Projects

Dunedin's primary school students are joining forces with scientists to see what things in urban greenspaces make good homes for the vulnerable velvet worm (Peripatus), and how to then create Peripatus-friendly areas at school.

The project team will build on previous work on Quarantine Island Kamau Taurua, drawing on groups from throughout the community to investigate questions.

Can students create an effective bioreactor system to grow algae and use it as an alternative fuel source? This project aims to investigate possible solutions to some major environmental issues.

Has the Egmont National Park Kiwi Conservation Programme successfully increased North Island brown kiwi numbers and survival? Students, conservationists and trampers investigate this together.

Community members are finding out how many pairs of kororā (Little Blue Penguin) nest in the Otago Peninsula and how successful they are at having and rearing chicks.

How many moths are there? Where are they found? Are they affected by artificial light and, if so, how? Students in Otago take a look at our butterflies of the night.

Schools, local groups and scientists are monitoring sites, collecting data and photographing marine communities in the Otago Harbour area. Over time this will show any changes to the species and habitats after dredging.

Local rural schoolchildren explore the Long Tailed Bat population in Eastern Taranaki hill country to try and what is affecting the bats' preferred habitats and what impact human activity has on on these habitats.

A local hapū, the Waitara community and marine scientists have joined forces to survey the health of marine life on the Airedale reef, off the Taranaki coast.

What makes the subtidal reefs of South Taranaki unique? Locals in Hawera and Pātea are discovering and documenting the subtidal rocky reef communities found in the South Taranaki Bight.