Events

The growth of online electronic commerce and markets is attributed not only to their ease of use but also to the fact that they provide reputation and feedback systems that help create trust. Recent research has exposed, however, that feedback systems are biased, suffer from “grade inflation”, and do not clearly differentiate between higher and lower quality sellers. This lecture highlights recent research that addresses these concerns and presents ways to increase the effectiveness of online reputation systems and markets.

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Recombination serves an essential biological function for repairing broken DNA structures including replication forks. It has also served as an important tool for biologists interested in mapping and genetically engineering different organisms. DNA viruses are also affected by recombination where it plays a key role in driving evolution of pathogens with new virulence properties.

Dr. Evans’ laboratory has been studying the biology of poxviruses for thirty years with a particular focus in the links between virus DNA replication and genetic recombination. These genetic and biochemical studies have shown that poxviruses use a simple “single-strand annealing” reaction to produce recombinants and that this reaction is catalyzed by the virus-encoded DNA polymerase. More recently his laboratory has employed next generation sequencing and optical imaging technologies to better characterize how recombination has shaped the composition of genomes in polyclonal virus populations and how the cytoplasmic mode of DNA replication affects the timing and level of recombination experienced by replicating vaccinia virus.

Dr. Evans will present a review of these mechanisms and also outline how these and other new technologies (like synthetic biology) can be applied to clone DNA, make advanced vaccines and oncolytic viruses, and further dissect some curious features of poxvirus genomes.

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If you are interested to attend the seminar, please contact The Helen Clark Foundation.

The NZ Data Science + Analytics Forum are excited to bring you an event that highlights different ways that Analytics can be enhanced to drive better outcomes for an organisation.

Come along to hear storys demonstrating enhancements across all the different aspects of an analytic environment - technology, process and people.

Tim Roberts, Senior Analytics Consultant, Stellar Consulting - "Overhaulin Analytics"

Tim will speak about the process of redoing analytic reports and systems, giving some hints and tips along the way. Generation Asset reporting for a major utilites company will be used as an example, using Microsoft Azure Data Lake and Azure Databricks Technologies.

Helen Anderson, Technical Consultant, Xero - "Migrating from SQL Server to AWS Aurora"

The scale and nature of analytics at Xero is changing and the platforms that fuels advanced analytics and data science need to change with it. Helen will talk through the architecture, workflow, improvements in ETL, and some of the challenges involved in building a new platform and migrating 50 users from SQL Server to AWS Aurora.

Mike Sherwin, Head of Data and Analytics, KiwiBank - "How Agile and Data Analytics come together"

Mike will take you through the transformation that Kiwibank has been through with it’s Data and Analytics team, highlighting what’s worked and more importantly what hasn’t worked.

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Associate Professor Ian Laird will present latest research and New Zealand case studies that will guide our understanding of how noise induced hearing loss can be prevented through design. 

Designing out hazards in the early engineering stages is seen as one of the most effective means of preventing occupational injuries and illnesses. It is a transdisciplinary process and although this concept is well known, there has not been a concerted effort to achieve broad implementation of it, particularly in relation to noise exposure and prevention of noise induced hearing loss. 

However, some prevention through design principles have been successfully applied to noise reduction in the construction and mining industry sectors but have not been applied extensively within the agricultural sector.


More information and registration.

Public Lecture delivered by Professor Alan White, William Evans Visiting Fellow, hosted by New Zealand Centre for Men's Health.


The Centre for Men's Health New Zealand is dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of all New Zealand men. Areas of focus include: 
-Optimal health outcomes for all males throughout the lifespan
-Promoting health equity, recognising specific health inequalities for Māori and Pacific Island males
-Developing proactive strategies for preventative health for males, particularly regarding chronic disease and injury
-Building and disseminating a strong evidence base on male health through research, knowledge exchange, and education, and using this to inform policies, programmes, and initiatives
-Promoting better access to healthcare for males through initiatives and tailored healthcare services, particularly for disadvantaged and at risk groups


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Bringing the best minds together to explore issues relating to groundwater, what are the gaps in the science, and gaps in the application of that science, and what work needs to be done.

Free admission

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Sustainability requires a shift in mindset.

We invite you to dig a little deeper into why the system isn’t working. Join us for this seminar where you can hear from several sustainability experts and explore your own worldviews around sustainability.

Guests are invited into a safe and thoughtful place to explore their own worldviews around sustainability and living meaningfully in unsettled times.

This event is free but spaces are limited – register to secure your spot. 

Recently, clay nanoparticles, i.e. layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and hectorite (HEC), appear as effective adjuvants with desirable physicochemical properties. We investigated the vaccine formulations containing the essential infectious factor IB for enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) responsible for a series of human diseases worldwide. Both LDH and HEC nanoparticles are able to carry an appreciable amount of IB, and significantly facilitate the cellular internalization of IB. The medium size LDH (115 nm) and HEC (77 nm) both induced much stronger antibody and cell-mediated immune responses than those by commercial adjuvants, QuilA, and maintained much higher levels of specific antibody immune response for at least four months. Such immune response profiles in mice show a very strong immunity for the host cells against the target bacteria in the in vitro assays. The possible mechanism for the immunity promotion using clay nanoparticles as the adjuvant be relevant to the suitable structure of formed depots.

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Dr Melissa Hagan is Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology at San Francisco State University, where she is the Director of the Stress, Trauma, and Resilience Lab, and Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco. Dr Hagan received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Arizona State University and a MPH in Epidemiology from Boston University. She has received a number of awards for her work including a National Institute of Mental Health Prevention Science Fellowship, the San Francisco State University Presidential Award, and the Young Investigator Award from the American Psychosomatic Society. Dr Hagan’s research focuses on the effects of early life adversity on psychological and biological functioning across the lifespan.

Abstract:
In this talk, I will highlight a set of studies that take a multilevel, biopsychosocial approach to understanding key links between trauma and health. Employing a range of methods that span clinical, health, and developmental psychology, I will characterize the ways in which traumatic experiences are inherently complex, with childhood trauma occurring in a broad ecology of psychological, social and biological factors, which, in turn, interact over developmental time. In addition to discussing the psychological and physical consequences of childhood trauma at different development stages, I will highlight several biopsychosocial indicators of resilience that can be leveraged in family-based interventions for the purpose of promoting well-being following early experiences of social adversity and/or significant trauma.

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Professor Sheila Skeaff will focus on the importance of which foods we should put on our plate

Human Nutrition examines how the body responds to food. Plus, focuses on how diseases, conditions, and problems can be prevented or reduced with a healthy diet. Similarly, nutrition involves identifying how certain diseases and conditions may be caused by dietary factors, such as poor diet (malnutrition), food allergies, and food intolerances.

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A storied life is the essence of the human soul and it arises in an ecological and relational context through self-formation. Soul is to body as sight is to the eye: ergo - no eye no sight and no body no soul (as our self-generated adaptive equipment for a natural life lived by “critters like us”. (Aristotle to cognitive neuroscience)

Physiology sustains human function in a bio-psycho-social milieu and we engage with it through sensation/exteroception, and movement and also through discourse (speech and reading), meaningful relationships, and an engaged life. For some people this life partly ends before death through diminution of the living soul by severe damage to the organ of self-formation – the interconnected human neural network central to neuroscience and psychology.

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Climate change is the largest challenge ever faced by humanity. Yet, an effective response is difficult, as it challenges the way we live our lives.

This seminar will give an overview of the science of how the climate is changing, the impacts in terms of extreme events and human welfare, and what is required to stop climate change. It will also touch on the debate over how the problem is presented; is it better to be an ‘alarmist’, a ‘realist’, or an ‘optimist’?

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Perhaps this seems like a silly question or a radical provocation.

It is though an idea that scientists and scholars are now seriously considering. Join historian Jane Buckingham and anthropologist Piers Locke for an evening exploring our relations with elephants. Piers will tell tales of his adventures in Nepal living and apprenticing with elephants and their handlers, while Jane will draw on writings and images from the Mughal courts of medieval India to talk about the idea of an elephant as an emotional being with a sense of morality. Jane and Piers will invite a conversation about how contemporary and historical experience open up ideas of personhood.

If elephants can also be persons, as some behavioural scientists also suggest, what might that mean for how we understand the place of humans on a planet made and shared with other kinds of thinking, feeling animals?

From the New Zealand South Asia Centre (NZSAC) and the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies (NZCHAS), An Evening With Piers Locke and Jane Buckingham.

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Join the Computational Media Innovation Centre and two international experts to hear about advances in computer graphics and computer science.

Victoria University of Wellington's Computational Media Innovation Centre is hosting two international experts in computer graphics and computer science. These experts will present talks on Tuesday 9 April sharing their expertise and discussing recent challenges and advances in their respective areas.

Talks

Karan Singh: On Creative Visual Design and Communication

Sketching, sculpting, speech and gesture have often been touted as “natural” approaches to interactive design and visual communication. While these metaphors are indeed a promising medium of visual communication, there are a number of inherent limitations in human motor control, execution skill, perception, and ambiguities of inference, that make the leap from a mental concept to creative visual communication a challenging task. In this talk, Karan will present recent research and open challenges in the area of shape modeling, expressive speech and AR/VR for creative visual communication, including commercial systems like ILoveSketch, meshmixer, flatfab, jali and janusvr.

Hao Li: Pinscreen/USC/ICT or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love 3 Jobs.

Hao will discuss his vision of human digitization and how his research at the University of Southern California has evolved over the years, moving from face capture, to hair digitization, full 3D avatar creation, to advanced 3D deep learning technologies. He will also talk about how his startup Pinscreen was born, and how they grew from a simple research prototype to building a platform for AI-driven human digitization, including the challenges they faced in technological and business development. Hao will also share his experiences juggling a start up, being a faculty member at the University of California, and directing a government sponsored research lab.



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Iran, a country with a hot and dry climate in the Middle East is experiencing many national security threats. Iran has uneasy and hostile relations with its neighbours, has terrorist hot spots in its vicinity, and has been experiencing a face-off with the hegemon, US, for around 40 years now. However, one of the biggest threats to its national security and survival is water scarcity and how the population consumes and manages their fresh water resources. 

In this seminar, Sirous will talk about how climate change has affected the country and how the increasing population has put pressure on the agricultural sector to produce more food. This seminar will also address how the agricultural sector itself has never advanced and used better ways to manage its water resources. Finally, Sirous will talk about how political mismanagement and corruption, alongside all other points mentioned, has made the water situation worse and could endanger the lives of many if not mended soon.

For anyone interested, here is a short piece that Sirous Amerian wrote for the Atlantic Council:
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/inefficient-agriculture-is-killing-iran 

Sirous Amerian is a PhD Candidate and Tutor at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Massey University. He is also a guest Iran Analyst and contributor to the American Think-Tank, Atlantic Council’s Future of Iran initiative. His area of interest and expertise is Asia-Pacific and Middle East Security.

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AgriTechNZ, BIOTechNZ and NZ IoT Alliance are joining together to discuss how is the future of AgriTech and BioTech will be enabled by IoT? This event will feature a keynote speaker and panel to discuss how IoT will impact each sector and where we see the future of these sectors.

For the dates and locations of Wellington and Christchurch events, check techalliance.nz.  

How language scientists use linguistic clues to help identify anonymous authors and speakers—and keep innocent people out of prison.

An anonymous bomb threat is phoned in to a school; a kidnapper sends an untraceable ransom note; a social media post echoes the manifesto of an at-large serial bomber. When you’re trying to catch the perpetrator and all you’ve got to go on is the words themselves, you’re going to need a forensic linguist.

In this lecture, given by the first of two Ian Gordon Fellows this year, Dr Natalie Schilling explains how linguists help solve crimes and assist courts in reaching valid verdicts. Drawing from her own experiences as a linguistic investigator, Dr Schilling will explain different types of forensic linguistic analysis—author and speaker profiling, authorship attribution, and voice identification, among others—and give you the chance to analyse some language evidence yourself.

To register to attend this free lecture, email lals@vuw.ac.nz with ‘Ian Gordon Fellow’ in the subject line by Friday 5 April.

Foodomics 2019 is where the country’s researchers and businesses taking premium foods for health and wellbeing to the world gather to collaborate, learn about the latest research and opportunities and network.

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This talk examines how interventions designed to prevent child sexual exploitation have an impact on young people. Fueled by various historical revelations and

In the UK, a series of national level policies oriented toward pre-emptive intervention have recently been set in train. This presentation considers the effects of an educational intervention with young people designed to reduce the risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE). Drawing on qualitative empirical data—including field observations, in-depth interviews with members of a multi-agency team, and focus groups with young people engaging with CSE awareness raising initiatives—we excavate some of the critical issues that arise in deploying risk based techniques in this area. More specifically, processes of engagement with the initiative, the efficacy of the strategy adopted by the delivery team, and the impacts on the perspectives of young people targeted are discussed. Focusing on mutually constitutive problems of context sensitivity, recognition of ambiguity and the silencing of alternative narratives, several vital caveats are raised that should be considered in the design and implementation of future preventative initiatives.

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EVs are coming your way! The fifth annual Leading the Charge national road trip from Cape Reinga will be stopping by the Otago Museum. Take the chance to check out the cars and chat with their owners. Learn how they are not only great for the environment and your wallet but also amazing to drive.

After you've inspected the cars, stay on for a screening of the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car, showing in the Hutton Theatre at 5.30pm. The film will be followed by a Q&A with EV specialist and consulting producer Chelsea Sexton.

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Annalise Higgins | Trinity College, University of Cambridge


During the nineteenth century, projects seeking to overcome perceived geographic impediments to European maritime navigation proliferated. This seminar examines projects that sought to bypass three isthmuses that were perceived as barriers to maritime mobility: the isthmus of Suez in Egypt, the Central American isthmus, and Thailand's Kra isthmus. These narrow necks of land, that were regularly described as geographic challenges to be conquered using rapidly developing technological tools and engineering acumen, captivated attention and inspired a variety of schemes.

These same projects to cut through or pass over isthmuses also inspired questions of sovereignty, diplomacy, and international law. This seminar situates the paths that were taken, including the Suez and Panama Canals, alongside projects, such as the Tehuantepec Ship Railway and the Kra Canal, that were not. It considers the antecedents and consequences of human ambitions to intervene in internationally significant isthmuses. In doing so, it seeks to understand the ways in which currents of imperial ambition, technological innovation, and international legal developments were brought into focus and amplified by the convergence of geographic accident and ideas about it being possible to intervene to remake the physical world.

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Professor Mythen will discuss the radicalisation process and consider what is typically left out of accounts of politically and religiously motivated violence.

As well as devastating New Zealanders, the tragic events in Christchurch on 15 March 2019 have shocked communities around the globe. Some commentators have focused on what might have motivated the perpetrator to commit these acts, but the attacks also raise broader questions about the nature and causes of terrorism.

The usual debate focuses on a process of ‘radicalisation’—but what do we actually know about this process, and does radicalisation by itself explain the complex sets of processes and dynamics that drive people to commit politically and racially motivated violence?

More information and registration.

In the past two decades Matariki has become a nationwide phenomenon, with numerous events occurring each winter to celebrate the predawn rising of this star cluster. Our modern observation of Matariki is helping to embed this celebration within the consciousness of the general public, and it is becoming part of our wider Aotearoa identity. Professor Rangi Matamua is Associate Dean Postgraduate at the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato. He is also a leading expert on Maori astronomy, and as the author of the bestselling book, 'Matariki the Star of the Year' he travels extensively throughout the country and internationally speaking about Matariki. Rangi will give a two hour lecture that will include images, video and animations and detailed knowledge about Matariki, sharing his knowledge and highlighting connections between cultural knowledge and science. Royal Society Te Apārangi is delighted to be supporting the Ko Matariki e ārau ana | The gathering of Matariki in Aotearoa and Australia.

Understanding the figurative message in satirical news is complicated. Results from corpus and behavioral studies identify features that influence this process.

Satirical news has become a popular means of delivering a subtle, humorous critique targeting a wide range of public and private entities.

What linguistic clues might exist to suggest a satirical intent in a text? And, what makes someone 'good' at understanding satirical news? For instance, when reading written satirical news, how do different cognitive, demographic, and affective features converge to influence the interpretation of the satire? Moreover, how can the comprehension of a satirical text even be measured?

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In the past two decades Matariki has become a nationwide phenomenon, with numerous events occurring each winter to celebrate the predawn rising of this star cluster. Our modern observation of Matariki is helping to embed this celebration within the consciousness of the general public, and it is becoming part of our wider Aotearoa identity.

Professor Rangi Matamua is Associate Dean Postgraduate at the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato. He is also a leading expert on Maori astronomy, and as the author of the bestselling book, 'Matariki the Star of the Year' he travels extensively throughout the country and internationally speaking about Matariki.

Rangi will give a two hour lecture that will include images, video and animations and detailed knowledge about Matariki, sharing his knowledge and highlighting connections between cultural knowledge and science.

Royal Society Te Apārangi is delighted to be supporting Ko Matariki e ārau ana | The gathering of Matariki in Aotearoa and Australia.

Free admission

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Join us for an evening under the stars as you and your family discover the wonders of the Southern night sky with our skilled amateur astronomers.

See our closest neighbours in our solar system, no one will ever forget their first views of Jupiter or Saturn! Maybe take a closer look at our amazing Moon and discover its secrets or learn about our constellations, closest stars, our galactic core and the beautiful nebula in our amazing universe.

Tickets $11.27- $16.63

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Free public talk being held as part of NZIP & PHYSIKOS 2019 conference: Physics for a changing world.

The Space Age began sixty years ago with the launch of the first Earth-orbiting satellites, but now we are entering Space 2.0 as the commercialisation of space becomes big business. The global economic turnover associated with space is now reckoned to be more than a trillion dollars per annum, with all manner of benefits accruing to everyday users who are largely unaware of what space is doing for them. Duncan will discuss the different types of Earth-orbiting satellite – from communications relays 35,800 km above the equator through the global positioning system constellations to low-Earth orbit platforms flying only a few hundred km above our heads – and what sorts of services they are making feasible. Duncan Steel has worked in space research for almost forty years, with times spent with NASA, ESA, various universities and observatories, and also running his own company. Duncan is the author of four books, over a hundred research papers, and more than a thousand articles for newspapers and magazines. He has also appeared in hundreds of radio and TV programmes. Minor planet/asteroid (4713) Steel is named for him, as is a lunar-roving robot in one of Arthur C. Clarke's SciFi novels.

No RSVP required. 

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Speaker: Dr Bridie JM Allan, Department of Marine Science, University of Otago


The intense consumption and rapid disposal of plastic products is leading to the widespread accumulation of plastic debris in marine ecosystems. As plastics breakdown, they are often mistaken as a food source leading to mechanically derived internal damage through abrasion, ulcers and digestive congestion resulting in a loss in body condition.

In addition to direct ingestion of plastics is the potential threat of exposure to highly toxic chemicals that are used during the manufacturing of plastics. Exposure to these chemicals can induce adverse effects and maladaptive behavioural changes in organisms. However, little is known about the sub-lethal effects of microplastic exposure on coral reef fishes.

To investigate this further, Dr Bridie Allan and colleagues exposed coral reef fish recruits to a range of different plastic particles comprised of different plasticisers to quantify changes in behaviours important for successful recruitment.

We found that when fish were exposed to plastic particles, there were changes in the behaviours that underpin successful predator evasion, with responsiveness to an attack and locomotor performance affected. Moreover, when placed onto patch reefs in situ, behaviours that increase conspicuousness to predators were increased with subsequent increases in mortality, suggesting that coral reef fish are vulnerable to the effects of marine plastic pollution.

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This presentation reports on the results of a recent study on the enforcement of the medical cannabis legislation in Switzerland. There was conflict between jurists and physicians within the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health over how to deal with the increasing demand for cannabis for medical purposes. The parallel parliamentary controversy on medical cannabis will be discussed within the wider context of the illegal drug regulation debate. Some reflections on these episodes will include how legal, political and medical issues interact in the definition of medical products. The presentation will also reflect on the way a line is drawn between legal and illegal practices in a polarized political context.

Speaker
Céline Mavrot is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bern, where she obtained her PhD in 2017. She specializes in comparative health and prevention policies. Her work explores contemporary policymaking processes on contentious health policies. She also conducts policy evaluations on behalf of Swiss national and local administrations and NGOs, on topics such as food safety, research policy, tobacco control, drug policies or obesity policy.

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The High Fat, Low Carb (HFCL) and ketogenic diet are now scientifically proven to prevent and reverse most age-related diseases. With never seen before stunning results of permanent weight-loss at no matter what age, ethnicity, or economic circumstances, the ketogenic diet is taking the world of health by storm.

IN THIS SEMINAR WE SEPARATE FACT FROM FICTION

Discover the truth about weight-loss, the facts about fat intake and heart disease. Adopting a high-fat, low-carb diet shows phenomenal improvements or reversal in a large number of conditions.

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The New Zealand Institute for Business Research invites you to attend this future-focused conference at the University of Waikato’s Management School in Hamilton.

Join global leaders and renowned business minds who will lead engaging discussions about future visions for the world of work. Attendees will gain practical insights into embracing opportunities in a future that needs to address issues such as globalisation, climate change, depleting natural resources and technology convergence. These will take place in separate master classes where the challenges of leadership, innovation, and sustainability will be discussed.

Do you have a vision for the future of work in your industry?
Attend this conference to future-proof your business and gain the confidence to lead through innovation, no matter your industry or organisation. This is a critical event for senior managers, executives and leadership teams.

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The 19th Conference of the New Zealand Institute of Physics, incorporating Physikos, the New Zealand Physics Teachers Conference.

Invited speakers


Gary Williams (UK), IOP National Coordinator Teacher Network Editor-in-Chief, Physics Education

Dr Duncan Steel (NZ), Centre for Space Science Technology, Alexandra

Anthony Butler (NZ), At the University of Otago Christchurch he is Head of the Department of Radiology and Director of the Centre for Bioengineering. At CERN he is a member of the
Medipix3, Medipix4, and CMS collaborations. At the University of Canterbury he is a researcher in the Department of Physics and Astronomy

Dave Frame (NZ), Director of the New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute at Victoria University of Wellington

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Rural health research - an opportunity for inter-disciplinary research

There has been very little research into the health of rural populations in New Zealand. Part of this has been due to a lack of an agreed definition as to what constitutes “rural”. Another aspect has been political – both within academia and with regard regional and national politics. Within the two New Zealand medical schools, despite targeted government funding the focus is on biomedical rather than health services research.
Thus neither school has a dedicated chair in rural health studies, while most academics publishing in the field are rural clinicians with a part time interest and little training in research. With regards to the regional and national scenes, for decades we have seen a centralisation of services and resources on the main centres, shortages in the rural workforce and a political focus on new hospitals and specialist services.

The talk will examine the definition of rurality, will talk about rural populations and health services and discuss ways of assessing health needs.

Speaker bio:

Ross Lawrenson has a Diploma in Community Health (Otago) and a Doctorate of Medicine form University of London. He has published more than 30 peer reviewed publications on rural health. He is a board member of the rural New Zealand GP Network


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Greg’s research group’s interests are focused on the regulation of fertility by hormones such as leptin and insulin that provide the brain with information about the body’s nutritional status, and on the effects of a recently discovered group of brain cells called RFRP neurons on fertility and stress responses (such as anxiety).

Beyond their focused basic research projects, their ‘big picture’ goal is the development of new and improved treatments for infertility and anxiety-related disorders; both of which are unseen conditions experienced by a large proportion of modern societies.
For example, they are currently developing drugs that combat the anxiety-promoting effects of RFRP neurons.

The Anderson Research Group is based in the Department of Anatomy and forms one of the laboratories that make up the University of Otago’s Centre for Neuroendocrinology.

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From Populations to Peoples - Professor Tahu Kukutai
Demography – the scientific study of human populations – has traditionally been done from the desktop, applying statistical models to large data sets such as the Census. Professor Tahu Kukutai’s approach is flipping that on its head. “I started off doing research on populations. Now I’m more interested in doing research about people and using data to tell their stories.”

In the second of this year’s Hamilton Public Lectures, Professor Kukutai talks about how she is blending her passion for demography and Indigenous data sovereignty to craft a new approach to Indigenous population research. “Māori, like other Indigenous peoples, are often the objects of demographic inquiry. Rarely are we the ones collecting and managing our own data; doing our own analysis; telling our own stories. I’m trying to change that.”

If you think demography is all about statistics, think again. A former journalist, Professor Kukutai came to Waikato University to study history. “I’m a words person who stumbled into numbers. I was initially scared of statistics and not keen on demography. Now it’s the power of data and numbers that draws me.”

Professor Kukutai is from the Waikato town of Ngāruawāhia and affiliates to Ngāti Tīpā, Ngāti Mahanga, Ngāti Kinohaku and Te Aupōuri. She has degrees in History and Demography from the University of Waikato, and a PhD in Sociology from Stanford University. She is Vice-President of the Population Association of New Zealand Council, a founding member of Te Mana Raraunga, the Māori data sovereignty network, and a member of the Chief Science Advisor Forum.

The Hamilton Public Lecture Series introduces our newest professors to the community and gives them a chance to demonstrate how their work is having a real impact on the world around us.

All lectures are free, open to the public and held at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts. Drinks and nibbles are provided from 5:15pm, prior to the lecture beginning at 5:45pm.

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This one-day symposium presents the findings from a three year, Marsden-funded project titled ‘Rape, Silencing and Objectification’, awarded to Professor Jan Jordan in 2015.

The project documents contemporary barriers to rape reform in New Zealand. This event will be of interest to NGOs, policymakers, academics, practitioners and the general public. Presentations will cover: Police responses to rape complaints; Media coverage of rape; Objectification in media and Changes and trends in contemporary pornography.

More information and register.

Low(er)-cost sensor systems for monitoring air quality are increasingly available to groups in the wider public who want action to address the ubiquitous air pollution affecting their lives. Regulatory air quality monitoring and publicly available information services for air quality do not seem to provide the answers, and action to prevent air pollution, especially in cities, is often perceived ambiguously. For this reason, engaged citizens are increasingly turning towards these easily accessible technologies and doing their own measurements. The sensor systems have become a technology of choice for children, students, kindergartens, citizens, municipalities, and national and European authorities. This raises many questions, such as technical questions on quality of the data from these systems, integration of such monitoring data with other information, regulatory use, smart city connectivity, air pollution perception, awareness and not least, knowledge and public expectations.

In Europe in the last decade, many researchers have studied all aspects related to air quality sensors. One of the first large pan-European research projects CITI-SENSE (2012-2016) provided much needed knowledge on possible applications and has enabled organisations such as municipalities in Norway to start building sensor networks (the iFLINK project 2018-2021). All these activities have allowed us to identify the critical steps in using these new technologies, improved our technological know-how, and also enabled us to look critically at the processes of citizen engagement. Alena will share some of the last ten years’ developments and the newest understandings.

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This paper brings writing on the dis/enchantments of modernity into conversation with a hospital ethnography, in which young children with lethal diseases take part in experimental genetic research.

Dr Courtney Addison is interested in the work of research ethics in this context. A paper scaffold of documents and signatures structures the systems that inform and consent patients and parents. These processes, carefully mediated by clinical staff, are designed to produce the ‘informed patient’—an archetype of contemporary medicine.

By performing understanding and submitting to the informatic logics of the research ethics system, patients become valid experimental subjects, exemplifying the disenchantment of clinical research. However, this disenchantment is both incomplete and, in some cases, potentially undesirable. Where young children are enrolled into risky medical efforts, a more complex terrain of knowing, disclosing, and pretending takes form, subsuming the logics of disenchantment and suggesting the possibility of an ethics of enchantment, instead.

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Apocalyptic Design: Everyday Physical Objects that Independently Handle Your Spending Decisions

What happens when we give physical things wallets containing digital currencies?
How can this alter power relationships and shift social dynamics?
Chris Speed will explore these questions by highlighting the use of smart contracts in design, from a coffee machine that lets you vote for your coffee bean and pays those who clean it, to a hairdryer that trades on the energy market to offer the best price for drying your hair. The talk will frame these design prototypes as forms of ‘apocalyptic design’, a term borrowed from the genre of ‘apocalyptic cinema’ that foretell an end to the world. By introducing projects that remove agency from humans, Chris will explore how ‘apocalyptic design’ case studies for the Centre for Design Informatics reconfigure human and more-than-human relations, and rebalance the use of agency away from the user.

Prof. Chris Speed is Chair of Design Informatics at the University of Edinburgh where he collaborates with a wide variety of partners to explore how design provides methods to adapt, and create products and services within a networked society. He especially favours transgressive design interventions, to help identify and promote the values we care about most, including coffee machines that order their own ethical supplies, random lift buttons that take you to unexpected floors, and apps for sham marriages. Chris is co-editor of the journal Ubiquity and co-directs the Design Informatics Research Centre that is home to a combination of researchers working across the fields of interaction design, temporal design, anthropology, software engineering and digital architecture, as well as the PhD, MA/MFA and MSc and Advanced MSc programmes.

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Join us for a humanitarian disarmament forum with Mary Wareham, Advocacy Director of Human Rights Watch’s Arms Division and Global Coordinator of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, with a presentation and discussion on fully autonomous weapon systems (aka killer robots), international developments, and the need for New Zealand to develop coherent policy to guide its multilateral disarmament diplomacy on this unprecedented threat to humanity.

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is an international coalition of NGOs who are working for a pre-emptive ban on the development, production and use of autonomous weapon systems (killer robots) - robotic weapons with the ability to select targets and attack on their own, without any meaningful human control.

This forum is organised by the Aotearoa New Zealand Campaign to Stop Killer Robots ( http://www.stopkillerrobots.org.nz ) and co-hosted by Information Science and Computer Science at the University of Otago.

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Speaker | Professor Anthony Lambert
(In)sight unseen - studies of vision, attention and consciousness

When we visit the optometrist, or study vision using classical methods, ‘vision’ is generally equated with ‘conscious seeing’: the intuition that asking people what they can see is the only viable approach, for assessing vision is compelling.

Professor Lambert will challenge this, by suggesting that an important part of visual functioning is non-conscious.

A ‘unified model of vision and attention’ will be described, together with a wide array of supporting evidence.

In addition to providing theoretical insight, this approach may be practically useful.

Potential applications range from reducing accident-risk in older adults, to identifying early talent in sports involving eye-hand-body coordination.

Due to limited space, registrations are essential

More information and register.

Event to celebrate Sir David Skegg's new BWB Text 'The Health of the People'

Eminent medical researcher Sir David Skegg FRSNZ argues that health crises such as the 2016 Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak and the recent measles outbreak highlight weaknesses in our country’s health infrastructure. Critically, these weaknesses are already evident in problems ranging from child nutrition to cancer – problems exacerbated by lobbying by powerful commercial interests.

New Zealand must, Skegg explains, invest more in public health and find the political will needed to oppose the forces that damage health: we neglect public health at our peril.

Speaker information
Sir David Skegg is an epidemiologist and public health physician with a highly esteemed career spanning many decades. His research has focused on cancer causes and control, contraceptive and drug safety, and reproductive health. He is a former President of Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Professor Diana Sarfati is the Head of Department and Director of the Cancer and Chronic Conditions (C3) research group, Department of Public Health, University of Otago.

All welcome. Refreshments will be served. Doors open at 5.30pm. Free entry, no RSVP needed.

More information.

This lecture will reflect upon the relationship between ageing and disability. In particular, it will explore how insights from disability theology can contribute to richer and more concrete accounts of ageing and its associated complexities.

On the one hand, standard disciplinary approaches to ageing (e.g. gerontology and geriatric medicine) have given limited attention to human limits and vulnerability, or at least to how these can be integral to identity and relationality. On the other hand, this concern has been at the heart of recent work in disability theology (e.g. Deborah Creamer and Thomas Reynolds). Accordingly, this lecture will explore the significance of this work for how we understand and respond to ageing.

For more information contact: Geoff Troughton
geoff.troughton@vuw.ac.nz

04 463 5590

More information 

How much land will we lose to the rising ocean, and what will it cost us? A talk by the co-author of Local Government NZ's recent report on sea level rise.

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) has recently released its report, 'Vulnerable: The quantum of local government owned infrastructure exposed to sea level rise', which quantifies the replacement value of local government infrastructure exposed to sea level rise. The study details the type, the quantity and the replacement value of infrastructure exposed with different levels of rise severity, from 0.5 meters to 3 metres. With more than $14 billion of local government owned assets are exposed at a 3.0 metre increment of sea level rise, the results could be terrible.

LGNZ’s report is intended to result in stakeholders working together to ensure the long-term resilience of critical infrastructure. At its core, this analysis is about turning a challenge into an opportunity. Study co-author Thomas Simonson will present these findings in detail at a lunch-time lecture, and take questions from the audience.

For more information contact: David Larsen
igps@vuw.ac.nz

04 463 6746

For more information and to register follow link 

In the past two decades Matariki has become a nationwide phenomenon, with numerous events occurring each winter to celebrate the predawn rising of this star cluster. Our modern observation of Matariki is helping to embed this celebration within the consciousness of the general public, and it is becoming part of our wider Aotearoa identity.

Professor Rangi Matamua is Associate Dean Postgraduate at the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato. He is also a leading expert on Maori astronomy, and as the author of the bestselling book, 'Matariki the Star of the Year' he travels extensively throughout the country and internationally speaking about Matariki.

Rangi will give a two hour lecture that will include images, video and animations and detailed knowledge about Matariki, sharing his knowledge and highlighting connections between cultural knowledge and science.

Royal Society Te Apārangi is delighted to be supporting Ko Matariki e ārau ana | The gathering of Matariki in Aotearoa and Australia.

Free admission

More information 

In the past two decades Matariki has become a nationwide phenomenon, with numerous events occurring each winter to celebrate the predawn rising of this star cluster. Our modern observation of Matariki is helping to embed this celebration within the consciousness of the general public, and it is becoming part of our wider Aotearoa identity.

Professor Rangi Matamua is Associate Dean Postgraduate at the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato. He is also a leading expert on Maori astronomy, and as the author of the bestselling book, 'Matariki the Star of the Year' he travels extensively throughout the country and internationally speaking about Matariki.

Rangi will give a two hour lecture that will include images, video and animations and detailed knowledge about Matariki, sharing his knowledge and highlighting connections between cultural knowledge and science.

Royal Society Te Apārangi is delighted to be supporting Ko Matariki e ārau ana | The gathering of Matariki in Aotearoa and Australia.

Free admission 

More information