Our Changing World

Researchers from the University of Waikato are tackling the tricky question of how to restore native biodiversity in our urban areas. For her Masters research at the University of Waikato, Hannah Rogers has gotten to know every green patch, nook and cranny of Kirikiriroa Hamilton. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRADIO, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic or wherever...

We join Marine Science PhD student Namrata Chand on her Autumn field work collecting seaweed samples to learn more about this 'underdog of the ocean'. Namrata Chand began diving in the coral reefs and warm crystal-clear waters around her native Fiji. Diving to sample seaweed in Otago Harbour for her PhD is quite a different experience. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher...

Pūtahi Manawa / Healthy Hearts for Aotearoa has an ambitious goal - to close the inequity gaps in heart health. Researchers in this Centre of Research Excellence explain the gaps that exist and how they plan to address them. Cardiovascular diseases - disorders of the heart and blood vessels - are the leading cause of death globally. In Aotearoa, alongside cancer and respiratory diseases, they are...

Claire Concannon meets with some of the people working to protect New Zealand's naturally rare ecosytems and the endangered plants found within them. Aotearoa is home to over 70 naturally rare ecosystems - places that make up a tiny amount of the total area of New Zealand but can hold incredible amounts of biodiversity. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRADIO, G...

A visit to Scott's Terra Nova hut to learn about the care given to the objects by Antarctic Heritage Trust conservators. This is an edit of the Antarctic Heritage Trust's podcast 'Frozen in Time: Scott's Antarctic Legacy'. Scott's Terra Nova hut at Cape Evans in Antarctica has a history rich in both triumph and tragedy. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRAD...

Justin Gregory finds out about a study investigating how pre-term babies are fed during their first few weeks, and whether there is a better way. Busy and happy, Isla Rothwell is a confident toddler with a great giggle. She loves an adventure. 'Oblivious to danger is the current mode,' says mum Olivia. '" What are you doing on the table and how did you even get up there?"&...

Stories about looking our warming world in the eye, and preparing for what is coming next. Collecting data about extreme temperatures in estuaries to help manage shellfish populations. Plus what might managed retreat of marae threatened by sea level rise mean for MÄori communities. We know that global temperatures are on the rise, and even if we could stop all greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow som...

At the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research a team of scientists are working on what they believe will be the future of cancer treatment in New Zealand. When she imagines the future of cancer treatment, Yasmin Nouri sees a very different landscape. Instead of chemotherapy, a blunt technique aimed at all fast growing cells, she envisions therapies that are personalised to the patient and targeted...

Two stories on addressing our energy problem - using AI to maximise locally produced renewable energy and reducing the carbon footprint of ammonia production. The latest release from the IPCC sixth assessment report on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability didn't hold back on dire warnings. The UN secretary general referred to it as a 'code red for humanity'. Follow Our Changing Wor...

A story of a community taking the lead to investigate their own history. Near the small fishing village of Moeraki, whānau members are doing the work of excavating, sorting, and identifying artifacts from an old Māori archaeological site. Standing over a stainless-steel sink, spray gun in hand, Robyn Maguigan is ready to wash and sieve a pile of jumbled up bones, rocks, shells and charcoal she has...

This sea week Our Changing World joins Dr. Kim Currie on the Munida transect time-series - a long running investigation of how the chemistry of the oceans off New Zealand is changing. Six times a year, for the last 23 years, Dr. Kim Currie has made the same boat journey, for the same reason - to collect valuable ocean chemistry data. As Kim knows, sometimes good science takes time. Follow Our Chan...

Creating safe spaces for wildlife to thrive means benefit for the local community too. This week, two stories on that theme. We know humans benefit when biodiversity flourishes. This week, Claire Concannon brings us two stories about providing sanctuary for fish, and how local communities also gain from these spaces. Listen to DOC ranger Tim Shaw and Mountains to Sea director Zoe Studd on Our Chan...

Alison Ballance catches up with two earthquake researchers. Geologist Carolyn Boulton is a "fault finder", interested in how faults slide. And geophysicist Martha Savage eavesdrops on the earth to better understand why earthquakes do what they do. Dr Carolyn Boulton is a structural geologist at Victoria University of Wellington and she sees things in rocks that most of us would never notice. Inclu...

Claire visits a macroalgae research facility in Tauranga to learn how and why the team there are growing large quantities of seaweed and freshwater macroalgae. At Sulphur Point in Tauranga sits a warehouse-sized greenhouse, designed for just one purpose - to grow macroalgae. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRADIO, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic or wherever you li...

Claire learns about honey fingerprinting while Katy Gosset meets a scientist studying the anti-microbial properties of some native plants. Honey is big business in Aotearoa. An estimated 27,000 tonnes of honey was produced in the 2019/20 season, with the value of honey exports for that time at $425 million. So New Zealand honey is in global demand, but how can you be sure that honey labelled as Ne...

Claire Concannon joins a meteorite hunt on the South Island's West Coast and learns what these rocks from space can tell us about the early formation of our solar system. In January 1976 Ted Dowie was looking for gold in a river in the mining district of Dunganville near Greymouth when he came across a black, smooth-topped boulder in a dry creek bed. It rang like a bell when he hit it and was unus...

The story of titipounamu, New Zealand's smallest bird, on Otago Peninsula, told by Karthic SS, a wildlife film maker and podcast producer based in Dunedin. From the bustling hot city of Coimbatore in southern India to the rather less bustling, and definitely cooler, south of Te Wai Pounamu in Aotearoa, Karthic SS* has spent most of his life paying close attention to the sounds around him. Follow O...

Summer science continues with a play of a science related episode from RNZ's Voices podcast. In 'To spray or not to spray' we meet Tim Vandervoet as he investigates ways to reduce insecticide use in orchards. This week on Our Changing World, as part of the Summer Science series, a science related episode from the Voices podcast. To spray or not to spray - from cotton fields to codling moth As a Pe...

Centre for Science Communication student Laura McDonald speaks to Dr. Mike Palin about lead contamination in the environment. Laura McDonald learns the backstory to the discovery of lead contamination in the environment. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRADIO, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic or wherever you listen to your podcasts After the incident in Waikouaiti...

Summer science continues with a play of a science related episode from RNZ's Black Sheep podcast. Invasive tells the story of one man who released thousands of invasive fish into New Zealand's rivers, lakes and streams. Programme Code This week on Our Changing World, as part of the Summer Science series, we bring you one of our favourite conservation related episodes from the Black Sheep podcast....

Centre for Science Communication student William Bowden speaks to Dr. Mike Joy & Dr. Tim Chambers about the issue of nitrates in New Zealand's waterways. William Bowden dives into the controversial topic of nitrates in our waterways. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRADIO, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic or wherever you listen to your podcasts Dr Mike Joy is a fre...

How to deal with unwelcome visitors. Katy Gosset learns about a native fungus that might help in the battle against wilding pines. And two national research programmes combine on an expedition to protect our oceans from plastics and invasive species. Invasive species in Aotearoa are the unwelcome guests who have taken over, made a mess, and just won't leave. Plants that smother ecosystems, se...

Chemical isotope analysis is a powerful technique - Dr. Charlotte King explains to Claire how she uses it to reconstruct past lives of forgotten people from the Otago gold rush. Our skeleton, our nails, our tissues, are all made from basic chemical elements. These elements pass from the soil, to growing plants, to the food we eat and into our bodies. By following this pathway backwards, one resear...

Sci Fi / Sci Fact is a new podcast series in which scientists from New Zealand's MacDiarmid Institute talk to RNZ host Bryan Crump about whether some of science-fiction's most popular concepts could actually come true. Sci Fi / Sci Fact is a new podcast series in which scientists from New Zealand's MacDiarmid Institute talk to RNZ host Bryan Crump about whether some of science-fiction's...

Two stories on keeping an eye on river flow - helping fish to migrate back upstream, and development of a national river flow forecasting tool. Fish friendly flow For thousands of years several species of New Zealand's native freshwater fish have been making journeys from the rivers, down streams, to the ocean, and back upstream again, as part of their natural lifecycle. Until we started putt...