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Our Changing World
- 2017 - OCW Recommends: All in Her Head
Our Changing World listeners might like to check out All In Her Head, a podcast by investigative journalist Anusha Bradley exploring a complex medical syndrome, and the grey areas where medicine, belief and scientific evidence collide.
See photos, video and read more about Rachel's story in a special digital feature: The girl who couldn’t eat: An RNZ investigation into the controversy over a debilitating illness
A special thanks to the young women and their families for sharing their stories for this series. And thank you to the doctors, surgeons and specialists in New Zealand and overseas for sharing their medical knowledge and expertise.
If any of these stories affect you – you can find more information about EDS, at ehlers-danlos.org.nz - or you can look up EDS NEW ZEALAND on Facebook and Instagram.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 07 Sep 2026 - 47min - 2016 - Should we de-extinct the moa?
Our Changing World takes a deep dive into controversial plans by US company Colossal Biosciences, backed by filmmaker Peter Jackson, to de-extinct the Moa. In part two of a two-part series, Sharon Brettkelly looks at whether it SHOULD be done.
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Check out this explainer from Katie Kenny for the proposed Gene Technology changes.RNZ’s Monique Steel looks at who is backing the stalled Gene Technology Bill.Listen as Kathryn Ryan talks to Kennedy Warne about how de-extincting the moa might fit with conservation efforts.Ben Novak talks to RNZ’s Saturday Morning show about de-extincting the passenger pigeon.GUESTS:
Professor Amanda Black, Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Lincoln University and Director of Bioprotection Aotearoa.Professor Phillip Wilcox, bioethicist and quantitative geneticist, University of Otago.Andrew Pask, Chief Biology Officer, Colossal BiosciencesAssociate Professor Nic Rawlence, Director of Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory, University of Otago.IN THIS EPISODE:
(00:00) Should we bring moa back?
(01:36) Colossal’s plan to bring back moa
(03:00) Who benefits from de-extinction
(07:33) Māori perspectives, consent and data sovereignty
(10:55) Could New Zealand stop the project?
(14:43) Considering all the aspects of de-extinction
(18:30) De-extinction vortex and the ethics of breeding and consultation…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 31 Aug 2026 - 31min - 2015 - Could we de-extinct the moa?
Our Changing World takes a deep dive into controversial plans by US company Colossal Biosciences, backed by filmmaker Peter Jackson, to de-extinct the Moa. In part one of a two-part series, Sharon Brettkelly looks at whether it CAN be done.
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Colossal Biosciences claims they have de-extincted the dire wolf, from CNN.More detail on Colossal Biosciences’ artificial egg.Listen to Kathryn Ryan speaking with ‘Mr Moa’ - paleozoologist Trevor Worthy about his long career.Auckland Museum research associate Daniel Thomas talks to Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira about the discovery of million year old moa footprints.GUESTS:
Dr Andrew Pask, Chief Biology Officer, Colossal BiosciencesAssociate Professor Nic Rawlence, Director of Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory, University of Otago.IN THIS EPISODE:
(00:00)Could we bring the moa back?
(02:30)Sequencing the moa genome
(06:00)DNA data
(08:00) The artificial egg breakthrough
(10:20) How a "moa" would actually be created
(12:30) Critics challenge the science
(17:20) The conservation implications
(22:00) Māori consultation questions
(23:51) Will we ever see moa roaming again?
(26:08)Coming up in Part 2
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 31 Aug 2026 - 27min - 2014 - Cold water swimming: panacea or peril?
Cold plunges and cold water swimming are increasingly popular, with big benefit claims being made on social media. But is submerging yourself in frigid water actually good for you? Claire Concannon joins a team of researchers at the 2026 New Zealand and Oceania Ice Swimming Championships in Alexandra as they try to get some better data about both the risks and potential benefits.
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IN THIS EPISODE:
(00:00) Introduction – the rise of cold water swimming.
(01:06) The 2026 New Zealand and Oceania Ice Swimming Championships in Alexandra.
(02:00) Competitor Susan Sherwen on why she ice swims.
(05:10) How researchers track swimmers’ core temperature, stroke rate and perceptions of cold.
(07:30) Prof Jim Cotter on cold shock, hypothermia and afterdrop.
(12:00) The recovery room – Steven and Susan after their swim.
(17:30) Potential benefits and what the research says.
(20:30) Blood samples and looking for brain health proteins.
(23:40) Potential mental health benefits…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 24 Aug 2026 - 26min - 2013 - A precious piece of sediment, and what it says about our future
After years of preparation and effort an international team have succeeded in recovering over 200 metres of sediment from below the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Claire Concannon visits the sediment core analysis team in Dunedin to find out how mud, rocks and microfossils can tell the story of ice growth and retreat across time. And as we look towards our warmer future, what will this mean for sea level rise?
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In this episode:
(00:00) Introduction to Antarctica, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the SWAIS2C drilling project.
(02:18) Recovering a sediment core from beneath 523 metres of ice at Crary Ice Rise.
(04:00) Professor Richard Levy on the early steps of processing the core
(07:50) Sedimentologist Georgia Grant explains how rocks reveal the advance and retreat of ancient ice sheets.
(14:33) Dating the core using paleomagnetism and microscopic fossils such as diatoms.
(22:45) Evidence for past periods of open water and warmer climates in West Antarctica.
(25:40) The co-chief scientists on what the findings mean…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 17 Aug 2026 - 30min - 2012 - Solar on the go and feeding the world in a catastrophe
There’s a lot of chat about solar panels for our rooftops, but where else might it make sense to put them? Claire Concannon visits the University of Canterbury’s Electric Power Engineering Centre to learn about their involvement in a big European project exploring the use of solar panels on vehicles and in car parks. Plus, she speaks to one researcher who is focused on planning for global catastrophes.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 10 Aug 2026 - 26min - 2011 - High powered magnets, and making steel with hydrogen
At the Robinson Research Institute in Wellington, researchers are developing powerful superconducting magnets for space, fusion and MRI applications. Claire Concannon visits the labs to learn about a small magnet’s trip to the International Space Station, and how much bigger magnets are powering nuclear fusion research. She also meets the team working on a hydrogen-based way to make iron from New Zealand iron sand, removing carbon dioxide emissions from the first step of steelmaking.
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Listen back to Our Changing World’s 2023 episode on plasma rockets in space, featuring the Paihau – Robinson Research Institute team’s work on superconducting magnets for plasma thrusters.Read Our Changing World’s story on OpenStar Technologies and its New Zealand approach to nuclear fusion.Learn more about CullBeck’s demonstration site plans for the hydrogen-based ironmaking technology. The New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology now has a website.Guests:
Professor Nick Long, Director of the Robinson Research Institute, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.Dr Nick Strickland, Principal Scientist, Robinson Research Institute, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.Professor Chris Bumby, Robinson Research Institute, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.Ben Rumsey, Senior Research Engineer / Specialist, Robinson Research Institute, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.In this episode:
(00:00) Professor Nick Long on watching the Hēki magnet arrive at the International Space Station
(04:20) Dr Nick Strickland on making superconducting magnets robust and useful
(08:38) Fusion magnets and future research questions for Open Star Technologies…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 03 Aug 2026 - 25min - 2010 - Electric motors for future flight
To get electric passenger planes in the skies requires powerful electric motors, but they must also be small and light. Some kiwi scientists think they could have a solution. Claire Concannon heads to a warehouse in Petone to learn about the promise of high temperature superconducting magnets to make electric motors for airplanes.
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In this episode:
00:00 - Where are our electric planes?
01:00 - The challenge of aviation electrification.
02:48 - The history of the Robinson Research Institute and useful properties of superconductors.
07:00 - The establishment of the New Zealand Institute of Advanced Technology
08:30 - The advantage of superconducting motors for aviation.
11:15 - Airbus’ plans for a future electric plane
12:05 - Warehouse tour and levitation bearings for future motors
14:04 - Basic motor design and characterising AC losses in superconductors.
21:26 - Testing a superconducting generator with Air New Zealand…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 27 Jul 2026 - 25min - 2009 - An Antarctic adventure, and a book return
Join a group of young explorers as they journey to Antarctica to return a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo to Discovery Hut. Along the way they visit other historic huts to learn about triumphs and tragedies of the 'Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration'. This is an edit of the Antarctic Heritage Trust's '77 Degrees South' podcast.
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The full Antarctic Heritage Trust 77 Degrees South podcast can be found on their website. The AHT also previously made a podcast about restoring Scott's Terra Nova Hut, and an edit of that was also aired on Our Changing World.Guests:
Producer: Maia Ingoe
Narrator: Jake Bailey
Sound design and music: Calum Turner
Inspiring explorers: Kitiona Pelasio, Louise Piggin, Lucy Hayes-Stevenson, Ngaiwai Clendon, Daniel Bornstein
Guest contributor: Al Fastier
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 20 Jul 2026 - 26min - 2008 - New tech aimed at improving heart health at home
Every 90 minutes a New Zealander dies from heart disease. Liz Garton meets the team at the Institute of Biomedical Technologies is developing new products to help monitor heart health in the home to try to change those terrible statistics.
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The Detail recently looked into the deadly heart disease that creeps up on you.In March, Guyon Espiner spoke with Dr Philip Shirely about how an annual flu vaccine can reduce the risk of heart issues.Kate Green’s investigation into health insurance in May, showed heart disease is one of the biggest drivers of claims.Dr Claire Concannon visited the CoRE Pūtahi Manawa to find out what they’re doing to address heart health inequities, in 2022.Guests:
Professor Andrew Lowe, Dr Tet Chuan Lee, Matin Khalili, Institute of Biomedical Technologies, Auckland University of Technology.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 13 Jul 2026 - 25min - 2007 - Building a nation-wide model of landslide risk
Out of all of New Zealand’s natural hazards, landslides have resulted in the greatest loss of life since written records began. Pulling in data from decades of landslide research, a team at Earth Sciences New Zealand are now developing national models of landslide risk for both slow- and fast-moving landslides, to help New Zealand plan for, and respond to, major landslide events.
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Other researchers at Earth Sciences New Zealand are also investigating underwater landslides, which have the potential to cause tsunami hazards.In January In-Depth reporter Kirsty Johnston investigated the gap between what New Zealand spends on disaster recovery and climate preparation.Jesse Mulligan revisited the Abbotsford disaster in 2019 with Sarah Johnston from Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.Landslides are one of the threats that are monitored 24/7 by the National Geohazard Monitoring Centre.Guests:
Dr Chris Massey, Dr Saskia deVilder, Dr Sam McColl, Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 06 Jul 2026 - 26min - 2006 - Meet the Prime Minister's science prize winners
A team that developed a brain cooling treatment for oxygen-deprived babies, a young scientist who created a helpful backseat driver app, a Māori kaiako encouraging her students to weave traditional design and contemporary materials, a paleobiologist communicating about the issues around de-extinction and a researcher investigating how much climate change contributes to extreme weather events: We meet the 2025 Prime Minister's Science Prize winners!
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Tue, 30 Jun 2026 - 27min - 2005 - Analysing ash, and Vanuatu's volcanoes
New Zealand is a land formed by volcanoes, including some still active. Claire Concannon meets a researcher analysing ash deposits to determine if a future eruption might have dangerous levels of hazardous chemicals. Plus, she learns about a voyage to Vanuatu and the Solomen Islands to study the gases and ash of an active volcanic chain there.
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Researchers continue to study New Zealand’s active volcanoes like Whakaari and Ruapehu to try to understand their patterns of eruptions.When Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha‘apai, just north of Tonga’s main island, erupted in 2022 it caused a worldwide tsunami. Ellen Rykers dug into the science behind the phenomenon.The work of the National Geohazard Monitoring Centre is to keep on eye on earthquake, volcano, landslide and tsunami hazards 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.Auckland is built on a network of volcanoes, and underground lava caves.Guests:
Dr Jenni Hopkins, Victoria University of WellingtonDr Ian Schipper, Volcano Waka LabGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 22 Jun 2026 - 27min - 2004 - The challenges of making our capital city predator free
Phase two of Predator Free Wellington’s groundbreaking project to rid our capital of rats is well underway. They’ve learned a lot from their work on the Miramar Peninsula, but with this new chapter comes new challenges – not just backyards, but a hospital, and even a zoo! Charlie Dreaver meets some of the team out fighting this battle on multiple interesting fronts.
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The target for Wellington to become New Zealand’s first predator-free city was announced by Conservation Minister Tama Potaka in March, as part of a Predator Free 2050 strategy update.In November last year the government added feral cats to the Predator Free 2050 list of targeted predators, likely in response to RNZ’s In-Depth team’s reporting about the destruction they cause, and a pre-election promise.Learn more about other large predator removal projects such as Predator Free Rakiura and Predator Free South Westland, and the plan to make Auckland Island predator free.Guests:
Zara Koorey, Predator Free WellingtonJames Wilcocks, Predator Free WellingtonChirs Jerram, Te Nukuao Wellington ZooSally Bain, Predator Free WellingtonGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 - 22min - 2003 - Building New Zealand's RNA capabilities
Scientists had long been exploring RNA technology as a way to make vaccines before it had it’s breakout appearance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, interest in the potential uses of RNA to make vaccines and disease treatments has bloomed. In late 2023 a government-funded platform began work to enhance New Zealand’s capacity to design and make RNA. Three years in, how is the platform going?
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RNA interference (RNAi) technology is being investigated to help honey bees fight off the varroa mite.US based Dyne Therapeutics conducted a clinical trial study of their RNA-based therapeutic for myotonic dystrophy in New Zealand.Our Changing World covered how the new RNA vaccine tech works in 2021.Dr Lisa Connor spoke to RNZ’s health reporter Ruth Hill last August after the US made funding cuts to their RNA vaccine research.Guests:
Dr Lisa Connor, Malaghan Institute of Medical ResearchDr Rebecca McKenzie, Malaghan Institute of Medical ResearchGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 08 Jun 2026 - 26min - 2002 - Working towards a pest free Purerua-Mataroa peninsula
One peninsula to the north of the Bay of Islands is home to an estimated three thousand Northland brown kiwi. The Pest Free Purerua-Mataroa project aims to reduce predators numbers on the peninsula and defend its narrow neck from re-invasion. Working across a patchwork of landuse and landowners, the team are using AI traps and technology to help catch the remaining pests. But one feral cat continues to elude them, and the ongoing threat to kiwi from pet dogs is proving tricky to solve.
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Northland kiwi are a genetically distinct subspecies of the North Island brown kiwi, whose numbers are doing pretty good in recent years, due in large part to Operation Nest Egg facilities like the National Kiwi Hatchery.Predator Free South Westland is also working across different land types and usages in their bid to remove pests from a huge area.Wellington is set to be New Zealand’s first predator-free city, with an ambitious target of ten years.RNZ’s Northland reporter Peter de Graaf has been following the situation of dog attacks on kiwi on the Purerua peninsula and kiwi deaths due to cars.Guests:
Andy Mentor, Pest Free PureruaZane Wright, Pest Free PureruaMariao Hohaia, Ngāti Rēhia, Tapuaetahi IncorporationGrace Walsh, Onekura road trappersTiwai Rawiri, Ngāti Torehina, Pēwhairangi WhānuiGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 01 Jun 2026 - 27min - 2001 - Hydrogen detectives
Could the answer to the current fuel crisis be right under our noses? On Our Changing World this week, Sharon Brettkelly talks to some of the scientists analysing ultramafic rocks in places like Lake Pupuke on Auckland’s North Shore and gases from various hotspots around the country, in the hopes that one day hydrogen could power local communities.
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New Zealand already has hydrogen trucks on our roads and active hydrogen refueling stations. However, some critics say battery technology is a better way to decarbonise. After delays from an international supplier, diesel trucks are being converted to hydrogen in New Zealand. Professor Allan Blackman looks at how the Hindenburg disaster has haunted the development of hydrogen technology and why that might be changing. And Jesse talks with Dr. Linda Wright from the New Zealand Hydrogen Council about if hydrogen could displace diesel.Guests:
Kevin Faure, Senior minerals geologist and Team lead National Isotope Centre, Earth Sciences New ZealandPaul Viskovic, Geomodeller, Earth Sciences New ZealandThijs van Soest, Isotope Hydrogeologist, Earth Sciences New ZealandGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 25 May 2026 - 26min - 2000 - How can Aotearoa eliminate cervical cancer?
The World Health Organisation has set an ambitious goal to eliminate cervical cancer. New Zealand health experts are optimistic we can do it, but suggest there are challenges to achieving that aim.
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Listen to The Panel Plus with Wallace Chapman, discussing the release of the Cancer Society's election manifesto and treatment options for cancer.Read about the Matariki Fund's plans to eliminate cervical cancer across the Pacific.RNZ's Māori issues reporter Pokere Paewai wrote this article on the need to extend free cervical screening.The efficacy of the HPV vaccine was discussed on Morning Report, following a study which showed a 60% reduction in cervical cancer.
Professor Bev Lawton (Ngāti Porou), is founder/director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine (the National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa) at Victoria University of WellingtonNicola Coom, Chief Executive of the Cancer SocietyAlice Hyatt, cancer survivor
Guests:Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 18 May 2026 - 25min - 1999 - Looking to a wild future for kākāpō
Today kākāpō breed on three remote islands, each bird wears a transmitter and they are carefully monitored and minded. But the ultimate goal of the kākāpō recovery programme is to restore the mauri of the kākāpō – to have them back in our forests as wild, nameless birds. What are the steps to get there, and how can science help keep kākāpō safe through this transition?
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Kākāpō need new habitat, could fenced ecosanctuaries be an option? That’s why kākāpō were released into Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari in July 2023, to start a trial of how they would do in this new, mainland, North Island habitat. A year later, there had already been a lot of lessons learned.One of the possible future habitats mentioned by Deirdre Vercoe is South Westland, where a massive effort is underway to clear stoats, possums and rats from a huge area.For all the details about this record-breaking breeding season, listen to the Kākāpō Files podcast.Guests:
Deirdre Vercoe, Kākāpō and Takahē recovery programme operations manager, Department of ConservationDr Andrew Digby, Kākāpō and Takahē recovery programme science and technical advisor, Department of ConservationGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 11 May 2026 - 28min - 1998 - A time of change for kākāpō
So far, 2026 has been the biggest kākāpō breeding season of all time, with more chicks hatched than ever before. The current challenge is to keep them all healthy as they grow into juveniles, and get added to the adult population. But what comes after that? Claire Concannon reports on the future of kākāpō from one of the breeding islands.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 04 May 2026 - 27min - 1997 - A taste for science
The food you see on the supermarket shelves doesn't end up there by accident. It's often been rigorously tested for likeability. This week on Our Changing World, Liz Garton finds out about the science behind those decisions, given that individual taste can be very varied.
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Export markets are a key consumer group. Look at who’s eating our food with this story from RNZ’s Farah Hancock.Our Changing World looked at how science can help pair foods with the School of Chemical Science at the University of AucklandFinding a Psa-V-tolerant golden kiwifruit was one of the success stories from the Consumer and Health sciences team. Claire Concannon looked at the ongoing efforts to prevent the disease from getting to the South Island.Guests:
Christina Roigard, Science Team Leader – Sensory & Consumer Health, New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science LimitedDavid Jin, Scientist, Health and Consumer Science Team - New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science LimitedDr Roger Harker, Principal scientist - Health and Consumer Science Team - New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science LimitedGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 27 Apr 2026 - 28min - 1996 - Keeping the South Island Psa-V free
In 2010 the Psa-V bacterial disease was found in a Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchard. This was the beginning of a terrible ordeal for many kiwifruit growers. It devastated crops, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars. But though it spread to some other areas in the North Island, it never made it across the Cook Strait. Claire Concannon learns about the science behind keeping this microbe out of Te Waipounamu.
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The Plant and Food Research (today the Bioeconomy Science Institute) team who worked on science to help with the kiwifruit Psa crisis won the Prime Minister’s Science Prize in 2017.In 2012 Alison Ballance reported on the hunt for resistance genes so kiwifruit plants could be more resilient in the face of this bacteria.As In-Depth reporter Farah Hancock detailed earlier this year, 95% of the kiwifruit grown here are actually exported - an earner of $4.5 billion in 2025.Guests:
Falk KalamorzRebecca Manners, Bioeconomy Science InstituteDr Ed Morgan, Bioeconomy Science InstituteLeanne Stewart, Kiwifruit Vine HealthGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 20 Apr 2026 - 26min - 1995 - The unexpected potential of ketamine
Ketamine was first developed as an anaesthetic, and today is taken by some as a party drug. But since 2000, research has emerged showing it is also helpful as a medication for some people with treatment-resistant depression. While initial studies used ketamine injections, recent research has shown the advantages of taking it in oral form. Now clinical trials are underway to determine if a New Zealand-developed ketamine pill is safe and effective enough to get the regulatory tick.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 13 Apr 2026 - 26min - 1994 - Building an army to stop a stink bug invasion
In the Auckland suburb of Mt Albert there's a particular brand of doomsday prepping going on. Our Changing World visits the Bioeconomy Science Institute to meet some scientists figuring out how to build an army of Samurai Wasps just in case Aotearoa is invaded by Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs.
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MPI's website has more detail on the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug and what to do if you find one.From December 2025 a new biosecurity inflight video about being vigilant is being played to incoming visitors.Our Changing World did a deep dive into the impact BMSB would have on New Zealand, back in 2019.Guests:
Dr Gonzalo Avila, Senior Scientist - Biological Control, New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science LimitedKarina Santos, Senior Research Associate, New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science LimitedDr Scott Sinclair, Manager, Operational Readiness - Plant & Environment, Biosecurity New ZealandGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 06 Apr 2026 - 26min - 1993 - Monitoring plastic pollution in Northland, and the elusive bittern
Our Changing Word heads to Whangārei to speak to a Northland Regional Council scientist whose been using stormwater drains to estimate the scale of our plastic pollution problem. Plus, just outside Christchurch, one of New Zealand’s biggest lakes is home to the ‘canary in the coalmine’ of wetlands. The secretive and elusive Australasian bittern seems to be in trouble - how can we help?
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Join Alison Ballance on a kayak across a lake to listen to some booming bittern crooners.Listen to the nine to noon interview with John Sumich about the 2025 Matuku muster.The research into microplastics was part of the AIM2 project, which was reported on in 2021 as part of the OCW episode ‘Unwelcome visitors’.Another source of microplastics is textile waste, but an international project is looking to a future where our clothes are fully biodegradable.Guests:
Richard Griffiths, Northland Regional CouncilPeter Langlands, Bittern Conservation – New ZealandHarry Caley, Department of ConservationGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 30 Mar 2026 - 26min - 1992 - The tree keepers
In Dunedin the local tree crop association has been looking after a heritage apple orchard, but some mixed up labels meant they weren’t quite sure what varieties they had. A chance encounter at a public open day sets one young researcher on a scientific quest to ID them all. Plus, in a nursery in Rotorua, a propagation scientist is figuring out the best way to grow a native tree from cuttings.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 23 Mar 2026 - 26min - 1991 - How to grow a kiwi
Take a (very) large egg, some insects (plus specially developed food), and a safe place to put on weight for a while. This is how you grow a kiwi, and improve wild survival rates from 5% to 65%. With over 2,600 hatches across their 30 year history, the National Kiwi Hatchery have a lot of experience under their belt, but there's always more to learn from our iconic national bird. Our Changing World visits the hatchery to learn how they combine conservation and eco-tourism to help grow kiwi numbers.
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Operation Nest Egg has also been a great success for the rowi kiwi, the only remaining wild population of which lives in Ōkārito on the South Island’s West Coast.In July 2025 little spotted kiwi were found on New Zealand’s mainland for the first time in 50 years. Two chicks and eggs were subsequently brought to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch to allow them to get to stoat-proof weight.With a lot of help, and stoat trapping, brown kiwi are returning to the wilds of Wellington.Candling is also used to track kākāpō embryo development and egg fertility, learn more in episode 12 of the Kākāpō Files II podcast.Guests:
Emma Bean, manager of the National Kiwi HatcheryCarole Dean, kiwi keeper, National Kiwi HatcheryRebeca Bothamley, tour guide, National Kiwi HatcheryGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 16 Mar 2026 - 30min - 1990 - Iwi-led conservation in the Kaimai Mamuku ranges
In the Kaimai Mamuku ranges iwi-led conservation projects are tackling pests, removing weeds and planting natives to restore their whenua. Ngāti Hinerangi’s Wairere Mahi project has been trapping around the Wairere falls, and restoring a nearby system of lakes. The projects were born from the Jobs for Nature fund established by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic. But with that fund now finished where will the money to support future conservation work come from? The Manaaki Kaimai Mamuku Trust supporting these projects has some ideas.
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Jobs for Nature also supported an iwi-led wetland restoration project just outside Dunedin.In 2024 The Detail spoke to a number of Jobs for Nature supported projects that were nearing the end of their funding.The Turning Point video series followed some of the kaimahi working on different Jobs for Nature projects across Aotearoa.Country Life’s Dollars for Nature episode covered the government announcement about voluntary nature credits market.Guests:
Louise Saunders, CEO of Manaaki Kaimai Mamuku TrustMohi Korohina, Wairere Mahi project managerHera Denton, GoEcoGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 09 Mar 2026 - 26min - 1989 - The thorny issue of the long-spined urchin
A native species is taking over a jewel-in-the crown marine reserve. But what can be done? Centrostephanus, the long-spined urchin, is munching its way through the world-renowned rock walls and kelp beds of the Poor Knights Islands. DOC, University of Auckland scientists and a local hapū are running removal trials to investigate whether this might be a way to manage its march.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 02 Mar 2026 - 26min - 1988 - The Democratisation of Space?
New Zealand is third in the world for the number of orbital rocket launches from our shores, sitting just behind the US and China. Phil Vine discovers some of the challenges raised by our push into the unknown and how it is changing the final frontier.
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Through a science experiment on the ISS, New Zealand researchers have been taking advantage of the unique conditions inlow earth orbitto investigate commercial opportunities. While New Zealand is well known as a place from which to launch rockets, we do not have a lot of our own hardware in space (the University of Auckland does haveTPA-1 CubeSat). But that might be about to change.Tech bros turned space bros like Elon Musk are making big waves out in orbit. The latest news is that Musk is hoping to harness the sun through satellites to power AI data centres.The New Zealand government's biggest investment in an international space mission ended in failure last year after MethaneSAT, a satellite built to detect methane emissions around the world, lost contact. While there are challenges inherent in humans and their technology being in space, that’s not all that is going on. Scientists are keeping a close eye on an active black hole and bright lights have Northland locals turning their eyes to the skies.Guests:
Mark Rocket, CEO Kea AerospaceDr Priyanka Dhopade, senior lecturer in mechanical and mechatronics engineering, University of AucklandDr Tuana Yazici, space law expertGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 23 Feb 2026 - 25min - 1987 - Science for future fashion
We know there are issues with sustainability within the fashion industry - can science help create a better future? Claire Concannon visits the Bioeconomy Science Institute in Rotorua to learn how New Zealand scientists are contributing to a massive multi-national project aimed at shaping the textile industry of tomorrow.
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UPWEARS has their own research project page if you want to learn more.Learn more about how the Bioeconomy Science Institute (formally Scion) is figuring out how to make new materials and products using bio-waste products rather than fossil fuels.The rise of synthetic fibres impacted the wool industry here in New Zealand, although some entrepreneurs and weavers are making it work for them.Guests:
Dr Yi Chen, Bioeconomy Science Institute, and UPWEARSDr Robert Abbel, Bioeconomy Science Institute, and UPWEARSSean Taylor, Bioeconomy Science Institute, and UPWEARSLouise Le Gall, Bioeconomy Science Institute, and UPWEARSDr Kate Parker, Bioeconomy Science Institute, and UPWEARSGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 16 Feb 2026 - 25min - 1986 - Going for eradication - Predator free South Westland
Since 2018 there's been a massive effort underway to clear over 110,000 hectares of South Westland of possums, rats and stoats. As the pest numbers have dropped the native flora and fauna seem to have flourished. The eradication stage is now nearing completion, and the focus is switching to maintenance. What will it take to keep the pests out long-term? And what can be learned from this large-scale project that could be used elsewhere in Aotearoa?
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Read/Listen to the rest of the reports from Tess Brunton’s reporting trip to the West Coast, about the eradication project, the work of species dogs, the feedback from tour operators and how rowi, New Zealand’s rarest kiwi, has been helped come back from the brink.For more on the use of AI in pest management project, listen to how the Southern Lakes Sanctuary team have been making use of it at Wye Creek.Guests:
Chad Cottle, Predator Free South WestlandEthan Perry, Predator Free South WestlandNate St Hill, Predator Free South WestlandPouri Rakete-Stones, Predator Free South WestlandDion Arnold, White Heron Sanctuary ToursGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 09 Feb 2026 - 26min - 1985 - Insect vibes
Some insects communicate using a secret language that we can’t sense – a language of vibrations. Now researchers at the Bioeconomy Science Institute are starting to decode what insects are saying to each other. They hope to harness this knowledge to develop new, chemical-free methods of pest control to help farmers and growers.
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Insects can also be recruited to help. For example, insects can be released into New Zealand for biocontrol in the effort to combat invasive weeds.While we often talk about the impact of invasive mammals on New Zealand’s bird life, they are also a problem for native insects too.We’ve got some invasive pest spiders here too, but researchers are trying to figure out if they can trap them by developing a special spider perfume.Guests:
Dr Mark MacDougall, Bioeconomy Science InstituteDr Lloyd Stringer, Bioeconomy Science InstitutePete Mundy, Castle Rock OrchardsDr Rachael Horner, Bioeconomy Science InstituteDr Bethan Shaw, Bioeconomy Science InstituteGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 02 Feb 2026 - 26min - 1984 - Sight in the womb
When do humans begin to interact with the world, and develop our sense of self? When we are born? Or might it start even earlier than that? Our visual systems are a key way that we perceive the world. New findings from the University of Waikato have shown that light can enter the womb and that we might already be learning about the world before we arrive in it.
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Listen to Our musical minds to learn why, to psychologists, humans’ musical ability is just weird.Like our sense of vision, our ability to hear also involves physical inputs from the world around us combined with the processing and prior knowledge of our brains. But sometimes things can go a bit awry, such as happens for those with tinnitus.Our visual system is evolved for daylight, but what about those creatures that live in the deep darkness, such as squid.Professor Vincent Reid’s early research in this area was covered by RNZ podcast ‘This Way Up’ in 2017.Hear more from William Ray in the award-winning Black Sheep podcast series, or in a recent Our Changing World episode about the Flowers of the Underworld.Guests:
Professor Vincent Reid, University of WaikatoAssociate Professor Jacob Heerikhuisen, University of WaikatoWilliam Ray, Janella Espinas, James Espinas RayGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 26 Jan 2026 - 26min - 1983 - Summer science: Methane-busting seaweed
A Southland company is growing red seaweed as a supplement that’s been shown to significantly reduce methane emissions in beef and dairy cattle. In our last summer science series episode, Cosmo Kentish-Barnes of the Country Life team heads to Bluff to learn more.
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You can read Cosmo Kentish-Barnes' story about this topic, Red seaweed cuts methane emissions from cattle, scientists say.Cosmo signed off from the Country Life team earlier this year, after 17 years as the show's South Island producer. You can listen to his final episode.There are also pāua and whitebait farms operating out of the Ocean Beach Aquaculture Hub in Bluff. Kate Evans visited both ventures in a 2024 episode of Voice of Tangaroa, Fish out of water.Guest:
Brent Jackson, production scientistGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 19 Jan 2026 - 13min - 1982 - Summer science: Why we spend
Why do we spend more than we need to? Is it mood, FOMO, the desire to impress? Or maybe some tricky behavioural triggers we're not even aware of? Our summer science series continues with an episode of the RNZ podcast Thrift, in which Katy Gosset gets to the heart of the matter with a consumer behaviourist, and shares some tips to stop us spending.
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You can read about the psychology of spending in RNZ's story: Why do we spend more than we need to?Thrift is an upbeat podcast that offers wise ways to beat the cost of living crisis and get the best from your money. Listen to more episodes of Thrift.Guest:
Ekant Veer, consumer behaviouristGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Tue, 13 Jan 2026 - 16min - 1981 - Summer science: The science of ageing
We’d all like to know how to live long healthy lives, and Kim Hill is no different. In this episode of Kim Hill Wants To Know, she talks to geneticist Dame Linda Partridge about the scientific breakthroughs that could mean the end to aging as we know it.
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In 2023, Our Changing World spoke to researchers about what happens to our muscles as we grow and age.Kim Hill Wants To Know sees Kim back asking questions in her inimitable style. She has conversations with guests from around the world about topics that spark her interest and will do the same for you. Listen to more episodes of Kim Hill Wants To Know.Guest:
Dame Linda Partridge, geneticistGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 05 Jan 2026 - 1h 06min - 1980 - Summer science: Keeping it crisp
We all love a good crunchy apple – but how do they stay like that for months after being picked? The Our Changing World summer science series continues with an episode of Here Now. Kadambari Raghukumar travels to Hawke's Bay to find out from South African-born scientist Nicolette Neiman. For plant physiologists like Nicolette, the thrill is in finding ways to make that possible – delivering a crunchy fruit fix to the world almost any time of the year.
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Read Kadambari Raghukumar's article, How do New Zealand apples stay crisp from tree to table?Here Now is an RNZ podcast about the journeys people make to New Zealand, their identities and perspectives, all of which shape their life here. Listen to more episodes of Here Now.Guest
Nicolette Neiman, plant physiologistGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 29 Dec 2025 - 12min - 1979 - Summer science: Dollars for nature
This week on the summer science series we play an episode of Country Life called Dollars for Nature. Can biodiversity credits fix New Zealand's conservation woes? In June, the government announced they were supporting the expansion of a voluntary credits nature market through pilot projects across New Zealand. Sally Round found out more.
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You can read more about biodiversity credits in Sally Round's story, Dollars for nature - can biodiversity credits fix NZ's conservation woes?Earlier this year Our Changing World visited the Eastern Whio Link conservation project, which set up its own biodiversity credits scheme - you can listen to that episode here.Country Life is an RNZ podcast that takes you all over the motu to hear the extraordinary stories of everyday rural New Zealand. Listen to more Country Life episodes.Guests:
Sean Weaver, chief executive at business consultancy EkosHayden Johnston, general manager for the natural environment at the Ministry for the EnvironmentGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 22 Dec 2025 - 13min - 1978 - Tackling feral cats
Nobody knows how many feral cats roam New Zealand, but estimates are in the millions and they’re a major threat to our native species. They've infiltrated almost every landscape, from coasts, to farms, to National Parks like Fiordland. Plus they’re wily and trap-shy, making them a tricky predator to tackle. RNZ's In-Depth reporter Farah Hancock speaks to some people on the front lines of the battle against feral cats.
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In this episode:
00:00 – 00:59 Introduction to bonus episode
01:00 – 03:24 Background to feral cat problem03:40 – 10:30 Playing ‘poos clues’ & trapping cats with hunter Victor Tinsdale
10:40 – 15:00 Daniel Cocker on how cats are threatening the dotterels on Rakiura
15:20 - 16:20 Farah explains how secondary poisoning works
16:30 – 19:42 Objections to 1080 use on Rakiura, and efforts to address these
20:18 – 24:08 Brad Windust with cat poo smelling dog Wero
24:09 – 24:44 Credits
Learn more:
Read the series of articles and see photos on the RNZ Feral webpage.In 2023 OCW spoke to ‘Dotterel Dan’ about the plight of the pukunui, and a tagging study aimed at identifying exactly where they nest on Rakiura.In the Catlins, Forest and Bird pest control officer Gavin Whiteis also battling trap-smart feral cats. While in the Wye valley near Queenstown, the Southern Lakes Sanctuary is hoping that new AI tech will help in the battle.Kākāpō were moved fromRakiura because of predation by feral cats. As the numbers of these manu grow, hopes are that achieving Predator Free Rakiura goals, including eradication of feral cats, will allow them to return.Guests:
Victor Tindale, hunterDaniel Cocker, Department of Conservation rangerBrad Windust, trapperGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 17 Dec 2025 - 24min - 1977 - The kākāpō files returns and the year in science
On three small predator-free islands off the coasts of Fiordland and Southland, preparations are underway for what many hope will be the biggest breeding season ever for the kākāpō. Alison Ballance returns to report on New Zealand’s most famous parrot in the Kākāpō Files Season II. She chats to Claire about why this season of the podcast is shaping up to be quite different to the first. Plus, analysts from the Science Media Centre summarise the massive science sector changes that have happened this year, and what is on the horizon for science in 2026.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 15 Dec 2025 - 34min - 1976 - Restoring Te Awarua o Porirua
The wetlands and surrounding forests of Te Awarua o Porirua, or Porirua Harbour, were once rich food baskets for Ngāti Toa Rangatira. But decades of development throughout the catchment - large-scale deforestation, road and rail building and urban growth - have brought sediment and pollution into the harbour, damaging the habitat. Veronika Meduna meets some of the team working to restore the harbour to its former plenty.
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Julian Wilcox recently spoke to artists Jasmine Arthur and Te Rauparaha Horomona about Ngati Toa in Porirua and the opening of a new exhibition Mutumutu ki Mukukai Freshwater to Salt Water.Ngāti Toa Rangatira celebrated the return of their sacred maunga, Whitireia, to iwi ownership earlier this year.Alison Ballance visited both Porirua and Wairarapa in 2018 to explore how environmental impacts travel from the hills to the sea and what communities are willing to do to make their waterways cleaner and healthier again.Guests:
Kaumatua Te Taku Parai, Ashleigh Sagar, Robert McLean and Jaida Howard of Ngāti Toa RangatiraBrian Thomas, Porirua City CouncilBryce and Jacqueline WatkinsLisa Casasanto and Jon Bluemel, Kahotea stream Restoration GroupJohn McKoy and Simon Glover, Guardians of Pauatahanui InletGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 08 Dec 2025 - 25min - 1975 - The best use of your time
What does a ‘good day’ look like for you? Researchers are using wearable sensors and wellbeing surveys to understand how lifestyle patterns impact life satisfaction. Perhaps this can help us plan for more ‘good days’. Plus, with the help of an EEG study, one neuroscientist graduate considers how social media use might be impacting his brain.
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Sleep is a fundamental process for us humans, we just don’t function well without enough of it. But what if your job requires long working hours across time zones?Exercise is good for our bodies and mental health and, research suggests, can also help our brains maintain and grow nerve cells.Recently, a report by the Education Review Office suggested the mobile phone ban in New Zealand schools is working, and that social media should be banned next.Australia’s social media ban for those under 16 comes into effect on the 10th of December, while debate continues here as to whether New Zealand should follow.Guests:
Professor Scott Duncan, Auckland University of TechnologyDr Anantha Narayanan, Auckland University of TechnologyTom Bolus, University of OtagoGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 01 Dec 2025 - 26min - 1974 - Return of the kākāpō files!
This upcoming summer is likely to be the biggest ever kākāpō breeding season, and RNZ will be following the twists and turns as they happen. The kākāpō files with Alison Ballance return for a second season.
New Kākāpō Files II episodes will appear when news breaks on the Wild Sounds and Kākāpō Files podcast feeds. Don't miss out. Find and follow them now.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 26 Nov 2025 - 02min - 1973 - Restoring freshwater forests
Our freshwater ecosystems are facing numerous challenges. Many of New Zealand’s lakes have lost much of their native underwater plant life. At the Ruakura ‘tank farm’ in Hamilton, researchers have been working on a project to help restore the freshwater forests.
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Listen to Invasive: the story of Stewart Smith from the Black Sheep podcast to learn more about New Zealand’s pest fish issue.Read more about the koi carp bow hunting that removed tonnes of pest fish.While the announcement of the eradication of lagarosiphon from Lake Ngatu was welcome it came on the heels of the disappointing news about finding this invasive weed in two South Island hydro lakes.It’s not just invasive plants that are an issue, invasive critters like the gold clam can also cause issues. Contained to the Waikato for the last two years, it has recently been found in a Taranaki lake.Restoring freshwater lakes and wetlands is a catchment wide effort, but groups around the motu are working on this.Guests:
Mary de Winton, Earth Sciences New Zealand
References:
NIWA’s RotoTurf webpage.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 24 Nov 2025 - 25min - 1972 - Mixing oil and water, the greener way
Oil and water don’t mix — unless surfactants step in. At Auckland University of Technology, a team of chemists has created a new kind of surfactant made from wood pulp rather than fossil fuels or palm oil. They hope that the cosmetic industry will be interested in this greener way to make smooth creams and lotions. Plus, what do geothermal spring microbes have to do with smelly wine?
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Dr Jack Chen has been on RNZ several times to talk about the chemistry of dishwashing, oven cleaning and laundry detergents.Soap is also a surfactant, which is what makes it good at washing oils off our hands, as well as busting open viruses.The cosmetic industry is not new, and during the Renaissance there were some ‘interesting’ recipes about, but did they have some good ideas?Listen to episodes exploring the use of chemistry in reconstructing past lives, honey fingerprinting, reducing the carbon cost of producing ammonia and creating a perfume to trap invasive spiders.Guests:
Dr Jack Chen, Dr Mohinder Naiya, Dr Victor Yim and Josh Van Dongen of Dot Ingredients.Sarah Manners, University of CanterburyGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 17 Nov 2025 - 26min - 1971 - Resurrecting Wellington's Flowers of the Underworld
Until late 2024, nobody had seen te pua o Te Rēinga “the flower of the underworld” in the Wellington region for more than a hundred years. A chance discovery of a small struggling population has kick started a race to protect the plants and help them return.
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- First Up interviewed Avi Holzapfel about Te Pua o Te Rēinga in 2024In 2020, OCW looked at efforts to resurrect a transplanted population of Te Pua o Te Rēinga at Zealandia.Graeme Atkins is also one of the driving forces behind an effort to help the ngutukākā plant return to the wild, plus the 1769 Garden – a living library of rare local East Coast native plant species.
Guests:
Graeme Atkins (Ngāti Purou, Rongomawahine)Barrett Pistoll – Greater Wellington Regional CouncilAvi Holzapfel – Department of ConservationRhys Mills - Ngā Manu Nature ReserveBart Cox – Wellington City CouncilGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 10 Nov 2025 - 26min - 1970 - The rise of the gold clam
An invasive species has taken hold in the Waikato River, and it’s multiplying fast. Gold clams, tiny but relentless, are now found along a large stretch of the awa, where they threaten water infrastructure, and native species. Where might it invade next, and can we control it?
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Among their other conservation activities, the team at Kids Greening Taupō have taken on the challenge of speaking to every class about the gold clam to raise awareness.MPI’s John Walsh spoke to Paddy Gower on Nine to Noon after last year’s gold clam survey, and more recently to Kathryn Ryan about following the rules to prevent the clam’s spread this trout fishing season.In Auckland, efforts are underway to protect the nativekākahi from the threats of introduced fish.Guests:
Dr Michele Melchior, Earth Sciences New ZealandKarl Safi, Earth Sciences New ZealandGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 03 Nov 2025 - 25min - 1969 - SAR4SaR - The folding, floating search and rescue device
New Zealand’s marine search and rescue region stretches from Antarctica to north of Samoa. If someone goes missing without any means of communication, that’s a lot of ocean to search. Now researchers and the New Zealand Defence Force have teamed up to develop and test a low-tech, no-battery device that can be picked up by radar – including that beamed down by satellites orbiting Earth.
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In this episode:
01:30 At Mission Bay Beach Dr Tom Dowling demonstrates the device
03:40 In the University of Auckland’s Space Institute lab the team explain the device design, and how it works.
10:00 Dr Tom Dowling talks about the radar reflector trials in Campbell Island and Omaha beach
13:00 Dr David Galligan, director of Defence Science and Technology on why DST is interested in the device
19:00 The satellites are the second side of the equation. Dr Tom Dowling explains how that works.
20:50 Back at Mission Bay Beach Dr Tom Dowling explains how the radar reflector would be an additional part of a kit on a boat and how it would work to narrow down the search area…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 27 Oct 2025 - 26min - 1968 - What makes Ruapehu tick, and boom
It’s been 30 years since a dramatic series of eruptions at Mount Ruapehu. In that time, there have been great advances in monitoring and modelling volcanoes – but we still can’t look inside a volcano to see exactly what’s going on. Claire Concannon heads to Wairakei, near Taupō, to meet researchers working on the next best thing: recreating Ruapehu’s eruptions in the lab.
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In this episode:…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 20 Oct 2025 - 26min - 1967 - When the fame fades
Two years ago, the Australasian crested grebe, the pūteketeke, took out the title of New Zealand’s Bird of the Century. But when the Paris billboard got swapped out, and 'Lord of the Wings' ads no longer peppered Wellington's bus stops, who stuck around? Claire Concannon meets two dedicated grebe supporters battling different challenges at two Central Otago lakes.
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In this episode:
00:06 – John Oliver’s pūteketeke campaign
01:15 – Richard Bowman at Lake Hayes
16:45 – Markus Hermanns at Lake Wānaka
Learn more:
Read more about the pūteketeke and the people helping them in this RNZ story, What happened when the pūteketeke's fame faded?In 2016 Alison Ballance visited Lake Wānaka to speak to John Darby about the grebes.It’s not news that New Zealand’s freshwater lakes and wetlands are generally in trouble, but there are many groups around the motu trying to improve their patch – whether that’s the Taiari river catchment, lakes in Auckland that are home to the kākahi, or a wetland area in the Waikato battling an unusual pest problem.This year’s Bird of the Year is the karearea, learn about the New Zealand falcon in this 2018 episode.Guests:
- Richard Bowman, Friends of Lake HayesMarkus Hermanns, The Lake Wānaka Grebe Project
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 13 Oct 2025 - 26min - 1966 - Putting AI to use in Aotearoa
From the public service sector to businesses to individuals, AI’s uptake across New Zealand has been rapid. And it’s not just large language models. Claire Concannon meets researchers who are harnessing different kinds of artificial intelligence to boost aquaculture, prepare for a measles outbreak and assist in urban conservation. But alongside the benefits sit potential harms. How can we try to minimise them in our AI future?
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In this episode:
01:00 – Introduction to Dr Andrew Lensen and about AI
06:00 – Professor Bing Xue and applied AI for aquaculture
09:15 – Dr Fiona Callaghan models measle outbreak scenarios
13:30 – Dr Andrew Lensen and the kākā project
18:30 – Social and ethical issues of AI…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 06 Oct 2025 - 26min - 1965 - The Lough Hyne sponge mystery
This week, an underwater mystery connecting New Zealand and Ireland - the puzzle of the disappearing sponges of Lough Hyne. In the late 1990s/early 2000s James Bell was doing PhD research on the sponge communities that coated the underwater cliffs of this small sea inlet in West Cork. When he returned 15 years later, they had vanished. Why did they disappear, are they starting to recover, and can they be helped to return? Now a Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, these are the key questions that James, and PhD candidates from his lab, have been working to answer.
Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more. See more photoson the webpage for this story.
In this episode:
00:00 – Divers return, introduction to Lough Hyne and its scientific history.
02:50 – James Bell on his early research at Lough Hyne and the surprising disappearance of sponge communities.
05:15 – Gabi Wood and Kea Witting get ready to dive at Whirlpool Cliffs.
06:30 – James Bell explains the unique tidal regime of Lough Hyne that means it has many diverse habitats.
09:00 – Gabi Wood is collecting water samples to study sponge feeding and nutrient levels.
11:00 – What caused the sponges to disappear.
14:00 – Kea Witting is investigating sponge community recovery.
21:00 – Experiments to help the sponges return…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 29 Sep 2025 - 27min - 1964 - Now on Wild Sounds: Voices from Antarctica
Need a nature fix? RNZ now has a podcast feed dedicated to our beautifully produced series telling stories from te taiao nature. Check out the Wild Sounds feed – now playing Voices from Antarctica, featuring Alison Ballance reporting from the frozen deep south.
Find and follow Wild Sounds on your favourite podcast platform, or listen on RNZ
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Thu, 25 Sep 2025 - 00min - 1963 - Detecting cow burps from space
In March 2024, a satellite built to detect the potent greenhouse gas methane launched into orbit – backed by New Zealand to a final total of $32 million. MethaneSAT aimed to pinpoint large leaks from oil and gas fields, since plugging these is considered an easy climate win. But an add-on mission was investigating whether the satellite could pick up the smaller, more diffuse methane emissions from agriculture. Our Changing World joined the New Zealand-based team testing this capability – before disaster struck. With MethaneSAT uncontactable and lost in space, what did the mission deliver?
This episode was updated on 6 October to include the correct total figure of the New Zealand's contribution to MethaneSAT of $32 million.
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In this episode:
00:00 – 03:08: Introduction
03:08 – 05:38: A methane-measuring device takes off from the airfield05:38 – 16:32: Ground-based methane measurements with the EM-27
16:32 – 25:29: What went wrong, and what data MethaneSAT did collect…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 22 Sep 2025 - 26min - 1962 - New Zealand science in space
In March 2024, a rocket launched from Florida carrying New Zealand’s first science payload to the International Space Station. The small cube, named Lucy, is a protein crystallisation lab developed by Dr Sarah Kessans from the University of Canterbury. Protein crystallisation is often the key first step in figuring out a protein structure, and the unique fluid conditions of microgravity in low Earth orbit helps the process. Working with several collaborators, Sarah is trying to develop a commercially viable crystallisation lab in space. Plus, Dr Brian Russell is creating AI tools to help space companies make critical decisions around astronaut health and safety.
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Guests:
Associate Professor Sarah Kessans, University of CanterburyDr Brian Russell, Auckland Bioengineering Institute and AUTLearn more:
Read more: New Zealand in the low Earth orbit economy.Researchers in the Paihau Robinson Research institute are also working on developing plasma rockets for travel in space. They launched a superconducting magnet for testing on board the ISS yesterday. In 2017, the same year that RocketLab did their first ‘It’s a test’ launch, William Ray had a look at New Zealand in space.Listen to Dr Sarah Kessans on Morning Report in 2023.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 - 29min - 1961 - The I-spy carbon mobile
An elaborate game of carbon ‘I spy’ is happening on the streets of Wellington. With their brand-new mobile carbon lab, Earth Sciences New Zealand (formerly GNS) can detect things like carbon dioxide and methane as they drive around. This allows them to pinpoint where emissions are coming from. Plus, with radiocarbon measurements, they can understand what amount of the carbon they detect is coming from fossil fuels. It all helps to ground-truth our estimates of what’s happening in our urban environments.
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Guests:
Dr Jocelyn Turnbull, Earth Sciences New ZealandHayden Young, Earth Sciences New ZealandLearn more:
Read this week's article: Playing 'I-spy' with urban emissions.Carbon Watch NZ is an ongoing project to measure how much carbon is being produced across New Zealand. Alison Ballance covered this project in 2020, including learning about Baring Head atmospheric research station, and about a project also by Dr Jocelyn Turnbull using grass to measure urban emissions.The mobile carbon lab uses glass-blown flasks to collect radiocarbon. Learn about scientific glassblowing in this 2010 OCW episode.The People, Cities and Nature project is investigating how to return biodiversity to our towns and cities, such as the gullies in Kirikiriroa Hamilton. Such green areas would act as urban carbon sinks.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 08 Sep 2025 - 26min - 1960 - The comeback bird
Takahē were believed to be extinct not once, but twice. Today their population is just over 500 – still not a huge number, but big enough that new homes are needed for these flightless manu. The latest area to welcome takahē is the upper Whakatipu – in particular, the stunning Rees Valley. But threats remain and keeping on top of predator numbers is key for this comeback bird to survive and thrive in their new home.
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Guests:
Chrissy Becker-Fifield, Southern Lakes Sanctuary.Additional thanks to Glen Greaves of DOC’s takahē recovery programme for background information.Also mentioned: the Routeburn Dart Wildlife Trust.Learn more:
Read this episode's article: Backcountry takahē make a comeback.November 2023 marked the 75th anniversary of the second time takahē were ‘rediscovered’. We spoke to Alison Ballance about her book about takahē, and her years of reporting on these birds. RNZ reported on DOC’s efforts to catch the stoat culprits that killed a number of takahē in the Greenstone valley.After decades of careful monitoring, DOC are stepping back from the Murchison Mountain’s population of takahē.Takahē have been spotted by trampers around the Shelter Rock hut deep in the Rees valley.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 01 Sep 2025 - 27min - 1959 - Powering New Zealand
Gas shortages, a reversal of the ban of offshore oil and gas exploration, and a government plan to double geothermal energy in the next 15 years… There’s been a lot in the news recently about New Zealand’s energy supply now and in the future. Claire Concannon speaks to researcher Dr Jen Purdie about our ongoing electrification of industry and transport, about our ‘dry year problem’, and what the future of supply and demand might look like in a changing climate.
*This episode was updated with some additional clarifications on 15th September 2025
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Guests:
Dr Jen Purdie, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago.Kirsty Johnston, RNZ In-Depth journalistLearn more:
Could nuclear fusion-generated energy be a way to help us power the future? Learn how New Zealand company OpenStar Technologies are trying to crack this.Read or listen to Kirsty’s recent reporting about what has changed in climate policies underpinning the Zero Carbon Act 2019. The coalition government has stated they want to use New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (rather than the GIDI fund) to help drive the transition from fossil fuels to other forms of energy, but as climate change journalist Eloise Gibson reports, there are issues with this plan.References
The 2025 Energy in New Zealand report came out in August 2025.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 25 Aug 2025 - 28min - 1958 - New Zealand’s youth vaping rates
New Zealand’s youth vaping rates are among the highest in the world. How did we get here and what will this mean for the future of our rangatahi? A 2018 court case paved the way for a loose regulatory start for vaping in New Zealand, and rapid uptake by those aged 14–24 in the years since has led to concerns that a new generation is now addicted to nicotine. New Zealand researchers are investigating how vaping affects our lungs, and the harms young people are experiencing in terms of social connections and mental health.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 18 Aug 2025 - 28min - 1957 - The science of non-alcoholic beer
More and more of us are reaching for low or no-alcohol beers. As the market grows, the options are also expanding – but brewing beer without alcohol fermentation presents a tricky puzzle. In traditional beer brewing the conversion of sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide through yeast fermentation is a key part of the process. How can you get the same flavour into beer without it? A team at Victoria University of Wellington, including the head of research and development at Garage Project, have begun an interdisciplinary research project to address this. They’re hoping to develop a brand-new yeast strain, one that will recreate delicious beer flavours, but without the alcohol.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 11 Aug 2025 - 26min - 1956 - Turning Taupō green
Project Tongariro was established as a living memorial for five people who died in a tragic helicopter accident. Last November, the project turned 40 years old. Over those four decades, activities have expanded beyond Tongariro National Park and into the wider area, including urban restoration through tree planting and predator trapping. Claire Concannon visits the Taupō-based projects that Project Tongariro is supporting as they prepare for Greening Taupō Day – their biggest planting day of the year.
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Guests:
Kiri Te Wano, CEO Project TongariroRobyn Ellis, Greening Taupō and Predator Free TaupōRachel Thompson, Kids Greening TaupōHeidi Pritchard, Kids Greening TaupōCelia Bocket, Wicked WeedersZara, Jack, Taylor and Emily, students of Taupō Intermediate SchoolLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: 40 years of Project TongariroProject Tongariro are also involved in a number of restoration projects near Tūrangi, including removing willows from a wetland area.In Kirikiriroa Hamilton, a team are also focused on urban greening as part of the People, Nature and Cities project.Just outside Dunedin, the Halo Project has been working to provide a safe space for birds around the Orokonui fenced ecosanctuary, as the Country Life team learned last year.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 04 Aug 2025 - 25min - 1955 - The willows and the wetland
The battle on the frontlines of conservation continues around the motu. This week we head to the central North Island to join some of the staff and volunteers of Project Tongariro. Ecologist Nick Singers is coordinating the fight against the invasive grey willow that’s taking over a wetland area, while Shirley Potter is applying a ‘let’s get it done’ attitude to reforesting a patch of public conservation land near her home in Tauranga-Taupō.
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Guests:
Kiri Te Wano, CEO of Project TongariroShirley PotterNick SingersLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: 40 years of Project TongariroWillow is an issue in many wetland areas where it binds up waterways and transforms the land. Just outside Dunedin, a team are using drone spraying to combat it near the Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau wetland complex.In the Rotopiko wetland complex, near Hamilton, the pest battle is a bit unusual: conservationists are concerned about the half a million sparrows and starlings that roost at night.The fight for the forest also continues on multiple pest fronts in the Catlins area in Otago.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 28 Jul 2025 - 26min - 1954 - The dance of the lanternfish
During World War II, sonar operators discovered a ‘false seabed’ that appeared to move upwards during the nighttime. In fact, the sound waves were bouncing off huge numbers of small critters. This daily movement is the largest animal migration on the planet, consisting of deep-water animals that hide in the ocean’s twilight then move to the surface after sunset to feed. By far the most abundant fish in this crowd are the lanternfishes. New Zealand researchers are investigating what impact lanternfish migration has on the life cycle of fish we like to eat, and how it may also play a huge role in the Earth’s carbon cycle.
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Guests:
Professor Jeff Shima, Victoria University of WellingtonAlisha Gill, Victoria University of WellingtonNiamh Smith, Victoria University of WellingtonLearn more:
Read the article for this episode: Lanternfish: small fish, big impactBelow the twilight zone, in the deepest parts of the worlds’ oceans, including in New Zealand waters, scientists continue to discover new critters.The deep ocean makes up the majority of the living space on our planet, where life down there has evolved to cope with the pressure, cold and darkness.The Southern Ocean absorbs a huge amount of carbon, but scientists are concerned that may change as the planet warms.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 21 Jul 2025 - 25min - 1953 - A New Zealand approach to nuclear fusion
For a long time, nuclear fusion was viewed as a powerful, but unachievable, energy source, because the technological challenges were just too great. But recent advances, particularly in the development of powerful magnets, have reignited the race to create the world’s first efficient nuclear fusion powerplant. Claire Concannon visits one private company just outside Wellington who have joined the nuclear fusion effort, with a unique approach they believe might be the key.
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Guests:
Dr Ratu Mataira, Founder and CEO of OpenStar TechnologiesEmily Hunter, Lead Engineer Cryogenics and Docking, OpenStarThomas Berry, Deputy Direct of Plasma Science, OpenStarLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: Could a Kiwi company crack nuclear fusion?Kim Hill had a lengthy and fascinating interview with Dr Ratu Mataira in 2023 on RNZ’s Saturday Morning show. He also spoke with Alexa Cook on Morning Report in 2024 after OpenStar achieved ‘first plasma’. In 2023 Our Changing World played an episode of the ABC’s Strange Frontiers that went inside the nuclear fusion reactor ITER.Learn more about the simplest element, Hydrogen, from RNZ’s 2019 Elemental podcast.The Royal Society of New Zealand has a series of videos on Ernest Rutherford’s scientific discoveries including radioactive decay and half-life, and splitting the atom.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 14 Jul 2025 - 27min - 1952 - Tauranga's living sea wall
In May 2024, 100 strange rocky structures were installed along Tauranga's harbour shoreline. These flower-shaped artificial rockpools, nicknamed 'sea pods', provide prime waterfront real estate for marine life – from colourful sea slugs to sneezing sponges. Justine Murray finds out how 'living sea walls' are bringing back biodiversity to urban harbours around the world, and joins a marine scientist to check out what creatures have moved into Tauranga's sea pods.
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In this episode:
00:49 – What is a sea pod?
06:27 – Living sea walls in Sydney with Dr Aria Lee10:25 – Sea pods around the world and in Tauranga
13:06 – Monitoring marine life in the sea pods with David Culliford
20:50 – Port of Tauranga
21:48 – Looking for critters in the sea pods
…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 07 Jul 2025 - 25min - 1951 - Protecting ‘Jaws’ – Aotearoa’s rarest freshwater fish
Speckled, pencil-thin and sporting an underbite: the lowland longjaw galaxias is New Zealand’s rarest freshwater fish species. With just seven known populations, this species is considered nationally endangered. Join producer Karthic SS at a spring-fed stream in the wild Mackenzie Basin to meet the tiny fish, hear from a researcher studying trout-proof barriers, and chat to a ranger who for 20 years has cared for the little fish he calls 'Jaws'.
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Guests:
Dean Nelson, Senior Ranger, Biodiversity, Department of ConservationMartha Jolly, PhD candidate, University of CanterburyLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: Looking after New Zealand's rarest freshwater fish.Otago farmers are looking out for another species of rare non-migratory galaxiid.In Auckland’s Lake Rototoa, introduced perch are the problem for the native kākahi.Karthic produces the Tune Into Nature podcast about New Zealand’s unique wildlife.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 30 Jun 2025 - 25min - 1950 - New insights from an old vaccine
Since the 1800s, tuberculosis (TB) has been responsible for an estimated 1 billion deaths. In New Zealand today, we don’t get many cases of TB, but worldwide it is the leading infectious disease killer. In the early 1900s a TB vaccine was developed. Called the BCG vaccine, it’s still used today. While it is the best TB vaccine we have, it’s not actually great at preventing TB infection, only providing some protection for the youngest of patients. However, scientists have discovered that the BCG vaccine can boost people’s immune systems in other ways. Now researchers at the Malaghan Institute in Wellington are investigating these findings further.
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Guests:
Dr Kerry Hilligan, Malaghan InstituteRebecca Palmer, Malaghan InstituteLearn more:
In 2017, Alison Ballance reported on the looming antimicrobial resistance crisis, with drug-resistant TB part of the problem.Other Our Changing World episodes about research at the Malaghan Institute include this 2024 episode on a new way to target rising stomach cancer rates, and this 2022 episode on next-generation cancer therapies.In 2021, Claire Concannon covered mRNA vaccine technology.The What if...? Genomics in Aotearoa series explores the different ways genomics is transforming different sectors, including infectious disease medicine.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 23 Jun 2025 - 26min - 1949 - Getting ready for H5N1 bird flu
2020 saw the start of two global pandemics. Covid-19, of course, but also H5N1 bird flu. The latter has swept around the world leaving millions of dead wild birds and marine mammals in its wake. It has reached everywhere – except Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Alison Ballance has been finding out why this strain of bird flu is so deadly, and what we are doing to get ready for its possible arrival on our shores.
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Guests:
Dr Kate McInnes, Department of ConservationDr Megan Jolly, Wildbase Hospital, Massey UniversityDr Mary van Andel, Ministry for Primary IndustriesRob Schuckard, Birds New ZealandDavid Melville, Birds New ZealandLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: A deadly bird flu strain is coming. Are we ready?Find out about Biosecurity NZ’s bird flu surveillance work and what New Zealand is doing to prepare for the possible arrival of avian influenza.The Exotic Pest and Disease Hotline for reporting suspected bird flu is 0800 80 99 66.The Department of Conservation is preparing for the possible arrival of H5N1 bird flu in New Zealand.Claire Concannon spoke about viruses, including H5N1 bird flu, with virologist Professor Jemma Geoghegan, winner of the 2024 Prime Minister's Te Puiaki Whakapā Pūtaiao Science Communication Prize.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 16 Jun 2025 - 26min - 1948 - Wild Sounds: The new podcast feed for nature
If you like Our Changing World, you should find and follow Wild Sounds: RNZ's new podcast feed dedicated to incredible natural science stories from New Zealand!
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 11 Jun 2025 - 00min - 1947 - Tracking turtles
In late 2024 a cluster of sick green sea turtles washed up around the Rangaunu Harbour on the east coast of the Far North. It was just another mystery in a long line of all the things we don’t know about these ocean taonga. But a new telemetry study, using these very turtles, could change all that. The study has officially kicked off with the release of five satellite-tagged honu. Liz Garton finds out what secrets the researchers hope to uncover.
From now on Our Changing World will appear on Tuesdays in your podcast feed!
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Guests:
Dr Karen Middlemiss, Department of ConservationDr James Chatterton, Auckland ZooCeline Campana, Auckland ZooKim Evans, SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’sLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: Solving green sea turtle mysteries.Find out more about the honu that visit our shores.RNZ’s Peter de Graaf describes the release of the first lot of satellite-tagged turtles in Northland.Learn more about the international effort to protect leatherback turtlesGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 09 Jun 2025 - 28min - 1946 - The Chatham Island tūī translocation
One from the archives! By the 1990s Chatham Island tūī had all but disappeared from the main island. Slightly different to their mainland counterparts, these songbirds had survived on nearby Pitt and Rangatira islands. So a local conservation group decided to try bring them back. In this episode from 2010, Alison Ballance joins the ‘tūī team’ tasked with moving 40 birds from Rangatira island back to the main island.
From now on Our Changing World will arrive in your podcast feed first thing on a Tuesday morning!
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In this episode:
00:00 – 02:30 Introduction and background info
02:30 – 12:14 Catching tūī on Rangatira Island12:15 – 12:24 Team has caught 40 birds
12:25 – 24:46 Moving the birds to main Chatham Island
24:47 – 25:55 Update on the birds…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Mon, 02 Jun 2025 - 26min - 1945 - Wildfire science heats up
Smoke explosions. Fire tornadoes. Burning couches. It all happens in the fire lab: a purpose-built facility where researchers can safely set stuff on fire and study how it burns, for science. New Zealand experiences 4,500 wildfires every year, with the risk ramping up due to climate change. We visit the fire lab to watch a large gorse bush go up in flames and learn how this helps us prepare for future wildfires.
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In this episode:
01:54–09:39 – Watching a gorse bush burn in the fire lab
10:45–12:43 – Burning couches, smoke explosions and fire tornadoes
12:44–19:08 – Mini burn experiments and how research is preparing for wildfires of the future19:08–23:32 – Kate's experience as a wildland firefighter in Canada…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 28 May 2025 - 25min - 1944 - Dissecting the world's rarest whale
How do you go about dissecting the world’s rarest whale? In December 2024, images from a concrete room in Mosgiel, just south of Dunedin, spread around the world as a team of people spent a week doing a scientific dissection on a spade-toothed whale that had washed up five months before. Claire Concannon joins them to find out what’s involved, what they have learned, and how the arrangements between local iwi and visiting scientists enabled knowledge sharing.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 21 May 2025 - 26min - 1943 - The missing black petrels of Great Barrier Island
For nearly 30 years, researchers have been banding black petrel fledglings before they make their maiden migration to Ecuador. Only a handful of birds have ever come back. RNZ’s In Depth reporter Kate Newton travels to Aotea-Great Barrier Island to meet the birds, and the dedicated team trying to figure out the mystery of where they go.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 14 May 2025 - 28min - 1942 - The 2024 Prime Minister’s Science Prize winners
Each year, five Prime Minister’s Science Prizes are awarded in the most prestigious New Zealand science awards. We explore the AgResearch science that got the top recognition this year and catch up with two of the other winners. Science Communication prizewinner Professor Jemma Geoghegan talks about the hundreds of interviews she’s done about viruses, and Future Scientist prizewinner Rena Misra explains her project exploring how a plant-fungus combination could have the potential to help clean up stormwater.
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Guests:
Professor Jemma Geoghegan, University of OtagoRena Misra, Epsom Girls’ Grammar School in AucklandDr Linda Johnson, Endophyte Discovery Team, AgResearchIn this episode:
00:06–02:05: The main science prize was awarded to a group who have discovered a way to protect pasture ryegrass from pests.
02:06–02:57: The winners of the Science Teacher Prize and the MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize.
02:58–19:33: Interview with Science Communication prizewinner Professor Jemma Geoghegan of the University of Otago about viruses and pandemics.
19:34–26:10: Interview with Future Scientist prizewinner Rena Misra of Epsom Girls' Grammar School in Auckland about a fungus-plant symbiosis that might help clean up stormwater…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Tue, 06 May 2025 - 26min - 1941 - Fiordland's underwater world
With its steep sides, forested slopes and heavy rainfall, Fiordland has interesting ecosystems both above and below the water. Below the surface of the inner fiords, a variety of sponges, corals, and other filter-feeding animals cling to the cliff-like reefs. Claire Concannon heads to Doubtful Sound with a research team who are habitat-mapping the fiords to better understand what’s there, and how things are changing over time. They are also investigating the resilience of its iconic black corals to local landslides and marine heatwaves.
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Guests:
Professor James Bell, Victoria University of WellingtonMiriam Pierotti, Victoria University of WellingtonAmber Kirk, Victoria University of WellingtonLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: Studying Fiordland's iconic black coralsOur Changing World visited Professor James Bell at the Coastal Ecology Lab in 2023 to learn more about sponges.The 2022 marine heatwave mentioned here led to one of the largest ever recorded sponge mass bleaching events.In Antarctica giant glass sponges also live in quite shallow waters, under the sea ice.Eva Ramey and Dr Alice Rogers are also involved in a project to study the movement of sharks in Fiordland.Professor James Bell has investigated ‘middle’ light zone habitats around Aoteaora. Learn more and check out some videos in his recent article on The Conversation.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 30 Apr 2025 - 26min - 1940 - Helping New Zealand’s understated orchids
Cooper’s orchid is New Zealand’s rarest and most elusive, with fewer than 250 plants left in the wild. It belongs to the group of potato orchids, which grow mostly underground as tubers – except for a brief period every few years when they push out a leafless stick with a few flowers. This largely subterranean lifestyle already presents a challenge, but saving this species is even harder because, like all orchids, the Cooper’s orchid can only produce seedlings with the help of the right soil fungus. After years of lab experiments to produce in vitro seedlings, botanists are now ready to boost dwindling wild populations.
Guests:
Dr Carlos Lehnebach, botany curator, Te Papa TongarewaDr Karin van der Walt, conservation advisor, Ōtari Wilton’s BushJennifer Alderton-Moss, plant conservation researcher, Wellington City CouncilLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: Rare orchids reintroduced into the wild.Alison Ballance talked to Carlos Lehnebach about why some orchids smell like mushrooms and how that helps them to fool insects.This Critter of the Week episode focuses on the helmet orchid (Corybas dienemus), another rare native orchid that likes cold, damp and windy places.In this interview, Jesse Mulligan talks to Fred Clarke, a Californian orchid breeder who created the acclaimed black orchid After Dark.This Critter of the Week episode discusses the copper beard orchid (Calochilus herbaceous), which is threatened by habitat loss and climate change.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 23 Apr 2025 - 26min - 1939 - Bonus: RNZ climate correspondent Eloise Gibson
Claire Concannon spoke to RNZ's climate correspondent Eloise Gibson for the last episode of the Voice of the Sea Ice series. Listen to the full interview between Eloise and Claire in which they talk about the Paris Agreement, New Zealand's international climate commitments, and what we can do as individuals.
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Guests:
Eloise Gibson, RNZ climate correspondentLearn more:
Read Eloise’s recent analysis about New Zealand’s international climate targets, or New Zealand'sglacier loss. Eloise has also recently fact checked Winston Peters on climate accord, reported on our 2035 Paris Agreement target and delved into the recent uptake of solar demand in New Zealand.The Climate Action Tracker website keeps tabs on the targets and pledges of different countries and monitors whether they are on track to keep the world below 2 oC of warming (compared to pre-industrial temperatures).Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Tue, 15 Apr 2025 - 47min - 1938 - Keeping up with the kākahi
Kākahi are a keystone species in lake and river ecosystems, keeping the water clean by filtering one litre of water every hour. These native mussels once blanketed lakebeds across Auckland – but recent surveys found an alarming decline and disappearance across many lakes. A team of scientists and divers have mounted a rescue mission for one of the last remaining kākahi populations, trying to keep the mussels safe from invasive fish through all the steps of their complicated – and fascinating – life cycle.
Guests:
Madison Jones, Senior Healthy Waters Specialist, Auckland CouncilBelinda Studholme, Senior Biosecurity Advisor – Freshwater, Auckland CouncilEbi Hussain, Submerged Environmental and Aotearoa LakesAndrew Simpson, Global DiveLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: A rescue mission saving rare freshwater mussels.Meet the bullies – the native freshwater fish that host the kākahi in their parasitic stage – in this 2023 episode recorded by Claire at Zealandia, where the fish have been translocated.Alison Ballance covered the translocation of kākahi into Zealandia back in 2018.Wondering how the perch and other pests ended up in Lake Rototoa? Black Sheep has the details in the episode Invasive: the story of Stewart Smith.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 16 Apr 2025 - 26min - 1937 - Voice of the Sea Ice 06 | Where to?
Human-induced climate change is impacting Earth’s global systems, including ice melt in Antarctica. What is the world doing to combat it? Signed in 2016, the Paris Agreement is the current global plan to tackle it. Countries pledge different emission reduction targets and then produce their workings and homework about how they are going about it. Where does New Zealand fit in? Are we doing our bit as a nation? And should we be bothering with individual actions or is that simply a bait-and-switch tactic by those who want to delay real change?
Guests:
Eloise Gibson, RNZ climate correspondentDr Jess Berentson-Saw, Director of Narrative Research and Strategy, The WorkshopLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: Is New Zealand doing its bit in combating climate change?Read Eloise’s recent analysis about New Zealand’s international climate targets, or listen to this episode of The Detail.Eloise has also recently fact checked Winston Peters on climate accord, reported on our 2035 Paris Agreement target, and delved into the recent uptake of solar demand in New Zealand.The Climate Action Tracker website keeps tabs onthe targets and pledges of different countries and monitors whether they are on track to keep the world below 2 °C of warming (compared to pre-industrial temperatures).The Workshop have published a cheat sheet on ‘How to talk about climate change’.This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 09 Apr 2025 - 33min - 1936 - Voice of the Sea Ice 05 | Changing times
In February 2025, the world hit a new low for global sea ice extent. Arctic sea ice has been declining for several decades now, but Antarctic sea ice had been holding steady, until recently. With low summer sea ice extents for four years in a row, it appears that Earth’s warming has kicked Antarctic sea ice into a new regime. Claire Concannon speaks to scientists to understand what this means for Antarctica, what this means for us, and how they feel about it.
Guests:
Dr Natalie Robinson, NIWA Dr Jacqui Stuart, Victoria University of WellingtonDr Greg Leonard, University of OtagoDr Daniel Price, University of Canterbury and Kea AerospaceDr Inga Smith, University of Otago Dr Michelle LaRue, University of CanterburyLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: A time of change for Antarctic sea ice.Read about the recent State of the Global Climate Report.The world’s biggest iceberg recently ran aground, but to get up close and personal, listen to the Voice of the Icebergminiseries.The world is also experiencing ice loss from its glaciers. New Zealand’s glaciers have shrunk by 29% since 2000. Listen to The annual snowline survey to learn how our glaciers are monitored.This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 02 Apr 2025 - 28min - 1935 - Voice of the Sea Ice 04 | More life!
Penguins that return to the ice in the middle of winter to lay their eggs. Seals that use cracks in the ice to keep their pups safe. And fish that have antifreeze proteins to survive in the icy cold waters... Antarctic life is tough, and full of surprises. Scientists are keen to piece together the Antarctic food web puzzle to better understand the interconnections, and to enable smart conservation decisions.
Guests:
Arek Aspinwall, University of CanterburyDr Michelle LaRue, University of CanterburyProfessor Steve Wing, University of OtagoLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: How Antarctic seals and penguins rely on sea ice.Meet other seals and penguins with Peregrin Hyde on his journey to South Georgia Island as part of an Inspiring Explorers expedition.In ‘Best Journey in the World’ from the Voices from Antarctica series, Alison Ballance travelled to Cape Crozier with a team from NIWA studying the emperor penguins.This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 26 Mar 2025 - 27min - 1934 - Voice of the Sea Ice 03 | Life!
What’s it like to live and work on the frozen ocean? A team of researchers is camping out on the sea ice to investigate the small critters that live on the bottom of the ice, and among the sloshy platelet ice layer just below it. From microalgae to krill, these tiny organisms hold up the big complex food web of Antarctica. Scientists are keen to understand these communities, and how they might shift as the sea ice cycle changes.
Guests:
Dr Natalie Robinson, NIWA Dr Jacqui Stuart, Victoria University of WellingtonDr Greg Leonard, University of OtagoLizzy Skelton, University of CanterburyDr Aimee van der Reis, University of AucklandSalvatore Campanile, Victoria University of WellingtonLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode: What lives in Antarctic sea ice?Dr Natalie Robinson spoke to The Detail in 2023 about the unprecedented sea ice conditions of that yearAlison Ballance's Voices from Antarctica series from 2020 explores what it’s like to live and work in Antarctica.This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 19 Mar 2025 - 26min - 1933 - Voice of the Sea Ice 02 | Antarctica's heartbeat
Step out on the sea ice just outside New Zealand’s Scott Base with researchers studying the physics of its annual cycle. Each year a massive patch of ocean around Antarctica freezes and then melts again come summer – Antarctica’s heartbeat. In winter, the ice effectively more than doubles the size of this already massive continent, and it plays a huge role in controlling our planet’s climate.
Guests:
Dr Inga Smith, University of Otago Antonia Radlwimmer, University of OtagoProfessor Wolfgang Rack, University of CanterburyLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode, Monitoring and measuring Antarctica's heartbeat.Listen to Physics on Ice from 2021 with Emeritus Professor Pat Langhorne and Dr Inga Smith.Alison Ballance's Voices from Antarctica series from 2020 explores what it’s like to live and work in Antarctica.This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.
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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 12 Mar 2025 - 28min - 1932 - Voice of the Sea Ice 01 | A land of ice and ambition
Welcome to Antarctica - a land of ice, extremes, and ambition. From historic expeditions to modern day science projects, Antarctic exploration is a unique, and dangerous, experience. We meet one researcher involved in an epic journey across the largest ice shelf in Antarctica, mapping a safe route through a crevassed landscape for others to follow. Plus, we learn about the different types of ice found in this vast, frozen landscape.
Guests:
Dr Daniel Price, University of Canterbury and Kea AerospaceNgā Taonga Sound and Vision archival audioLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode.Daniel did the route-finding for the SWAIS2C project. Veronika Meduna flew out to the camp in the 2023/2024 season to report on their activities.Daniel has spoken to Morning Report about Kea Aerospace’s work developing a solar-powered aircraftHear about other ongoing research in Antarctica from the latest research season, including investigating new methane seeps, and giant glass sponges.Learn more about living, and working, on the ice in the 2020 podcast series – Voices from Antarctica.This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 05 Mar 2025 - 30min - 1931 - Keeping tabs on Fiordland’s sharks and researching our deep-sea realm
Using acoustic tags and a network of receivers attached to the seafloor, researchers are tracking the movements of sevengill sharks in Fiordland. They want to understand how these apex predators adjust to changing ocean temperatures, particularly during marine heat waves. Plus, an international collaboration involving a high-tech German research vessel is exploring New Zealand’s deep-sea realm.
Guests:
Eva Ramey, PhD candidate, Victoria University of Wellington Dr Alice Rogers, Victoria University of Wellington Coastal Ecology Lab Dr Kareen Schnabel, NIWA Professor André Freiwald, Senckenberg am Meer Research Institute Dr Cornel de Ronde, GNSLearn more:
Read the accompanying article. Listen to this 2016 episode about the Great white sharks of Australia and New Zealand.RNZ journalist Kate Green also hopped aboard the RV Sonne to find out about its technology and capabilities.This is not the first time the RV Sonne has been in New Zealand waters, one previous expedition also involved investigations of underwater volcanoes.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 26 Feb 2025 - 26min - 1930 - Recruiting the birds to help reforestation, and investigating ADHD and fidgeting
People with ADHD often fidget more than those without. Why might this be? Does it help them focus? Or distract them further? An Auckland Bioengineering Institute researcher has teamed up with the Mātai Medical Institute in Gisborne to investigate this using advanced MRI techniques. And at Waikereru ecosanctuary, local birds are being enlisted in a trial to help speed up the regeneration of native bush.
Guests:
Professor Justin Fernandez, Auckland Bioengineering InstituteDr Gil Newburn, Mātai Medical Institute Professor Dame Anne Salmond, Waikereru EcosanctuaryLearn more:
Read the accompanying articles: Recruiting the birds to bring back the bush and Why fidgeting might be a good idea.In 2017 Alison Ballance did a story about The 1769 Gardenwhere she spoke to the garden designer, curator and local botany expert.To learn about the Mātai Medical Institute, listen to The advances in MRI coming out of Gisborne from November 2024.The Mātai Medical Institute is also involved in research into recovery post meth addiction, concussion in teenage rugby players, and muscle development in children with cerebral palsy.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 19 Feb 2025 - 26min - 1929 - Trapping to help whio and searching for extreme life
The Eastern Whio Link project has been working to restore the whio or blue duck population in the rivers of the Waioeka Gorge. Sam Gibson, aka Sam the Trap Man, explains why he thinks the project has been so successful, and what he loves about these scrappy little ducks. Then, Professor Matthew Stott speaks to Claire Concannon about the complexities working on an active volcano in Antarctica, and what they hope to learn from the microbes they find there.
Guests:
Sam Gisbon, Eastern Whio LinkProfessor Matthew Stott, University of CanterburyLearn more:
Read and see more photos in the accompanying articles: Searching for extreme life and Trapping to help wild whio.Head on to the slopes of Mount Erebus, and into an ice cave with Alison Ballance and Craig Cary in this 2011 episode. Matthew Stott also works with heat-loving microbes in Rotorua, including some that appear to have broken the ‘rule of thumb’ and are only found in New Zealand.Sam the Trap Man has also shared some yarns about bush life with RNZ’s Saturday Morning.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 12 Feb 2025 - 26min - 1928 - Your friendly local environment centre
All around New Zealand, people are trying to make things just a little bit better for their communities. The 22 Environment Centres, or Hubs, found throughout the country aim to help with this. Claire Concannon visits the Tairāwhiti Environment Centre to learn about their three pou of waste minimisation, education, and biodiversity, and about the environmental projects they support. She also meets their close neighbours – Gizzy Kai Rescue – who are looking to balance the scales of local food waste and food scarcity.
Guests:
Steph Temple, Hub Coordinator, Tairāwhiti Environment CentreSam Rowland, Manager, Tairāwhiti Environment CentreLauren Beatty, Gizzy Kai RescueDr Sarah Boyle, Wai Connections TairāwhitiLearn more:
Visit the websites of Tairāwhiti Environment Centre, Gizzy Kai Rescue, the Every Bite programme, the Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance, and Wai Connections.Learn about other food rescue programmes around the country, including in Hawke’s Bay and Porirua.Another conservation project in Tairāwhiti is aimed at bringing a beautiful endangered plant back from the brink.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 05 Feb 2025 - 25min - 1927 - Trapping smarter not harder
Trapping is hard mahi, especially on rugged terrain thick with vegetation. If you need to check a trap frequently to clear it and refresh the lure, the kilometres of bush bashing quickly add up. Plus, in areas where kea are found, trap options are limited by concerns for these curious and intelligent parrots. A team in Queenstown are investigating if the latest ‘smart’ traps – equipped with cameras, AI-powered to recognise specific targets, and networked so they can communicate and be operated remotely – might be the answer.
Guests:
Paul Kavanagh, project director, Southern Lakes SanctuaryPhilip Green, field and technical advisor, Southern Lakes SanctuaryLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode.Country Life tagged along with the Halo project, part of Predator Free Dunedin, who are also trialling networked AI traps just north of the city.One of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary hubs at Makaroraisfocused on trapping to protect mohua, and they are trialling an AI method to identifyindividual birds by their song.In the Catlins, a team are battling predators and browsing pests to protect taonga there.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 29 Jan 2025 - 26min - 1926 - Summer science: 'Nature's itching to put the bush back'
The summer science series continues with an episode from RNZ podcast Country Life. From a block of gorse-infected scrubland on Banks Peninsula, renowned botanist Hugh Wilson has spent half a lifetime growing Hinewai Reserve into a 1600-hectare paradise of regenerated native forest by leaving nature to it. Cosmo Kentish-Barnes visits to learn more.
The Country Life podcast takes you all over the motu to hear the extraordinary stories of every day rural New Zealand. Hosted and produced by Sally Round, Cosmo Kentish-Barnes, Duncan Smith and Gianina Schwanecke
Listen to more Country Life episodes.
Hugh Wilson, botanist
Guest:Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 22 Jan 2025 - 23min - 1925 - Summer science: Bird bandit
The summer science series continues with an episode from RNZ podcast Black Sheep. Freddie Angell was New Zealand's most notorious wildlife smuggler. His repeated attempts at stealing and exporting native wildlife in the 1990s, including kea and tuatara, made him all but a household name. William Ray speaks to documentary-maker Andy MacDonald about his extraordinary story.
Black Sheep is an RNZ podcast produced and presented by William Ray.
Listen to more episodes of Black Sheep.
Guest:
Andy MacDonald, documentary-makerSign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 15 Jan 2025 - 44min - 1924 - Summer science: The underdogs under the ledge
The summer science series continues with an episode from Tune into Nature, a podcast about New Zealand wildlife and wild places, and the people who look after them. Independent producer Karthic SS visits the Mokomoko Dryland Sanctuary Central Otago. Here, a team is working to bring back endangered lizards – Otago skinks and grand skinks – to the drylands wilderness they once lived in. These species are true wildlife underdogs – so rare and out of sight, not many people know they exist.
Tune into Nature is a podcast produced and presented by Karthic SS.
Listen to more Tune into Nature episodes.
Guests:
Grant Norbury, ecologist and chairperson, Central Otago Ecological Trust (COET)Anna Yeoman, science communicator and trustee, COETCarey Knox, herpetologist, Southern ScalesKathryn Longstaff, Department of Conservation (DOC) Central OtagoRoss Curtis , senior ranger, DOC Central OtagoJoanna, ranger, DOC Central OtagoThis episode was supported by OAR FM Dunedin, Science Communication at the University of Otago, and the NZ Lottery Grants Environment and Heritage fund, administered by Te Tari Taiwhenua, the Department of Internal Affairs.
Learn more:
Alison Ballance goes on an urban lizard hunt in this 2017 episode.Anna Yeoman spoke to Nine to Noon about her lizard book.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 08 Jan 2025 - 25min - 1923 - Summer science: Plants don't know borders
The summer science series continues with an episode from RNZ podcast Here Now. A love for tropical plants united Canterbury-based botanists Dr Julie Barcelona and Dr Pieter Pelser in the mid-2000s. The pair are renowned for their work on the large and unusual flower Rafflesia, which smells like a rotting carcass. They have found at least three new species on their adventures in the Philippines. Kadambari Raghukumar learns more about their spectacular discoveries.
Featuring:
Dr Julie BarcelonaDr Pieter PelserHere Now is an RNZ podcast produced and presented by Kadambari Raghukumar.
Listen to more episodes from Here Now.Watch a video about this episode.Learn more:
What will happen to plants in a warming world?Naturally rare and threatenedSign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 01 Jan 2025 - 11min - 1922 - Summer science: Mice in Predator Free 2050, and kaimoana for communities
Welcome to the summer science series! We're kicking off with two stories made by local podcast producers. First, on New Zealand's quest to become predator free by 2050, are we forgetting about mice? Dan Moskovitz, a student at Victoria University of Wellington, investigates what might happen to mice – and ecosystems as more areas become predator free. Then, a story from Xanthe Smith's Catch On podcast. Many people who consume fish stick to eating the fillets, meaning a substantial chunk of the whole fish gets chucked. A project seeks to tackle this food waste by connecting communities with kaimoana.
Guests:
Associate Professor Stephen Hartley, Victoria University of WellingtonDr Araceli SamaniegoBrent Bevan, Department of ConservationChris Jupp, Kai IkaVera, Kokiri Marae Naenae HubLearn more:
Listen to more episodes of Catch On, a podcast by Xanthe Smith for the Office of the Prime Minister's Chief Science AdvisorFind out about the Kai Ika ProjectDr Araceli Samaniego's paper, Small mice create big problemsListen to Voice of Tangaroa for more exploration of ocean issuesWatch Fight for the Wild, a series about Predator Free 2050Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 25 Dec 2024 - 26min - 1921 - New Antarctic methane seeps and what they might mean
New methane seeps are being discovered in Antarctica, some now appearing in areas that researchers have been monitoring for years. These are areas on the seafloor where methane gas escapes out from under the ground through fissures or cracks. What is the extent of the seeps? How large is the gas reservoir they are being fed from? How much methane is escaping from the sea into the air? Why now? And does this have implications for further warming the planet? A team of NIWA scientists are racing to find answers.
Guests:
Dr Sarah Seabrook, NIWADr Leigh Tait, NIWALearn more:
You can find all the papers referenced this episode in the write-up that accompanies it. Claire spoke to Sarah about her initial work on seeps and the microbes that are attracted to them in 2022There’s currently a massive project underway to investigate whether the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will melt under 2oC of warming. Veronika Meduna joined them on the ice last year.Listen to our recent episode about life on the seafloor under the ice, including mysterious giant glass sponges.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 18 Dec 2024 - 28min - 1920 - The bacterial world inside New Zealand's 'living fossil'
New Zealand’s tuatara are the last remaining species of an order of reptile that was alive alongside the dinosaurs 240 million years ago. The rest died out about 65 million years ago, but in Aotearoa the tuatara live on, found on 32 offshore islands and in a small number of ecosanctuaries and zoos on the mainland. Now one researcher is investigating the microbial community that lives inside their gut. Are there also bacterial ‘living fossils’ to be found? And has their gut microbiome changed as a result of living in captivity on the mainland?
Guests:
Cam Hoffbeck, PhD candidate, Taylor lab, University of AucklandChye-Mei Huang, Ectotherm ranger, Auckland ZooLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode. Hear from another researcher who has been exploring the viruses found in tuatara.Cam has also spoken to Emile Donovan on Nights about her research.In 2014 Alison Ballance visited Orokonui Ecosanctuary to learn about the tuatara who had recently made the move to the cold climes of Dunedin.Our own microbiome may affect our brain, moods and behaviour, and changes across our lives.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 11 Dec 2024 - 26min - 1919 - Diving into the world of Antarctic glass sponges
Dive under the Antarctic sea ice near Scott Base into the weird world of cold-water life. Pink sea angels, worms that look like intestines, ocean creepy crawlies that get as big as your hand... and mysterious giant glass sponges. These sponges are one of the strangest, and oldest, animals on Earth: surviving without light, eating bacteria and viruses, and making themselves out of silica they absorb from the water. In most parts of the world, they live at depths too deep to dive, making them tricky to study. But in the cold waters of McMurdo Sound, they can be found in shallower waters. Now an international team of scientists are unlocking some of their secrets.
Guests:
Professor Ian Hawes, University of WaikatoDr Jürgen Laudien, Alfred Wegener Institute, GermanyKatherine Rowe, University of WaikatoDr Erik Wurz, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands,Andreas Schmmider-MartÍnez, Universidad Mayor, ChileLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episodeListen to The secret life of sea spongesFind out what it takes to live and do science in Antarctica with the award-winning 2020 Voices from Antarctica series by Alison BallanceSign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 - 26min - 1918 - Pacific Scientific: Samoa's scientists unlocking the power of plants
For centuries Samoa's traditional healers have harnessed the power of the country's native plants as remedies for village ailments. Now scientists at the Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa are putting those plants under the microscope to unlock and understand how this traditional knowledge works. In this episode of Pacific Scientific from the ABC, tour the labs and lush gardens filled with plants that could hold the secret to battling diabetes, HIV, and cancer.
Guests:
Annie Tuisuga, Scientific Research Organisation of SamoaMaserotaOfoia, Scientific Research Organisation of SamoaBenaiah Une, Scientific Research Organisation of SamoaSekotilani Aloi, University of Samoa LecturerPacific Scientific credits:
Series Creator: Carl SmithReporter: Adel FrueanProducer: Shelby TraynorSeries Producer: Jordan FennellExecutive Producer: Will OckendenABC Science Editor: Jonathan WebbLearn more:
Read the article that accompanies this episode.Listen to more Pacific Scientific episodes.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Wed, 27 Nov 2024 - 27min
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