A juvenile kekeno exploring the Te Whanagnui-a-Tara waterfront and soaking in the rays this morning. Guess it got the memo that you can’t beat Wellington on a good day…

Super privileged to have Spike the tuatara at our school seminar today to demonstrate his amazing outreach powers. Spike, Hazel, Pheobe and Shorty, the tuatara cared for at VUW in partnership with iwi, have made huge contributions to our knowledge of their species (handled under permit by carer)

I am in awe of anyone who has an up-to-date website and news feed for their research. It has taken me four years to finally write one paragraph and post it....

Not to be a cliche, but you really can’t beat Wellington (dog walks) on a still and clear winter day. I can even hear kākā yelling from the pines way in the distance. A great reminder that we live in a city where biodiversity is making a comeback.

So cool to find out that a population of this small but mighty kiwi has been hanging on in the South Island!

My super talented friend Des Rusk has launched his own clothing label. Ethical merino clothes that are classics that are designed to last a lifetime. Check out his online store here: longform.co #foreverfashion seems like something that a lot of folk on here might love!

Listening to and participating in the worldwide critical media commentary about the dire wolf 'de-extinction', one thing struck me. Indigenous voices, which have a vital role in this debate, were largely silent, leading me to co-write this theconversation.com/return-of-th...

Individual variation in spatial reference memory influences cache site choice in a wild bird #ProcB #OpenAccess royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

New toutouwai paper out today, led by Dr Tas Vámos! Individual toutouwai have specific preferences for where they cache prey - turns out birds that prefer spreading their caches widely also have more accurate spatial memory performance! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

RIP NZ CRIs. May your legacy be of a wholesome community that values scientific excellence, the natural environment and the people of Aotearoa.

The illustrated ‘Just So’ series in @nzgeo.bsky.social is a total delight! The very talented @rebekahwhite.bsky.social and Giselle Clarke have outdone themselves with their piece on memory in the December issue It even features my favourite old (toutouwai) guy Spark! www.nzgeo.com/stories/forg...

🧪 #Conservation,#translocations & #Indigenous knowledge, and a wonderful emerging researcher leading this paper from #Aotearoa on #kākā.

Storm watching and listening to thunder, while also sitting in the shade to avoid a sunburn…

Very cool to see the first PhD paper from former VUW Honours student Daisy! So lovely to see students fledge the nest to go and do new and exciting things!

Cilla breaks down our new paper, lead by the amazing Fin Johnson! We took a deep dive into archival and map sources of mātauranga to reveals places where kākā were once abundant. We suggest these spots should be a priority for future translocations, to help restore biocultural relationships

Advertising for an MSc student to work on a feral cat management project - stipend + domestic fees for research year. @aucklanduni.bsky.social Working with different iwi & community partners. More details here: stanleylab.blogs.auckland.ac.nz/opportunities/

The Royal Society Te Apārangi has sent an open letter to the Prime Minister about the importance of social sciences and humanities, following changes to the Marsden Fund terms that explicitly exclude research areas in the social sciences and humanities: www.royalsociety.org.nz/news/open-le...

Just so we're clear, aside from the social sciences and humanities, this description excludes: - agricultural, vetinary, and food sciences - earth sciences - environmental sciences - information and computing sciences - ALL non-biomedical biological sciences

"This decision defunds Māori research and researchers by stealth" Tahu Kukutai in my latest for @science.org on cuts to the Marsden Fund, NZ's only fund for "blue-sky" research; features Paul Spoonley, @nicgaston.bsky.social et al www.science.org/content/arti...

It’s a dark day for research in Aotearoa New Zealand and the ramifications for the country are huge. Minister Judith Collins has just announced our blue-skies funder will no longer fund humanities & social science research and that 50% of what is funded must have economic benefit.

1. Time for a kākā appreciation post! As far as New Zealand parrots go, kea and kākāpō can steal the limelight, but the forest-dwelling kākā deserve our attention too. Like many species in Aotearoa New Zealand, kākā are threatened by introduced predators and have disappeared from many places. 🧵

And oooph again 😢 Still a chance to do something about this one though…

Bet it is the Orca youth bringing back salmon hats, just like gen Z is bringing back the style of my teenage years. Fashion alway recycles

Awesome research led by a @manaakiwhenua.bsky.social team that I helped out with last year! Here’s hoping that our scrambling through gorse covered slopes in south Wellington leads to new approaches to reduce cat predation on #urbanwildlife

Optimist: the cup is half full Pessimist: the cup is half empty Comparative cognition researcher: I wonder if this animal will drop some stones into this cup

We are only just making it into Willis and parliament grounds are already full. Phenomenal hīkoi #ToitūTeTiriti

Returning to social media after a long hiatus - I’m here for all the cool research news and to meet the people behind it!