she says. “What’s more, the species here […]

Gene drives – maybe not a silver bullet, but a bullet nonetheless

Gene drives – maybe not a silver bullet, but a bullet nonetheless Copy Dsc 0157 Version 2

A gene drive is both a natural process and a genetic engineering technology where a gene is promoted or favoured during reproduction—instead of there being a “chance” of an offspring inheriting a gene, gene drives almost guarantee that the offspring (and subsequent offspring) will inherit that gene. Gene drives could be designed to help mitigate […]

Ngā Pī Ka Rere grants supports the publication of important Kauri Dieback research

Ngā Pī Ka Rere grants supports the publication of important Kauri Dieback research In The Lab Weighing Samples In Preparation For Nutrient Analysis

On holiday in Transylvania, Isaar met with BioHeritage writer Kerry Donovan Brown via video call. Earlier in the day, Isaar had visited Bran Castle, a fortress known otherwise as “Dracula’s Castle”. If entering the domain of an infamous baddie is hair-raising for the average tourist, for Isaar, it’s business as usual. Beginning his research career, […]

Connections made at 4S Conference

Connections made at 4S Conference 96374959 78c3 4db3 8f5b A4dd4c857210

For the 4S conference, a BioHeritage team assembled a panel titled “Ngā Koiora Tuku Iho: An experiment in transforming biodiversity and biosecurity research in Aotearoa New Zealand.” The panel was organised by Symon Palmer (Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington), a co-lead of Ngā Pī Ka Rere and Novel Tools & Strategies – […]

Policy brief delivers new insight on people’s perception of environmental health

Policy brief delivers new insight on people’s perception of environmental health Taciano Milfont79

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 […]

Future focus for Science Communication

Future focus for Science Communication Img 9415

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

The right people in the room, and the mists of Mount Kenya It’s The Three Award Winners, Best Poster, Best Student Presentation, And Best Overall Presentation Plus The Iprrg President, Frank Koch.

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

Collaborative research on hybrid species receives Marsden Fund grant Aisling Rayne

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.

Eco-index Restoration Map has launched! Here’s the buzz. Eco Index Restoration Map On Tablet

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

New MBIE Endeavour Programme on gene technologies Asian Paper Wasp Drinking Polistes Chinensis

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 […]

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