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Why New Zealand needs alternatives to 1080
1080 is safe to use, but we need a range of alternatives, says BioHeritage Director Dr Andrea Byrom.
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Ngā Pī Ka Rere spotlight: Pejman (Sami) Alighaleh realises his passion in his second Master's
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,”…
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An awa for a signpost: BioHeritage welcomes Waimirirangi Ormsby
Waimirirangi Ormsby (Waikato, Ngātiwai) is our newly appointed Kaiārahi (Knowledge Broker Māori). Waimirirangi met with BioHeritage writer Kerry Donovan Brown to share her vision for her Kaiārahi role. In doing so she reflected on the ways she is shaped by her connection with Aotearoa, and the Aotearoa she’s helping shape for her descendants.
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BioHeritage students' talent recognised
BioHeritage researchers Anita Pearson and Rachel Nepia had big wins in August 2018 .
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Connections made at 4S Conference
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…
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Policy brief delivers new insight on people’s perception of environmental health
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…
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High-density laser scanning – a thing of beauty and function
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…
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Lightless, not lifeless: Cave biodiversity and protection in Aotearoa
Accoladed scientist and author Jared Diamond has said that the closest human beings have come to visiting an alien planet was when Moananui explorers first landed their waka on the shores of Aotearoa. If our ecosystems are unique enough to warrant comparison with extra-terrestrial life, then life in our remote caves must be even more alien. BioHeritage spoke to Anna Stewart, research and conservation coordinator at The New Zealand Speleology Society, about these lightless worlds and how to protect them.
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Cultural exchange spotlights kanakana conservation
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…
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Kauri Rescue Updates
After having their funding from Auckland Council suspended early last year due to Covid-19, things are beginning to look up for Kauri Rescue again after becoming an independent charitable trust. We had a chat with Dr Mels Barton to find out what they’ve been up to lately.
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New paper outlines the challenges of preserving maire tawake seeds
Maire tawake, or swamp maire (Syzygium maire), is being threatened by climate change, habitat loss and myrtle rust. We could use seed banking to protect this plant. However, seed storage isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds.
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Becoming a wahine toa for Papatūānuku
Dr Sara Belcher (Te Arawa) has recently been offered a tenured position at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. With tenure, she now has avenues for making the Environmental State Assessment Tool (ESAT)—which she developed during her PhD—into an open-source tool available for all.
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Science and research enhanced by Treaty principles and partnerships
Innovation can be accelerated by integrating Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles into the research, science and innovation system, according to a new report recently released by the National Science Challenges.…