PhD students for University of Otago Josh Gilligan and Gemma McLaughlin talk about their fight against one of New Zealand’s smallest pests. 

Sting-riddled students are removing wasp nests in Dunedin for free to further their research to stop the invasive pests costing the economy more than $130million a year.

University of Otago genetics PhD students Gemma McLaughlin and Josh Gilligan, of Dunedin, have removed about 50 wasp nests in Dunedin since late 2018. They talked to Otago Daily Times reporter Shawn McAvinue.