Three of our botanists recently spent a week on Norfolk Island collecting ferns with colleagues from the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Our fern findings will be detailed in a future blog post but here we discuss interesting flowering plants that we saw – some of which were very familiar to us as New Zealanders but others were completely new!Read more

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In: Pacific, Science
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It’s been three years since Covid-19 triggered lockdowns around the world, including here in Aotearoa New Zealand. We’ve just published a collection of online comics, highlighting a multitude of experiences faced by members of the Chinese New Zealand community during this time. Here, curator Grace Gassin introduces The Pandemic Chronicles.Read more

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In: History

Speargrasses, with their sharp leaves and flower spikes, may look like a plant you want to avoid at all costs but a number of critters call them home, including the charismatic speargrass weevils. Science researcher Lara Shepherd introduces these weevils, plus some other critters that utilise speargrass plants. When IRead more

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Mana Island, near Wellington, is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s conservation success stories. Farmed for more than 150 years, the island is now covered with forest that is overflowing with an abundance of endemic birds, lizards and insects. Using pairs of images taken 50 years apart, natural history curator Dr Colin Miskelly describes how and why the island was transformed from a farm to a thriving sanctuary.Read more

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In: Photography, Science

The large-leaved Aciphylla speargrasses or taramea are difficult plants to collect. Their rigid leaves are tipped in a sharp point and the bracts on their flower spikes are similarly ferocious. These defences are thought to have evolved to avoid browsing by moa, but they also work against botanists! Consequently, speargrasses are under‑represented in plant collections (herbaria). Te Papa Research Scientist Lara Shepherd and Botany Curator Leon Perrie describe how they approached sampling speargrasses on their recent collecting trip.Read more

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In: Science
A woman sits on a light grey chair, talking to somewhere out of the frame on the right. Behind her sits two piles of books, and a painting on the wall

Sehar Moughal is a psychologist, activist, public speaker, teacher, and doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland. Her professional and research work centres around challenging the status quo and advocating for people on the fringes. Mehwish Mughal, who leads our Asian Mental Health project, asks Sehar what makes her so passionate about the work she does.Read more

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Performing Artist, academic, and community advocate Ras Judah Seomeng migrated here, along with his family, from Botswana, Africa over 18 years ago looking for greener pastures. Currently at the beginning of his PHD candidature at Auckland University, he works for Change Makers Resettlement Forum – A Wellington-based, not-for-profit organisation that supports refugee migrants with resettlement processes, assisting them with the challenges they experience in Aotearoa New Zealand, helping them navigate a new culture and existence. Seomeng speaks about Mother Languages Day 2023 and discusses the effects of living in places where the commonly spoken language isn’t your own mother tongue or first language.Read more

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In: History
A boy in a Batman cap holds up a trading card. He is standing behind a table that has trays of insect specimens in them.

Read about Tora, a little boy with a big love for insects. Tora is determined to learn everything about his loved bugs and also to help them. One group of his favourite insects are bees, not the ones that produce native honey, but native bees that are crucial for Aotearoa New Zealand’s ecosystem. Bee inspired, Curator Invertebrates Julia Kasper shows us nature’s six-legged wonders through a child’s eye.Read more

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