Category: News

Adaptive Governance and Policy, the investment that “tackles the ways in which governance and policy need to change to better protect te taiao”, are celebrating the recent release of two documents that demonstrate the importance and value of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tikanga and care-informed relationships. One of the documents is titled Caring For Our […]

Steps Towards Authentic Te Tiriti o Waitangi Relationships at a Local Government Level is a summary of a research report commissioned by The Review into the Future for Local Government and draws on the expertise of a remarkable set of researchers. The Review into the Future for Local Government describes itself as providing “an opportunity […]

Kiri Reihana (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Whakatohea), a University of Waikato PhD student and kairangahau – Māori scientist for Manaaki Whenua–Landcare Research, has become a specialist in the development of cultural indicators. In 2017, she was part of a team who developed a set of cultural indicators to help mana whenua conduct freshwater monitoring […]

Over the native range of kauri, nobody is certain which areas contain Phytophthora agathidicida (PA), the pathogen that causes the disease kauri dieback, and which areas are pathogen-free. It is important to know where this pathogen is and where it isn’t so that kauri in good health can be protected and sites with infection can […]

Mariella is someone you want on your team. An anthropologist by training, Mariella has worked with Forest Research (Great Britain’s principal organisation for forestry and tree-related research) for about 15 years.  “For the bulk of that time, I’ve been building a programme around the social dimensions of tree health,” she says. Several years ago, Mariella’s […]

Using co-design to produce a research agenda or develop policy interventions is not a new concept. “It’s done in a lot of places, or at least it’s attempted,” says Ronlyn Duncan, an independent researcher working with Manaaki Whenua—Landcare Research. However, co-design can be difficult, it’s resource intensive, and outcomes don’t always translate into action.  “Evaluations […]

Sami was born in a small city of Behshahr in Iran, wedged between the sea and the jungle. “One of my favourite activities growing up was walking in the jungle,” he says. In the jungle, Sami’s curiosity was sparked by the diverse plant life around him.   “I wanted to know about the tree species […]

Lara Taylor (Ngāti Tahu – Ngāti Whaoa) hosted and convened the wānanga, with support from Manaaki Whenua Senior Researcher Alison Greenaway. “E Oho is to awaken, to arise,” says Alison. “For this wānanga, I interpreted E Oho as that reaction that we have when we deeply learn something, physically feeling it in our bodies.” The […]

Older than the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, lamprey (kanakana) are a lineage of jawless fish known for their toothy sucker mouths, and their metamorphic lifecycle which includes both freshwater and marine phases. Kanakana males have pelican-like pouches, which may be used to brood eggs, or even gather nesting material. All round a fascinating […]

High-density laser scanners emit hundreds of thousands of non-visible light pulses per second. Pulses bounce off an object’s surface, and these reflections are detected by the scanner. “Based on mathematical processes,” said Malte during his presentation, “the location of the reflection is stored as a point in three-dimensional space.” This results in a “point cloud”. […]

The Re-Evaluating Impact research team that sits within this pou has been tasked with quantifying the effect of BioHeritage’s approach on traditional science metrics, such as publications, and identifying other (new) metrics that may better describe science excellence and impact. Researchers are pulling information from the Challenge’s extensive publication and reporting database, including the diversity […]

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.

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.

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.

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.