Aotearoa New Zealand is a hot spot for forget-me-nots (genus Myosotis), with about 50 species found here and nowhere else. Te Papa Botany Curator Heidi Meudt teamed up with botanist Jessie Prebble from Manaaki Whenua, and Massey University scientists Jennifer Tate, Sofie Pearson, and Weixuan Ning to generate and analyse quite a bit of new genetic data to study the taxonomy and relationships of endemic forget-me-nots. Their new paper paints a complex yet compelling picture of how these species have evolved and radiated throughout the mountains of Aotearoa New Zealand, and makes an important contribution to their taxonomic revision.Read more

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In: Collections Online, Science

Each year, several biology and ecology postgraduate students are co-supervised by Te Papa natural history researchers. One of these students, Weixuan Ning, has completed his PhD at Massey University in Plant Biology. His co-supervisors – Botany Curator Heidi Meudt and Associate Professor Jen Tate – talk about his time as a Massey and Te Papa student, and the mahi he has been involved in.Read more

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In: Behind the scenes, Science

The New Zealand science community was quite different in 1977 compared to 2012. Most government scientists then worked for one of the many divisions of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), our reserve networks and protected species were administered by multiple agencies, and the national museum was known asRead more

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In: Science