Aotearoa Science Agency

26/05/2026

We've been seriously HDBU (5 points for the first one to decipher that one) getting all the videos sorted for today's Science New Zealand Awards, in one of the most challenging years to do such a thing.

The public science sector has gone through a major restructure, meaning NIWA, GNS, ESR, Plant & Food, AgResearch, Scion and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research are no more, merged into three organisations.

That's hugely disruptive, with jobs and research all up in the air, so it makes my issues - such as trying to ensure people are wearing the right organisation's logo - pale by comparison!

As a senior scientist said to me last year - someone who's been there since the DSIR days - "the research goes on, it's just the badge on the labcoat that changes." I hope that's the case, despite ongoing questions about the funding and priorities of our public science organisations.

I'd like to share this video that will play later today, the finalists for the Early Career Researcher Award. Because I think this category most of all shows the passion and talent we have still forging a career in science, and who will *hopefully* live throough fewer labcoat logo changes than those who've gone before.

Congratulations to all the finalists, and thanks to Kate Muise for having myself and my scicomm colleague Annabel McAleer working on these awards.

Live stream the event from 4.30pm: https://lnkd.in/eTSgvqAB

Bioeconomy Science Institute Earth Sciences New Zealand PHF Science

19/11/2025

Awwwww - it’s been our pleasure!!

We would like to say a huge thank you to Damian Christie (Aotearoa Science Agency) and his incredible team, Dan Wharton and Ethan Alderson-Hughes, for all their mahi this year across Smokefreerockquest, Smokefree Tangata Beats, Rockshop Bandquest, Showquest, Toi and OnScreen.

From joining us for two months on the road capturing regional events, to producing beautiful coverage that truly reflected the essence of each show, their work has helped our rangatahi shine. The way they created space for young people to speak for themselves, in their own voices, has been especially powerful.

Alongside the event coverage, the team also produced some amazing educational content to support and upskill our rangatahi throughout their creative journeys. And a special shoutout to Damian for the invaluable media mentoring he delivered to our Smokefreerockquest and Smokefree Tangata Beats national finalists - it made such a difference.

We’re so grateful for everything they’ve brought to our programmes this year. Thank you Damian, Dan and Ethan!

06/11/2025

When your job involves travelling all over the Aotearoa filming interesting science and environmental work, things are pretty sweet, but even we felt a bit envious of the life of the biosecurity dog handlers when we filmed this video with them for Auckland Council.

Sure there are some early starts and not every day is as sunny as the one we spent together on Motukorea Browns Island, but what a perfect (and important) role for someone who loves nature AND pooches.

08/05/2025

In February this year we were asked to be the first film crew to capture a kākāpō booming (its mating call) on mainland New Zealand.

These incredibly rare, flightless - and quite chonky - parrots have been saved from extinction by being kept on two predator-free islands in the deep south (Codfish and Anchor Islands), until 2023 when a number were brought to the mainland, to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.

This year, one of the translocated birds, an 11 year old named Taeatanga, started booming - a sign that he is comfortable in his new home. Unfortunately for Taeatanga, there aren't any female kākāpō in the area, not yet at least.

To keep Taeatanga safe from curious members of the public, many of whom would understandably love to witness this special event, we had to keep this footage under wraps until the booming season came to an end, and now we are able to share it.

Thanks to Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, Department of Conservation and Kākāpō Recovery for entrusting us with this amazing mahi.

06/05/2025

We are so privileged to have been part of this story... amazing work everyone to get to this point!

Imagine the sound of a heartbeat echoing through the night-time world of te ngahere (the forest)... 💚💚
That's what it felt like as the magical low-frequency sound of kākāpō booming was heard at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari this summer, the first time kākāpō booming had been heard on the North Island of New Zealand in more than a century!

11-year old Taeatanga (pictured), one of three male kākāpō in the fenced habitat trial on Maungatautari was the first to champion the display of this unique courtship behaviour on the maunga.

🎉 Let’s celebrate this green feathered milestone together symbolising the strength of the relationship between iwi as kaitiaki of these taonga and the partnership between Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, mana whenua, the Department of Conservation’s Kākāpō Recovery team, and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.💚

📸 Taeatanga ready to boom: Aotearoa Science Agency

Read the full media release below 👇

13/03/2025

Last night's Science New Zealand Awards were a pleasure to attend, and it was great not only to be in the room with so many amazing scientific minds, but being honest, to hear those same people saying lovely things about the videos we made for the night.

We'll share some of the winners' videos over the coming days, starting with the 2025 Supreme Award winner, Grasslanz Technology. It's easy to overlook the importance of pasture in New Zealand, and the developments Grasslanz has made over the years has contributed billions of dollars to our economy.

Congratulations to Dr John Caradus and the Grasslanz/ AgResearch team

06/03/2025

While the Oscars might have got all the attention, the awards that we're focused on right now are the Science New Zealand awards, showcasing some of the best research and researchers across the country.

It's our first year producing the finalist videos for these awards, and has been a great opportunity to catch up on all the amazing interesting science happening in Aotearoa right now.

Here's a look at this year's finalists for Early Career Researcher, from across the CRIs, including our friends from Plant & Food Research, AgResearch, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research and GNS Science. The winners are announced next Wednesday and we'll be showcasing them through this and next week.

16/10/2024

26/09/2024

Reporting on 'a cure for cancer' is such a journalistic trope that any research claiming to have made significant advances is treated with skepticism. And yet the battle against cancer is being won, slowly, one advancement at a time.

In this episode of "What If?" we look at the multi-pronged approach that genomics is being used to battle cancer. To understand inherited risks from birth; to detect almost any cancer as soon as possible with a simple blood test, and to understand each tumour's own genetics and fight it precisely.

Cancer isn't going away, but as Professor Parry Guilford says in this episode, the way we view cancer will soon change, from a terminal illness, to a condition that people will be able to live with. Like most people, we have friends battling with cancer, and this sort of news is welcome and progress can't come soon enough.

Full story: https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/what-if-genomics-in-aotearoa/story/2018952807/what-if-we-can-use-genetic-testing-to-beat-cancer

12/09/2024

You've probably heard the old television saying "never work with children or animals".

In my experience, that couldn't be more wrong!

Yes you've got to be prepared for the unexpected, but children and animals are a huge part of my favourite episode of our WHAT IF series with RNZ. It's about environmental DNA - the process of sampling the environment, often from a waterway, and finding out every single being - from plants and animals to insects, even bacteria - living in or around it.

It's a powerful tool for community groups wanting to monitor and restore their local awa, and sample gathering is simple enough for anyone to be able to do it.

For this episode, we visited the rural property of Michelle Worth and her family. It was a beautiful school holiday morning just out of Matakana, featuring kids (including my son Eddie), the family dog - and even their 'pet' eel paid us a visit.

The pictures we got were beautiful and reinforce a great story about citizen science - without the children and animals, it wouldn't have been the same.

Full episode: https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/what-if-genomics-in-aotearoa/story/2018952815/what-if-we-sequenced-every-waterway-in-new-zealand

Thanks to Michelle and family; Friends of Awa Matakanakana; Michael Bunce, Department of Conservation, Vanessa Crowe of Environmental Protection Authority NZ, Shaun Wilkinson of Wilderlab and Genomics Aotearoa.