At the Kaurilands Summit 2023, early career researchers Colan Balkwill and Amy MacDonald presented new research on the conservation genetics of maire tawake and ramarama, two of our native myrtles. Both studies found higher genetic diversity in northern populations than southern populations. These results will be valuable for future seed banking and restoration activities.
News & Events
Horror in the ngahere: myrtle rust is graphic novel’s ‘big bad’
With The Last of Us making cordyceps a household name, and many other evil moulds creeping through our screens and libraries, it seems that fungi and horror are a match made in… hell.
Aroha Novak (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Te Rangi) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Ōtepoti Dunedin and has added fertiliser to the fungal horror garden with her graphic novel, Myrtle Rust.
Mobilising for Action stars in a Knowledge Cultures takeover
The Mobilising for Action research theme is excited to announce that their special edition in the journal Knowledge Cultures is now out. Many excited congratulations to the team for their 13 peer-reviewed articles published in this edition.
Rakiura brings a sense of wonder to prize-winner
Back in May last year, Maisie Hamilton Murray attended Crazy & Ambitious 3 and won the grand prize of flights and accommodation to Rakiura (Stewart Island) – somewhere she’d never previously set foot . . .
Strengthening connections through taonga pūoro
On Tuesday 9 May the Kaurilands Summit had a delayed start thanks to pūroro (driving rain). But by Friday, Rangi-nui had drawn the clouds aside, and let through the rays of Tama-nui-te-rā, the sun. Perfect timing for Kelly Kahukiwa’s field trip, ‘Reading mauri through the biophonic signature of the ngahere’.
Kerry Donovan Brown had the privilege of attending this hīkoi . . .
Kaurilands Summit: “The hui that finally happened”
After two years of lockdowns and the threat of being washed away, Ngā Rākau Taketake (NRT) was finally able to host a Kaurilands Summit kanohi ki te kanohi this year. As event MC Stacey Morrison put it, Kaurilands Summit was “the hui that finally happened.”
Publishing news: Lessons learned from complicated seeds
A recent paper published in Plants outlines the seed storage physiology of Lophomyrtus and Neomyrtus, two threatened Myrtaceae genera endemic to New Zealand. Spoiler alert: rōhutu (Lophomyrtus obcordata) is less sensitive to storage methods than ramarama (Lophomyrtus bullata) and Neomyrtus pedunculata remains a mystery.
Ngā Pī Ka Rere spotlight: Tracey Godfery, a facilitator for change
Tracey Godfery (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāti Maru) is a PhD student at the University of Auckland supported by BioHeritage programmes Risk Assessment & Ecosystem Impacts and He Tangata, He Taiao, He Ōhanga: a values-based biosecurity risk assessment framework for Aotearoa. She’ll be facilitating a biosecurity decision making framework that addresses both cultural and scientific complexity.
New paper: Effective strategies for maire tawake propagation
A paper published this year in the New Zealand Journal of Botany outlines effective strategies for sexual propagation (via seeds) and asexual propagation (via cuttings) of maire tawake/swamp maire (Syzygium maire).
Ngā Rākau Taketake science stocktakes have been updated for the new year
Ngā Rākau Taketake is one of several groups who contribute to the growing body of knowledge around myrtle and kauri ora. As a way to keep track of all the excellent mahi in these spaces, we have updated our myrtle rust and kauri dieback stocktakes. Enjoy!