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Te Papa Blog

Discover stories from Te Papa’s experts, including curators, scientists, historians, collection managers, and educators.

 

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Rachael Hockridge

Bones sorted into boxes

What we found in Martinborough’s Cave of Bones

Victoria University summer scholar Laura Wilson has spent two months sorting through a box of bones and dirt. The aim? To identify and catalogue the huge array of species represented in Martinborough’s Cave of Bones.Read more

2020-04-02
By: Rachael Hockridge
On: 2 Apr 2020
In: Behind the scenes, Science
Two gloved hands hold tweezers and touch friend plants leaves

Captain Cook’s 150-year-old kōwhai specimens uncover Rapa Nui (Easter Island) secrets

A single specimen of toromiro – a close relative of our own kōwhai and extinct in the wild – has been discovered in our botany collection, where it’s been kept safe for 150 years.Read more

2020-02-19
By: Rachael Hockridge
On: 19 Feb 2020
In: Science
Man on the ground in a forest

A 10-year hunt for a tiny parasitic ghost orchid

Would you have the patience to spend 10 years trying to find something practically invisible? Botanist Carlos Lehnebach recently discovered his ‘holy grail’ – a collection of tiny ghost orchids in the Wellington region. Read more

2019-09-16
By: Rachael Hockridge
On: 16 Sep 2019
In: Science

Cigarette packets and chocolate boxes: How we used to store our collections

Storing collections in the right space and environment is incredibly important in museums – so would you be surprised to see natural history specimens stored in colourful vintage cigarette packets? Curator Alan Tennyson and conservator Robert Clendon shed light on past practice. Modern museum storage involves rows and rows ofRead more

2018-01-08
By: Rachael Hockridge
On: 8 Jan 2018
In: Behind the scenes, Science
Extinct adzebill skulls

Martinborough’s cave of bones: How thousands of flightless birds met their end

Fossilised bird grave sites are common in New Zealand, but one particular cave in Martinborough has revealed thousands of bones of flightless birds who plunged to their deaths.Read more

2017-11-03
By: Rachael Hockridge
On: 3 Nov 2017
In: Science
Jean-Claude inspect some specimens under the new macroscope, 2016. Te Papa.

A new microscope: how improved technology is making our work easier

Imaging specialist, Jean-Claude Stahl, has been getting to grips with our new microscope which can take incredibly sharp pictures of shells as tiny as a grain of sand.Read more

2016-09-01
By: Rachael Hockridge
On: 1 Sep 2016
In: Behind the scenes, Photography, Science

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