Jamie Steer • Dec 17, 2018 •
This is the idea that people have upset the balance or equilibrium of nature, but that we can return that balance in future if appropriate steps are taken. This belief is very much supported in New Zealand by this notion that our environment is Gondwanan and that it hasn’t changed much in the last 80 million years. Or if … Read More
Jamie Steer • Dec 16, 2018 •
We often frame our relationship with introduced species in New Zealand this way – as a war, a fight, a battle. And there are plenty of examples of it, most recently in the Department of Conservation’s ‘War on Weeds’ or its ‘Battle for our Birds’. War metaphors feature prominently in both popular and scientific literatures in New … Read More
Jamie Steer • Dec 15, 2018 •
‘It’s hard to swallow giving up ur Godzone…’ (Feedback on Kim Hill interview). We have this idea in NZ that our national identity, at least when it comes to wildlife, is defined almost solely by our native species. Sure, we accept cows and kiwifruit and so on when in farmed or horticultural settings, but with the notable exception of … Read More
Jamie Steer • Dec 14, 2018 •
OK, Number 1 – the first belief for us to look at: that they don’t belong here. With ‘they’ of course being introduced species. Here are a couple of quotes from the feedback to my Kim Hill interview to lead us into this one. ‘We should round up all possums that have eaten more than a certain amount of … Read More
Jamie Steer • Dec 13, 2018 •
Recently I’ve been doing a little popular writing relating to my research here and there. And one of these articles happened to get the attention of Radio New Zealand interviewer Kim Hill who invited me onto her show for a chat (read: interrogation). It turned out to be a really fruitful experience, and you can still listen to … Read More
Jamie Steer • Dec 12, 2018 •
Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to be posting a new article each day. Each article will be supported by a short video clip providing much the same content, so you can either read this blog or just watch the clip. This first one’s a little longer but most of the clips will be about 5 minutes … Read More
Guest Author • Apr 11, 2018 •
Jason Gilchrist, Edinburgh Napier University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. A geriatric semi-captive rhino died in Kenya recently. “Sudan”, a 45-year-old northern white rhino was put to sleep as vets decided, after months of ill health, that his condition had deteriorated to the point where the levels of … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 26, 2018 •
Grainne Cleary, Deakin University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. I am an academic with dyslexia and I would like to share my story with you. Dyslexia in academia is a conundrum – it is basically a learning difficulty, and coping with dyslexia is a very personal journey. It is … Read More
Helen Taylor • Nov 28, 2017 •
An increasing number of travelers and holidaymakers are paying for nature-based trips and experiences under the ecotourism banner, but do these activities do more harm than good to the nature concerned? According to the Nature Conservancy, ecotourism is the fastest growing segment of the internationally massive tourism industry. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has a … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 28, 2016 •
By Jamie Steer and Rowan Taylor Scientists tend to shape our beliefs about wildlife in New Zealand, and particularly how we think of introduced species. But what are we to think when scientists disagree? Conservation biologists, for example, tell us that introduced wildlife are invasive environmental and economic pests while fisheries and waterfowl biologists tell us that they are valued … Read More