Ngā Manu winter lecture series 2024

The 2024 Ngā Manu winter lecture series is underway with incredible guest speakers presenting lectures around the environmental themes as below.

Venue: Nga Manu – Robin’s Nest Building, 74 Ngā Manu Reserve Road, Wellington, Waikanae. All the talks are at 1–3 pm.

30 June: Professor Ian Barber – Becoming Maori, becoming Moriori – archaeological research on the first Polynesian peoples of Zealandia

Professor Barber specialise in the study of dynamic historical environments including new uses of the past using innovative and interdisciplinary theory to investigate changing relationships between material and social environments.

He has studied Māori and Moriori archaeology; cultural change and contact; archaeological resource management and politics; anthropology of revitalisation and religion; agricultural innovation and introductions in New Zealand and Polynesia.

He works closely and collaboratively with several Māori and Chatham Island Moriori communities in his research.

13 July: Peter Dearden – Kakapo Genomics

Peter Dearden is Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry at University of Otago, and Co-Director of Genomics Aotearoa, Deputy Director of Bioprotection Aotearoa.

Peter’s research focuses on genomics to support conservation and primary production and developing new technologies in insects to either improve their use in primary production or develop novel pest control strategies.

He will talk about kākāpō, a critically endangered tāonga species, and how genomics is used to support conservation managers make decisions about how best to breed more kākāpō and protect them from disease. Peter will also cover how Genomics Aotearoa mobilised its expertise behind the Department of Conservation to make new genomics and AI tools to support breeding, and to trace kākāpō disease.

27 July: John Innes – Predator control and conservation – a career retrospective

John Innes grew up in Taranaki and worked at the then Forest Research Institute in Rotorua, followed by time with Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research (Hamilton). He has charted the diverse paths of ecosanctuaries of various kinds and chairs the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel for Maungatautari, the only large (3,300 ha) pest-fenced ecosanctuary.

Working with kōkako recovery, John will tell their story with a diversion into how everyone forgot that possums were bird predators for 60 years will suggest the predator-free NZ vision would do better to focus more on biodiversity outcomes. He’s also worked with kakī (black stilts), tūī, kererū, magpies and kiwi, and currently takahē recovery.

He’ll show and talk about pest interactions with birds and with each other. His more than 40 years of mammalian predator study give him the opportunity to describe major regimes (island eradications, aerial 1080, unfenced ecosanctuaries, pest-fenced ecosanctuaries) of pest management discussing their merits and challenges.