A man in a red top is sitting next to a child in a yellow top who is working with wires and a laptop.

Throughout 2025, a learning programme was created in collaboration with PB Tech. Learning Innovation Specialist Jessie Robieson has been guiding ākonga through the new Kaitiaki Creator programme and shares insights into how it started and some of her favourite outcomes here.   Te Papa’s new Kaitiaki Creator programme is something special. Previous research and direct conversationsRead more

A giant model of a WWI nurse crying while reading a letter. There are people standing near her knees.

Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War reopened after essential maintenance on Saturday 13 September. In this blog, Education Specialist Laura Jones and Curator History Stephanie Gibson reflect together on recent changes to the exhibition and the critical thinking behind their work with students and history. Learning programmes can be an amazingRead more

A new paper entitled Wikidata for Botanists: Benefits of collaborating and sharing Linked Open Data has been published in the Annals of Botany. This publication is the result of a collaboration of four researchers (who are all also Wikidata editors) from three countries. Curator Botany Heidi Meudt talks about how did this unique international collaboration come about, and what does Wikidata have to do with Botany?Read more

Book cover of The Incredible Insects of Aotearoa

Along with Simon Pollard, Curator Invertebrates Phil Sirvid is the co-author of Why is that Spider Dancing? The Amazing Arachnids of Aotearoa. The insect-inspired sequel The Incredible Insects of Aotearoa launches in May 2025. Here, Phil gives us a sneak peek between the covers. Inside The Incredible Insects of Aotearoa, Simon andRead more

Two women are leaning in together and are both smiling at the camera. They are standing in front of a wall of artworks.

Two wāhine from different backgrounds reflect on their growth developing Ko Au Te Taiao, an online learning resource that seeks to centre mātauranga Māori values. As Mero Rokx and Sarah Hopkinson worked through the complexities of this project, they discovered much more about themselves and their relationships to each other,Read more

For the past four years, Te Papa’s scientists Lara Shepherd and Leon Perrie have participated in the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge – a global competition that connects people with nature by encouraging them to record the wildlife in our cities. This year, as well as being behind the camera, we also had fun in front of the lens whilst being filmed for a short documentary about the challenge and goals.Read more

This year Wellington is competing against over 400 cities worldwide, and five other New Zealand cities in the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge. The aim of this friendly bioblitz-style competition is to record as many species as possible in the four days from 29 April to 2 May. With our fabulous array of forest and marine reserves, we hope Wellington can show the rest of the country, and the world, what a biologically diverse city we live in.Read more

A man holding a camera in front of a specimen wall

At Te Papa we appreciate any opportunity to improve our learning programmes and adapt them to the needs of learners. In early August we were preparing to deliver our Pacific Explorers programme to four classes of years three to five from Taita Central School. Little did we know how coronavirus would give us the opportunity to adapt the programme to be even more accessible and successful than any iteration so far.Read more