Sun’s trying to come out but end of 2025 (year of discontent!?) still looking moody in Welly.

Good! Colorado Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper objected to moving forward with the minibus spending package, which would have funded 85 to 90% of the federal government through September 2026, because of the Trump regime's plan to dismantle NCAR.

🔥 Our Affiliate Troy Baisden was on RNZ's Mediawatch recently, discussing misinformation about EV's malfunctioning and causing fires. The story was in the context of the Goverment slashing by 80% the clean car standard - which incentivised sales of low- or zero-emission vehicles. 🚗

We hope to see you tomorrow at our conference and awards, in person in Wellington. If you can't make it, we'll have some limited streaming including the opening session and awards. Check the webpage for details. scientists.org.nz/nzas-confere...

"The most interesting thing about these stories is that there were stories about EV fires that contained ... no EV fire." Te Pūnaha Matatini Principal Investigator @troybaisden.bsky.social spoke to Mediawatch about recent media coverage of electric vehicles → www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa... 🧪

A cocktail of stories in recent weeks has made me deeply concerned our information ecosystem around electric vehicles (EVs) as a pathway to emissions reduction has been undergoing "rapid disassembly." This RNZ Mediawatch piece is a great compendium. (14 min) (1/3) www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Excellent summary of our energy and climate chaos out this morning from Kirsty Johnson. It should be played with the PMs talking point: that the oil and gas exploration ban is the main problem with the electricity market. That’s what I have to call insanely false. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Nice to see Research, Science, Innovation and Technology getting a little airtime with two oral questions, and subsequent supplementary exchanges, in Parliament today. There are some extreme snippets on socials but here is full session (7 min). youtu.be/s2rz84uo2JQ

Just not the Māori ones coz we no longer have a marsden panel to apply too......

Could changes to our nation climate change policy do more to undermine integrity and transparency of our commitments? environment.govt.nz/news/governm... (1/2)

Could changes to our nation climate change policy do more to undermine integrity and transparency of our commitments? environment.govt.nz/news/governm... (1/2)

Exciting day today. Not only is it Halloween, but my crowdfunding campaign is also live! Please support me by making a pledge and/or sharing on all your socials and with your friends, family, and colleagues. Thanks to everyone offering rewards. You rock! www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/852...

Now also on RNZ! A personal perspect on how the #BatshitBudget for science undermines and drives away the top science talent that helps us build a great nation. www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

Quick reminder - the NZAS 2025 conference is happening on 26 November in Pōneke, more information at this link. We will be talking about our 2025 survey of NZ scientists, the Save Science Coalition, priorities for public good science, and more!

NZ's new methane target: Represents doing nothing if historic efficiency gains continue, and assumes new mitigations won't work. Worse, our farmers need to realise it cedes the future of the paperwork they complain about to places like Brussels instead of Wellington.

14 years ago Paul Callaghan gave this talk. It leaned in to the idea of making Aotearoa New Zealand a place where talented people wanted to live. Our government is hell bent on doing the opposite. @nzscientists.bsky.social #NZPOL

Embarrassing? The good news is the grand potential for no one to notice NZ.

So, NZ? www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/w...

Nice work Simon Stewart @troybaisden.bsky.social @icdugg.bsky.social et al. #Lakes are Earth’s eye indeed. 🧪

You know about NZ's cuts to research funding? How bleak is it for climate change research? Bleak. Explainer and perspectives now outside Carbon News NZ's paywall. www.carbonnews.co.nz/news/35492/s...

Read more about this research at @aunz.theconversation.com → theconversation.com/lakeshore-sh... #complexsystems @troybaisden.bsky.social

This trains announcement is absolutely fabulous news. But I cannot be the only person looking at the pics thinking these things are not going to fare well when they hit a cow or ute? email.jslmedia.com.au/ch/91108/dx9...

Did you catch news that the Universities Advisory Group (UAG) reports were released, but the government binned or balked on many of the key recommendations? The whole process went from shelved to buried yesterday morning. www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/09/03/u...

UAG report and cabinet paper are out. Gluckman: Read the Interim Report’s strategic approach first (before getting lost in the operational details.) Alas, if only more of the strategic recommendations had a clear path to implementation… www.education.govt.nz/our-work/inf...

Kākā getting very frisky with the feeling of spring in the air

Listening to an HRC webinar about the changes to research funding. It's striking how little input by academics is valued now - final decisions will be made by HRC, with science committees' input downgraded to 'advice'. Commercialisation is valued. Innovation is not. Depressing.

In Today’s Weekend Herald #Fonterra #nzpol

Our parliament might give us confidence in the government's approach to the science if answers were delivered with care and clarity. youtu.be/2Glk1fHNMaU?...

rnz’s strategy under thompson has essentially been to make the people who actually listen to the station hate it in order to attract an audience that will never listen to it. genius lol

Robust debate in Parliament yesterday, with questions from Scott Willis to Shane Reti MP about cuts, job losses and whether reprioritisation will yield clarity or any benefits. The answers aren't reassuring but it is good to see this getting attention. youtu.be/Vam6UmnvtyY

Unsurprisingly shocking news: the Advanced Technology Institute is being funded by mortgaging the future of other science funding. Had you wondered whether we're rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, or playing musical chairs? It's both. www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/08/06/f...

Today's update to this big story for NZ science. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Reminder - applications close 1 August. Note the new medal debut this year...

MethaneSat appears lost. www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines... We'll be pondering NZ's $29m for some time. Good tracking by @eloisegibson.bsky.social. My big question: did the same MBIE people who botched the science system we're still trying to fix move across and mess this up too? #commercialisation

Articles out today on directions of the mergers in the research system open up some of the concerns, and also suggest benefits may not come quickly. Farmers weekly perspective suggests my worst case scenario could apply. www.farmersweekly.co.nz/technology/s...

Still trying to make sense of Day One for the "PROs" which are still CRIs. How 'public' will these Public Research Organisations be? We have a news page and much wider resources up at NZAS. scientists.org.nz/news/13515621

Do we actually understand NZ's carbon cycle well enough to be the leader we should be? This story hit news over the last week, and this is the biggest compendium - now outside the paywall at CarbonNews. www.carbonnews.co.nz/news/34741/c...

Will the trust and engagement of Māori communities with the research system recover from this last minute cut, after almost two years of development of a few major programme proposals and implementation plans? 1/n Fox Meyer in Newsroom (outside the Paywall tomorrow) newsroom.co.nz/2025/06/13/g...

“I have no doubt that if we were unlucky to experience a tsunami in our lifetime, a future Royal Commission of Inquiry will definitely find whoever defunded this monitoring centre as culpable.” -Ilan Noy newsroom.co.nz/2025/06/12/n...

Detailed energy data for Norway in 2024 were released this morning. No surprise that the total use of energy in road transport continues to decline, as electric vehicles are more efficient than their ICE equivalents. robbieandrew.github.io/EV/

Will the trust and engagement of Māori communities with the research system recover from this last minute cut, after almost two years of development of a few major programme proposals and implementation plans? 1/n Fox Meyer in Newsroom (outside the Paywall tomorrow) newsroom.co.nz/2025/06/13/g...

“I have no doubt that if we were unlucky to experience a tsunami in our lifetime, a future Royal Commission of Inquiry will definitely find whoever defunded this monitoring centre as culpable.” -Ilan Noy newsroom.co.nz/2025/06/12/n...

Canadians get their ferries… Are we still playing #DireStraights? www.shippax.com/en/news/bc-f...

Arguably the responsibility to articulate the nation's science policy needs shouldn't fall to emerging researchers. Yet, here we are ... A group of early career Antarctic researchers describe how research in their patch is being systematically undermined. thespinoff.co.nz/science/10-0...

The (very small) case of recently announced targeted Māori research funding has exposed how poorly science policy processes are working. Yet another case where funding levels are mismatched to what we should be sensibly aiming to achieve. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-new-...

📢 Applications open for the 2025 Science Medals from the New Zealand Association of Scientists. scientists.org.nz/how-to-apply Check out this thread for the medals available - including one NEW this year.

My latest for @science.org on NZ's "shuffling of deck chairs" science and innovation budget, with @nzscientists.bsky.social et al and excellent editing by @mattbwarren.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

I appreciate the offers from other scientists to help Harvard (students, labs, etc) through this attack, but what would be most helpful is for you to use your position to contact your elected representatives and make it clear this fight isn't just Harvard, it will affect you, and their districts too

Our deeper analysis of Budget 2025's implication for science is out. It's worse than a nothing burger. It's a black hole budget pushing many areas towards the bring where they'll never recover, with funds going to pay for regulation and restructuring. scientists.org.nz/news/13502878