The talk will highlight the key aspects behind the phenomenal growth in Green hydrogen (hydrogen produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity) impacted by geopolitical and climate pressures driving a global shift in energy agendas.  The speaker will outline Fabrum's NZ developed  intellectual property and its impact internationally in developments spanning the future of aviation much of it underpinned by cryogenics, the storage of substances at very low temperatures, typically below -150C.

Professor Nick Long, Paihau-Robinson Institute, Victoria University of Wellington. Nick will introduce us to the key projects of Wellington’s Paihau-Robinson Research Institute, including transformers, MRI systems and high-speed motors for electric aircraft. The institute has been part of Victoria University since 2014 and has a strong international reputation for superconductivity research and the discovery of […]

Associate Professor Arend Merrie MB ChB, PhD, FRACS, MInstD Arend trained in General Surgery in New Zealand gaining his Fellowship and a PhD on colorectal cancer in 2001. Following this he completed a post fellowship training programme in Colorectal Surgery in Auckland and Oxford. He has particular interest and expertise in minimally invasive approaches to […]

Speaker: Emeritus Professor Colin Townsend, University of Otago

You may not be surprised to learn that if New Zealand’s rivers were to be placed end to end they would total 9,471 km in length. But did you know that the streams that feed those rivers total more than 400,000 km! Did you know that the beds of such streams that have been reached by the introduced brown trout tend to be more slippery than those still occupied by native fish? Or that an ancient whitebait species became ‘landlocked’ into headwater streams of the South Island and evolved into 12 or more new non-migratory species? Or that streams whose beds are disturbed at an intermediate rate have a higher biodiversity than streams turned over by more frequent spates or not disturbed at all? Or which of the human-caused impairments (nitrogen, sediment, water abstraction, increased temperature) is most harmful to stream ecosystems? Well nor did I - until my research team started work three decades ago.

Speaker: Dr Nic Rawlence, University of Otago. Aotearoa New Zealand has been described as the closest thing to studying life on another planet. Yet the animals that survived the arrival of humans are only a fraction of the wide and varied menagerie that originally called these lonely isles home. While we may think we know […]

Professor Barbara Barratt, AgResearch and University of Otago Biological control is a natural phenomenon, but pest management using natural enemies has been manipulated by man for over 3000 years, with Chinese farmers recognising they could reduce the impact of orchard pests by transferring predatory ant nests to their trees. In her talk, Barbara will describe […]

Professor Murray Thomson, University of Otago Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2022, Professor Murray Thomson is a prolific researcher in dental epidemiology and health services. His work in the renowned Dunedin Study has enhanced understanding of oral health through life, providing important contributions to understanding the oral health of […]

Genomics has promised to transform medicine and medical practice but for the average New Zealander the evidence for this might seem lacking. My talk will address the technologies that have enabled step changes in understanding the genetic architecture of disease. I will also highlight the areas of medicine that have benefited most from this technological revolution. […]

Professor Angus McIntosh, University of Canterbury In his talk, Angus will traverse the range of issues associated with climate change that confront our freshwater ecosystems. He'll talk about the challenges as well as some solutions. This will touch on native fish having to deal with drought and introduced trout, mudfish negotiating tornados, high alpine tarns […]

Dr Shaun Wilkinson, CEO Wilderlab High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies make it possible to survey entire biological communities with as little as a single cup of water. The commercialization of environmental DNA (eDNA) has vastly improved the accessibility and accuracy of this technology. In Aotearoa New Zealand, eDNA monitoring is being implemented by multiple organizations from […]

Associate Professor Anna Garden and Dr Emilia Nowak, MacDiarmid Institute. The MacDiarmid Institute is a network of leading researchers from around the country united in a common goal: to create and explore innovative, sustainable materials that will improve the lives of people in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the globe. This talk will present an […]

Professor Delwyn Moller (University of Auckland) Imagine if domestic flights crossing our skies each day were not only taking people places but also gathering vast amounts of critical environmental data at the same time. Delwyn Moller will tell us about the ground breaking Rongowai Mission - a collaborative programme between NASA, NZ's Space Agency and […]