Penguins that return to the ice in the middle of winter to lay their eggs. Seals that use cracks in the ice to keep their pups safe. And fish that have antifreeze proteins to survive in the icy cold waters... Antarctic life is tough, and full of surprises. Scientists are keen to piece together the Antarctic food web puzzle to better understand the interconnections, and to enable smart conservation decisions.

Guests:

• Arek Aspinwall, University of Canterbury
• Dr Michelle LaRue, University of Canterbury
• Professor Steve Wing, University of Otago

Learn more:

• Read the article that accompanies this episode: How Antarctic seals and penguins rely on sea ice.
• Meet other seals and penguins with Peregrin Hyde on his journey to South Georgia Island as part of an Inspiring Explorers expedition.
• In ‘Best Journey in the World’ from the Voices from Antarctica series, Alison Ballance travelled to Cape Crozier with a team from NIWA studying the emperor penguins.

This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.

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What’s it like to live and work on the frozen ocean? A team of researchers is camping out on the sea ice to investigate the small critters that live on the bottom of the ice, and among the sloshy platelet ice layer just below it. From microalgae to krill, these tiny organisms hold up the big complex food web of Antarctica. Scientists are keen to understand these communities, and how they might shift as the sea ice cycle changes.

Guests:

• Dr Natalie Robinson, NIWA 
• Dr Jacqui Stuart, Victoria University of Wellington
• Dr Greg Leonard, University of Otago
• Lizzy Skelton, University of Canterbury
• Dr Aimee van der Reis, University of Auckland
• Salvatore Campanile, Victoria University of Wellington

Learn more:

• Read the article that accompanies this episode: What lives in Antarctic sea ice?
• Dr Natalie Robinson spoke to The Detail in 2023 about the unprecedented sea ice conditions of that year
• Alison Ballance's Voices from Antarctica series from 2020 explores what it’s like to live and work in Antarctica.

This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.

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Step out on the sea ice just outside New Zealand’s Scott Base with researchers studying the physics of its annual cycle. Each year a massive patch of ocean around Antarctica freezes and then melts again come summer – Antarctica’s heartbeat. In winter, the ice effectively more than doubles the size of this already massive continent, and it plays a huge role in controlling our planet’s climate.

Guests:

• Dr Inga Smith, University of Otago 
• Antonia Radlwimmer, University of Otago
• Professor Wolfgang Rack, University of Canterbury 

Learn more:

• Read the article that accompanies this episode, Monitoring and measuring Antarctica's heartbeat.
• Listen to Physics on Ice from 2021 with Emeritus Professor Pat Langhorne and Dr Inga Smith.
• Alison Ballance's Voices from Antarctica series from 2020 explores what it’s like to live and work in Antarctica.

This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.

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Welcome to Antarctica - a land of ice, extremes, and ambition. From historic expeditions to modern day science projects, Antarctic exploration is a unique, and dangerous, experience. We meet one researcher involved in an epic journey across the largest ice shelf in Antarctica, mapping a safe route through a crevassed landscape for others to follow. Plus, we learn about the different types of ice found in this vast, frozen landscape.

Guests:

• Dr Daniel Price, University of Canterbury and Kea Aerospace
• Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision archival audio

Learn more:

• Read the article that accompanies this episode.
• Daniel did the route-finding for the SWAIS2C project. Veronika Meduna flew out to the camp in the 2023/2024 season to report on their activities.
• Daniel has spoken to Morning Report about Kea Aerospace’s work developing a solar-powered aircraft
• Hear about other ongoing research in Antarctica from the latest research season, including investigating new methane seeps, and giant glass sponges.
• Learn more about living, and working, on the ice in the 2020 podcast series – Voices from Antarctica.

This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.

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Using acoustic tags and a network of receivers attached to the seafloor, researchers are tracking the movements of sevengill sharks in Fiordland. They want to understand how these apex predators adjust to changing ocean temperatures, particularly during marine heat waves. Plus, an international collaboration involving a high-tech German research vessel is exploring New Zealand’s deep-sea realm.

Guests:

• Eva Ramey, PhD candidate, Victoria University of Wellington 
• Dr Alice Rogers, Victoria University of Wellington Coastal Ecology Lab 
• Dr Kareen Schnabel, NIWA 
• Professor André Freiwald, Senckenberg am Meer Research Institute 
• Dr Cornel de Ronde, GNS

Learn more:

• Read the accompanying article.
• Listen to this 2016 episode about the Great white sharks of Australia and New Zealand.
• RNZ journalist Kate Green also hopped aboard the RV Sonne to find out about its technology and capabilities.
• This is not the first time the RV Sonne has been in New Zealand waters, one previous expedition also involved investigations of underwater volcanoes.

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People with ADHD often fidget more than those without. Why might this be? Does it help them focus? Or distract them further? An Auckland Bioengineering Institute researcher has teamed up with the Mātai Medical Institute in Gisborne to investigate this using advanced MRI techniques. And at Waikereru ecosanctuary, local birds are being enlisted in a trial to help speed up the regeneration of native bush.

Guests:

• Professor Justin Fernandez, Auckland Bioengineering Institute
• Dr Gil Newburn, Mātai Medical Institute 
• Professor Dame Anne Salmond, Waikereru Ecosanctuary

Learn more:

• Read the accompanying articles: Recruiting the birds to bring back the bush and Why fidgeting might be a good idea.
• In 2017 Alison Ballance did a story about The 1769 Gardenwhere she spoke to the garden designer, curator and local botany expert.
• To learn about the Mātai Medical Institute, listen to The advances in MRI coming out of Gisborne from November 2024.
• The Mātai Medical Institute is also involved in research into recovery post meth addiction, concussion in teenage rugby players, and muscle development in children with cerebral palsy. 

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The Eastern Whio Link project has been working to restore the whio or blue duck population in the rivers of the Waioeka Gorge. Sam Gibson, aka Sam the Trap Man, explains why he thinks the project has been so successful, and what he loves about these scrappy little ducks. Then, Professor Matthew Stott speaks to Claire Concannon about the complexities working on an active volcano in Antarctica, and what they hope to learn from the microbes they find there.

Guests:

• Sam Gisbon, Eastern Whio Link
• Professor Matthew Stott, University of Canterbury

Learn more:

• Read and see more photos in the accompanying articles: Searching for extreme life and Trapping to help wild whio.
• Head on to the slopes of Mount Erebus, and into an ice cave with Alison Ballance and Craig Cary in this 2011 episode. 
• Matthew Stott also works with heat-loving microbes in Rotorua, including some that appear to have broken the ‘rule of thumb’ and are only found in New Zealand.
• Sam the Trap Man has also shared some yarns about bush life with RNZ’s Saturday Morning.

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All around New Zealand, people are trying to make things just a little bit better for their communities. The 22 Environment Centres, or Hubs, found throughout the country aim to help with this. Claire Concannon visits the Tairāwhiti Environment Centre to learn about their three pou of waste minimisation, education, and biodiversity, and about the environmental projects they support. She also meets their close neighbours – Gizzy Kai Rescue – who are looking to balance the scales of local food waste and food scarcity.

Guests:

• Steph Temple, Hub Coordinator, Tairāwhiti Environment Centre
• Sam Rowland, Manager, Tairāwhiti Environment Centre
• Lauren Beatty, Gizzy Kai Rescue
• Dr Sarah Boyle, Wai Connections Tairāwhiti

Learn more:

• Visit the websites of Tairāwhiti Environment Centre, Gizzy Kai Rescue, the Every Bite programme, the Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance, and Wai Connections.
• Learn about other food rescue programmes around the country, including in Hawke’s Bay and Porirua.
• Another conservation project in Tairāwhiti is aimed at bringing a beautiful endangered plant back from the brink.

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Trapping is hard mahi, especially on rugged terrain thick with vegetation. If you need to check a trap frequently to clear it and refresh the lure, the kilometres of bush bashing quickly add up. Plus, in areas where kea are found, trap options are limited by concerns for these curious and intelligent parrots. A team in Queenstown are investigating if the latest ‘smart’ traps – equipped with cameras, AI-powered to recognise specific targets, and networked so they can communicate and be operated remotely – might be the answer.

Guests:

• Paul Kavanagh, project director, Southern Lakes Sanctuary
• Philip Green, field and technical advisor, Southern Lakes Sanctuary

Learn more:

• Read the article that accompanies this episode.
• Country Life tagged along with the Halo project, part of Predator Free Dunedin, who are also trialling networked AI traps just north of the city.
• One of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary hubs at Makaroraisfocused on trapping to protect mohua, and they are trialling an AI method to identifyindividual birds by their song.
• In the Catlins, a team are battling predators and browsing pests to protect taonga there.

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The summer science series continues with an episode from RNZ podcast Country Life. From a block of gorse-infected scrubland on Banks Peninsula, renowned botanist Hugh Wilson has spent half a lifetime growing Hinewai Reserve into a 1600-hectare paradise of regenerated native forest by leaving nature to it. Cosmo Kentish-Barnes visits to learn more.

The Country Life podcast takes you all over the motu to hear the extraordinary stories of every day rural New Zealand. Hosted and produced by Sally Round, Cosmo Kentish-Barnes, Duncan Smith and Gianina Schwanecke

Listen to more Country Life episodes.

Guest:

• Hugh Wilson, botanist

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