Ellen Rykers
@ellenrykers.com
📤 675
📥 398
📝 51
science writer / bird nerd / nz / ellenrykers.com
reposted by
Ellen Rykers
The Spinoff
10 days ago
How to use regenerative agriculture in your own garden
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How to use regenerative agriculture in your own garden
Growing anything, anywhere – from raised beds to pots – comes down to the soil. Look after yours better with these regenerative agriculture tips....
https://thespinoff.co.nz/partner/17-09-2025/how-to-use-regenerative-agriculture-in-your-own-garden
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
New Zealand Geographic
14 days ago
You start flying,” says Aqua Reekie. “There’s the sound of the ice popping beneath you, and beyond that, silence.” Alexandra’s obsession with wild ice skating, documented by Becki Moss and
@ellenrykers.com
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Chasing ice
For a fleeting spell each winter, ponds and dams across Central Otago freeze—and the chase for wild ice begins.
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/chasing-ice/
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
The Spinoff
25 days ago
Two years in the soil: Lessons from real-life regenerative agriculture trials
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Two years in the soil: Lessons from real-life regenerative agriculture trials
A soil health experiment in Gisborne has yielded salad greens, sweetcorn and hopeful signs for a sustainable farming future....
https://thespinoff.co.nz/partner/02-09-2025/two-years-in-the-soil-lessons-from-real-life-regenerative-agriculture-trials
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Every winter, thrill-seeking skaters chase ice that naturally forms on dams & lakes around the South Island. Photographer Becki Moss & I documented this adventurous subculture – at risk of fading away as the climate warms...
@nzgeo.bsky.social
www.nzgeo.com/stories/chas...
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Chasing ice
For a fleeting spell each winter, ponds and dams across Central Otago freeze—and the chase for wild ice begins.
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/chasing-ice/
25 days ago
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Ellen Rykers
Mike Dickison
26 days ago
Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to
@ellenrykers.com
for pointing me to it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
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Wikipedia:Signs of AI writing - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Signs_of_AI_writing
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
The Spinoff
29 days ago
The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending August 30
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The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending August 30
Revealed: Wellington loves birds way more than Auckland does....
https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/29-08-2025/the-unity-books-bestseller-chart-for-the-week-ending-august-30-2
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Ellen Rykers
Christchurch City Libraries Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi
about 1 month ago
New books day! Fill yer boots (or your holds list) with new fiction, new non-fiction and just ordered titles.
#pukapuka
#pukapukahou
my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/new-titles/
^MT
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
JJW
about 1 month ago
My love for Tīeke is now historical fact thanks to
@ellenrykers.com
. Go buy this book:
www.penguin.com.au/books/bird-o...
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Bird of the Year
A richly illustrated, affectionate celebration of Aotearoa's native birds, and the efforts we all make to protect them.
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/bird-of-the-year-9781776951062
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Dr Michelle LaRue
6 months ago
Really grateful to Dr. Claire Concannon for covering our research on Voices of the Sea Ice 🧪🌍🦑🦉🦊
www.rnz.co.nz/news/ourchan...
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Voice of the Sea Ice: More life!
Do penguins and seals share nicely in Antarctica?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ourchangingworld/556299/voice-of-the-sea-ice-more-life
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the birds are enjoying this fruiting tōtara in the garden
#birds
🪶
9 months ago
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Rebekah White
10 months ago
Some incredible photography from New Zealand photojournalist Robin Hammond in this story. I wish National Geographic had spelled the Māori words correctly, though.
www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...
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Inside New Zealand’s radical plan to save its native birds
It’s been called “the most ambitious conservation project attempted anywhere in the world”— will it actually work?
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/new-zealand-birds-invasive-predator-eradication
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feeling deeply today for all the gorgeous goofy greyhounds ❤️ and missing my boy terribly 😭
10 months ago
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🥳🥳
add a skeleton here at some point
10 months ago
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i've been writing for
@nzgeo.bsky.social
for about 6 years now. imo it's a keystone species in the aotearoa media ecosystem. a home for uniquely nz longform tales, science yarns, stunning photojournalism. if you value this, please consider subscribing:
www.nzgeo.com/stories/we-n...
10 months ago
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
The Spinoff
10 months ago
Juliet Gerrard: Funding the whole pie
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Juliet Gerrard: Funding the whole pie
It's a tiny portion of our overall funding, yet social sciences and humanities research makes a massive impact. Without it, the pie starts to crumble....
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/05-12-2024/juliet-gerrard-funding-the-whole-pie
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
The Spinoff
10 months ago
The future of The Spinoff: The Spinoff’s CEO, founder and editor level with you in an open letter published this morning.
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An open letter about the future of The Spinoff
An important announcement from the CEO, the editor and the founder of The Spinoff.<br />
https://thespinoff.co.nz/media/28-11-2024/an-open-letter-about-the-future-of-the-spinoff
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dinosaurs 🪶 tūī / kākā / tuatara at 📍zealandia
10 months ago
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Sadly my climate/enviro newsletter Future Proof is a casualty of this situation. Last edition will be next week. Please consider supporting if you're a Spinoff reader
thespinoff.co.nz/media/28-11-...
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An open letter about the future of The Spinoff
An important announcement from the CEO, the editor and the founder of The Spinoff.<br />
https://thespinoff.co.nz/media/28-11-2024/an-open-letter-about-the-future-of-the-spinoff
10 months ago
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Kate Evans
10 months ago
Made a start on a New Zealand science and nature journalists starter pack:
go.bsky.app/Ao7CazM
- please let me know who else should be on there and I’ll add them/you!
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Tim Welch
10 months ago
This is your annual reminder about how bad the cruise industry is for everything. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has improved in the two years since I wrote this article.
theconversation.com/cruise-ships...
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Cruise ships are coming back to NZ waters – should we really be welcoming them?
Cruise liners are back and demand is reportedly strong. But given their environmental impact and relatively low economic benefit, how sustainable is this kind of tourism?
https://theconversation.com/cruise-ships-are-coming-back-to-nz-waters-should-we-really-be-welcoming-them-188974
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Judi Lapsley Miller
10 months ago
Tūī are nectar feeders and have a brush-tipped tongue to slurp it up more easily.
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Brent Toderian
10 months ago
“One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss.” “Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million a year on health costs because something like 80% of its population commutes by bike, even in winter.”
grist.org/biking/one-m...
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One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss
Copenhagen, the bicycle-friendliest place on the planet, publishes a biannual Bicycle Account, and buried in its pages is a rather astonishing fact.
https://grist.org/biking/one-mile-on-a-bike-is-a-42-economic-gain-to-society-one-mile-driving-is-a-20-loss/
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kia ora bluesky, i'm a writer & science communicator from Aotearoa. 📝 i write stories for
@nzgeo.bsky.social
🎧 i help produce the Our Changing World podcast on RNZ 🦜 i have co-led Bird of the Year since 2022 lovely to be here 👋 here are some bird pics
10 months ago
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Lovely episode from
@veronikameduna.bsky.social
this week, reporting from the first Tairāwhiti Ngutukākā Festival 🌹 Ngutukākā is common in gardens but rarer than kākāpō in the wild. Community rewilding efforts are turning SH35 into a Crimson Highway
www.rnz.co.nz/news/ourchan...
#kikorangi
#nz
10 months ago
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just some punk penguin album covers 🤘🐧 (I had occasion to revisit my tawaki piki toka / eastern rockhopper pics when we covered them on Critter of the Week recently, excellent
#birds
) 🪶
10 months ago
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bring on BOTYxBSKY (it's the 20th bday of Bird of the Year in 2025, so it'll be a biggie) 🪶
add a skeleton here at some point
10 months ago
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Inside the Pūngāwerewere Workroom at Plant & Food Research... A team of scientists is designing a targeted trap that lures in males with 🕸️spiderweb silk perfume🕸️ Listen to hear about caring for 800 captive spiders & testing pheromone concoctions in the spider arena
www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/ourc...
11 months ago
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this kererū and its mate are collecting twigs to construct a nest in the tall tree outside my front door 🥰 they keep making soft little coos to each other 🥺
#birds
over 1 year ago
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Veronika Meduna
almost 2 years ago
Excellent piece by
@ellenrykers.bsky.social
about Aotearoa's efforts to curb agricultural methane emissions
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
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How New Zealand is reducing methane emissions from farming
New Zealand is home to 10 million cows and 26 million sheep. To reach its climate goals, the country must curb potent methane emissions from animal farming, using science and policy.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231214-how-new-zealand-is-reducing-methane-emissions-from-farming
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Nic Rawlence
almost 2 years ago
I had fun talking to
@rebekahwhite.bsky.social
for this
@nzgeo.bsky.social
piece. Such an important message about the help we need from private collectors, the public, & tangata whenua to be our fossil forecasters so we can save our biological heritage before it is lost
www.nzgeo.com/stories/pala...
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Palaeontologists ask for help preserving fossils | New Zealand Geographic
Palaeontologists ask for help preserving fossils
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/palaeontologists-ask-for-help-preserving-fossils
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New Zealand's race to reduce cow burps
www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
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How New Zealand is reducing methane emissions from farming
New Zealand is home to 10 million cows and 26 million sheep. To reach its climate goals, the country must curb potent methane emissions from animal farming, using science and policy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20231214-how-new-zealand-is-reducing-methane-emissions-from-farming
almost 2 years ago
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Ira
almost 2 years ago
Some good news for a change
#nzpol
thespinoff.co.nz/science/15-1...
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An ambitious vision for rewilding New Zealand
Could Aotearoa restore 8% of its land to create enduring indigenous-forest carbon sinks?
https://thespinoff.co.nz/science/15-12-2023/an-ambitious-vision-for-rewilding-new-zealand
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
New Zealand Geographic
almost 2 years ago
A new study reveals that New Zealand’s huge ocean territory contains two billion tons of carbon, locked in the seafloor—but trawling releases it. New Zealand also happens to be the only nation still trawling on the high seas of the South Pacific.
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The seafloor stores carbon, but trawling releases it | New Zealand Geographic
The seafloor stores carbon, but trawling releases it
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-sea-floor-stores-carbon-but-trawling-releases-it/
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
New Zealand Geographic
almost 2 years ago
Bitterns are so hard to find that this story took us longer to make than every other story we've published (except one). It took a few years, but finally,
@ellenrykers.bsky.social
and Craig McKenzie tracked the birds down. And yes, they always look this weird.
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The grief bird | New Zealand Geographic
The grief bird
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-grief-bird/
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Ben Paris
almost 2 years ago
"Commercial areas, construction zones, school fields. It's just because there's so much pressure on their habitat that they're having to move into other areas that aren't necessarily better than their usual ones."
www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zea...
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Dead dotterels washing up on Auckland's east coast shoreline | Newshub
Conservation teams warn climate change and household pets are to blame.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/11/dead-dotterels-washing-up-on-auckland-s-east-coast-shoreline.html
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Kate Marvel
almost 2 years ago
The evidence is clear: Responding to climate change will not only create a better world for our children and grandchildren, but it will also make the world better for us right now.
www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/o...
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Anton Thomas began his artistic expedition in Alaska, sketching a grizzly bear with a mouthful of salmon in coloured pencil. 3 years later, Wild World was finished: 1,642 animal species depicted across land & seascapes in an intricate world map.
thespinoff.co.nz/science/12-1...
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This map of the world is wild
It started in Alaska, with a grizzly bear sketched in coloured pencil. Three years and 1,641 species later, Anton Thomas's Wild World map is finally complete.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/science/12-11-2023/this-map-of-the-world-is-wild
almost 2 years ago
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ah yes the garden gherkins 📷: Joel Knight CC BY-NC 4.0
inaturalist.nz/observations...
/ Steven Wallace CC BY-NC 4.0
inaturalist.nz/observations...
add a skeleton here at some point
almost 2 years ago
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Ange 🍞🌹🏳️🌈 🇳🇿
almost 2 years ago
Ahh, great,
#BirdOfTheCentury
gonna need more time to count special votes from overseas. Two more days that Aotearoa will be without a bird government. Madness!
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We've had to delay the Bird of the Century winner announcement to Wednesday so we can deal with the literally hundreds of thousands of votes that flooded in this week. We have implemented a new email system and will soon be sending out verification emails to those who missed out earlier this week.
almost 2 years ago
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So impressed with the pūteketeke pandemonium. It has been A Week for team bird of the century but it is all worth it for the BIRDS
#BIRDS
youtu.be/uVE1hBzHn3s?...
almost 2 years ago
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Dylan Reeve
almost 2 years ago
Not content with just his own HBO show, John Olliver went on The Tonight Show to promote the Pūteketeke. Wearing a bespoke costume he didn't even use on his own show!
youtu.be/uVE1hBzHn3s
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John Oliver Campaigns for a New Zealand Bird of the Century Contest Dressed as a Pūteketeke Bird
John Oliver talks about being the official campaign manager for the pūteketeke bird in New Zealand's Bird of the Century contest, shares his opinions on othe...
https://youtu.be/uVE1hBzHn3s
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The grief bird: The bittern’s eerie, booming call sounds like a lament, a tangi ringing across the marshes. Now more than ever, the bittern’s story is one of sorrow. This wetland bird that once flocked in groups 100 strong is nearing extinction.
www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-...
📷: Craig McKenzie
almost 2 years ago
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Ellen Rykers
Dr Michelle LaRue
almost 2 years ago
Well well well looks like the leopard seal is a known individual, first seen in Wellington in September. Glad you stopped by Sumner, Kōanga, and safe travels! 🧪🌎🦑
i.stuff.co.nz/national/133...
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Leopard seal stops in to say hello at local beaches around the country
Kōanga the leopard seal has stopped in to say hi to locals as he makes his way down the country.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/133180947/leopard-seal-stops-in-to-say-hello-at-local-beaches-around-the-country
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
mr dog
almost 2 years ago
Climate change is finally solved! Or is it? A cartoon
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Climate change is finally solved! We can just let nature take its course | First Dog on the Moon
It seems if you experience climate disaster you are much more likely to believe in climate disaster
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/25/climate-change-is-finally-solved-we-can-just-let-nature-take-its-course
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reposted by
Ellen Rykers
Dana Bergstrom
almost 2 years ago
Climate quitters. People leaving corporate jobs because of ethic mismatch.👏👏👏
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The 'climate quitters' ditching corporate roles
A growing number of workers are making the decision to walk out of companies whose environmental values don't align with their own.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20231016-the-climate-quitters-ditching-corporate-roles
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sry Aotearoa there's one more important election you need to vote in - polls open at 9am on Monday at
www.birdoftheyear.org.nz
✅
almost 2 years ago
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WWF-NZ has a new chief exec: I interviewed Kayla Kingdon-Bebb about writing He Puapua, her experiences at DOC, & her priorities as she rebuilds the Aotearoa branch of a global wildlife charity
smith.queensu.ca/magazine/iss...
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https://smith.queensu.ca/magazine/issues/fall-2023/features/force-of-nature.php
almost 2 years ago
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Once upon a time, raucous, stinking colonies of seabirds blanketed huge areas of NZ's mainland, each burrow & poo & eggshell helping fuel the forests. Those birds are gone now—but a new modelling tool gives a fascinating glimpse of what once was.
www.nzgeo.com/stories/wher...
almost 2 years ago
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