How do you make topics like climate change and water pollution accessible and fun? Is it ok for Te Papa to take a playful approach to such serious territory? Experience Developers Jen Craddock and Ralph Upton explain how the team took on this challenge, using mischief-maker Māui as their guide.Read more
Te Papa research associate Peter Beveridge (87) is having a very busy retirement. He recently described a new species of liverwort. Te Papa science researcher Lara Shepherd talked to Peter about how he came to be interested in these fascinating tiny plants.Read more
Head of Science Susan Waugh describes her trip to Phillip Island, a few kilometres offshore from Norfolk Island, to study the Kermadec petrel.Read more
Every year, Te Papa partners with Victoria University in their Summer Research Scholarships initiative. Here, we introduce them and the projects they worked on.Read more
Museums can sometimes feel like alien spaces for young learners, a place where words like ‘play’ and ‘explore’ might not always be an immediate association. But for educator Martin Langdon, these are the key drivers he keeps in mind when designing learning programmes aimed at learners under 5-years-old.Read more
Summer research scholar Katrin O’Donnell explains why we need people to care about the weird and wonderful invertebrate animals which make up the majority of the planet’s biomass, and her investigations into how invertebrate scientists around the world can engage with non-scientists and vice-versa.Read more
Natural history researcher Rodrigo Salvador is out and about looking for initiatives that join science and pop culture. He did not need to venture too far in Welly to find this one, though.Read more
This is the second part to Dr Mark Stocker’s series of blogs asking you to help identify a number of butterflies, moths, and other insects in a series of 17th century prints by Anglo-Czech etcher Wenceslaus Hollar.Read more
Did you know snails can live in the desert? Natural history researcher Rodrigo Salvador tells us a little about a curious set of fossils discovered in Algeria.Read more
Despite the public image of fossil hunters as macho men with pickaxes, many women have made important contributions with their fossil discoveries. Scientist Lara Shepherd looks back at some pioneering female fossil hunters.Read more
Botanist Leon Perrie recently posted about the desirability of minimising taxonomic name changes. He writes here about the need to change the name of a fern to reflect its newly discovered evolutionary relationships.Read more
Kāti Mahaki and Te Papa scientists recently teamed up for a trip to one of the jewels in the iwi’s crown – the tiny islands of Taumaka and Popotai (aka the Open Bay Islands) in remote South Westland, near Haast – as part of their research of Fiordland penguins.Read more
Earthquakes in a Minecraft game. Educator Scott Ogilvie describes how we’re using Minecraft to teach kids about earthquakes and keeping safe.Read more
Fishes of the Southern Ocean was the first book to bring together all of the identification information for fishes living in Antarctic waters. Recently, Te Papa hosted visiting editor Ofer Gon as he undertakes research for a second edition.Read more
Science Researcher Rodrigo Salvador compares the squid fossils of a fictional Middle-earth and those found in the ‘real’ one, New Zealand. Middle-earth: Shadow of War is the latest Lord of the Rings game, released late last year for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. In it, you continue the adventure of GondorianRead more
