Guest Work

Featured image: Sharks are thriving at the Kermadec Islands, but not the rest of New Zealand, amid global decline

Sharks are thriving at the Kermadec Islands, but not the rest of New Zealand, amid global decline

Guest Author • Jul 31, 2020

Adam Smith, Massey University A recent global assessment of shark populations at 371 coral reefs in 58 countries found no sharks at almost 20% of reefs and alarmingly low numbers at many others. The study, which involved over 100 scientists under the Global FinPrint project, gave New Zealand a good score card. But because it focused … Read More

Featured image: New Zealand wants to build a 100% renewable electricity grid, but massive infrastructure is not the best option

New Zealand wants to build a 100% renewable electricity grid, but massive infrastructure is not the best option

Guest Author • Jul 31, 2020

Janet Stephenson, University of Otago A proposed multibillion-dollar project to build a pumped hydro storage plant could make New Zealand’s electricity grid 100% renewable, but expensive new infrastructure may not be the best way to achieve this. New Zealand’s electricity generation is already around 80% renewable, with just over half of that provided by hydro power. The … Read More

Featured image: Searching for Misha: the life and tragedies of the world’s most famous polar bear

Searching for Misha: the life and tragedies of the world’s most famous polar bear

Guest Author • Jul 25, 2020

Henry Anderson-Elliott, University of Cambridge On the morning of August 31 2017, I didn’t meet a remarkable polar bear. It was my third week of fieldwork-based out of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, studying the conservation of the bears on the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Having spent a few days transcribing interviews in my small rented room, I needed a break and some … Read More

Featured image: 1 in 5 Australian PhD students could drop out. Here are some tips for how to keep going

1 in 5 Australian PhD students could drop out. Here are some tips for how to keep going

Guest Author • Jul 15, 2020

Craig Batty, University of Technology Sydney; Alison Owens, Australian Catholic University; Donna Lee Brien, CQUniversity Australia, and Elizabeth Ellison, CQUniversity Australia Doctoral students show high levels of stress in comparison to other students, and ongoing uncertainty in terms of graduate career outcomes can make matters worse. Before the pandemic, one in five research students were expected to disengage … Read More

Featured image: Power play: despite the tough talk, the closure of Tiwai Point is far from a done deal

Power play: despite the tough talk, the closure of Tiwai Point is far from a done deal

Guest Author • Jul 15, 2020

Geoff Bertram, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Another year, another round of hostage-taking by the owners of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. As always, Rio Tinto has made the first move, threatening to close New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) in Southland unless some ransom is paid. A thousand jobs would be lost, with a further 1,600 … Read More

Featured image: Did ancient Americans settle in Polynesia? The evidence doesn’t stack up

Did ancient Americans settle in Polynesia? The evidence doesn’t stack up

Guest Author • Jul 13, 2020

Lisa Matisoo-Smith, University of Otago and Anna Gosling, University of Otago How did the Polynesian peoples come to live on the far-flung islands of the Pacific? The question has intrigued researchers for centuries. Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl brought the topic to public attention when he sailed a balsa-wood raft called the Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia … Read More

Featured image: Why long-term environmental observations are crucial for New Zealand’s water security challenges

Why long-term environmental observations are crucial for New Zealand’s water security challenges

Guest Author • Jun 24, 2020

Andrew Lorrey, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; Ben Noll, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, and Lauren Vargo, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Brewster Glacier in New Zealand’s Southern Alps lost 13 million cubic metres of ice between March 2016 and March 2019 – almost the equivalent of the basic drinking water needs of … Read More

Featured image: New Zealand sits on top of the remains of a giant ancient volcanic plume

New Zealand sits on top of the remains of a giant ancient volcanic plume

Guest Author • May 28, 2020

Simon Lamb, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Timothy Stern, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Back in the 1970s, scientists came up with a revolutionary idea about how Earth’s deep interior works. They proposed it is slowly churning like a lava lamp, with buoyant blobs rising as plumes of hot mantle rock from near … Read More

Featured image: How to spot bogus science stories and read the news like a scientist

How to spot bogus science stories and read the news like a scientist

Guest Author • Mar 19, 2020

Doug Specht, University of Westminster and Julio Gimenez, University of Westminster When fake news, misreporting and alternative facts are everywhere, reading the news can be a challenge. Not only is there plenty of misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other scientific topics floating around social media, you also need to read science stories, even well-known publications, with … Read More

Featured image: When a virus goes viral: pros and cons to the coronavirus spread on social media

When a virus goes viral: pros and cons to the coronavirus spread on social media

Guest Author • Mar 19, 2020

Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology; Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology; Timothy Graham, Queensland University of Technology, and Tobias R. Keller, Queensland University of Technology News and views about coronavirus has spread via social media in a way that no health emergency has done before. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok and Instagram have played critical roles in sharing … Read More