Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua

Landcare-Research -Manaaki Whenua

How is science shaping my world?

Free science exhibition and talks at Te Papa, Wellington

  • Friday 10th November - 10am - 4pm
  • Saturday 11th November - 10am - 3pm

We're celebrating 25 years of science for New Zealand with Science NZ and our partner Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) with a fascinating array of public talks and interactive exhibitions in Te Papa's Oceania Room.

Scientists will be on hand to answer your questions, and as well as displays profiling our work on weeds, pest control, the environment, citizen science, and our unique biodiversity, there is a range activities for young and aspiring scientists.

Our speakers and exhibitors

John Innes releasing a tūī equipped with coloured leg-bands and a transmitter glued to its tail at Cambride. Image Waikato Times.
John Innes: Bird Sanctuaries

11.00am Friday 10th November

The sad fall and glorious rise of North Island kokako.


Sam Carrick
Sam Carrick: An Ode to Soil

12.00pm Saturday 11th November

10 wonders of New Zealand soil: New Zealand’s rich resource.


Andrew Gormley
Andrew Gormley: TB free: a science story.

1pm, Friday 10th November

New Zealand is well on the way to freedom from bovine TB, from a peak of 1700 infected herds in 1994, to fewer than 50 in 2017. Proving freedom from disease requires evidence: we present the surveillance approach developed for and used by OSPRI, including some of the clever detection tools, as well as challenges that are still to come.


Andrew McMillan
Andrew McMillan: Flying Eyes in the Sky - using Drones for Science

3.00pm, Friday 10th November; also in the exhibition space

The power of drones as a scientific tool and their uses for vegetation detection and landscape erosion.

At Manaaki Whenua, our scientists use a variety of different drones for projects such as identifying kānuka or mānuka sites, and studying erosion on streambanks. Come through to the exhibition space and try your hand at flying one.


Hugh Gourlay
Hugh Gourlay: Using Nature to Control Weeds

2pm, Saturday 11th November; also in the exhibition space

The story behind biological control of weeds in New Zealand. How it works, how safe is it, what we do, who we are, why we do biocontrol and our successes.

Hugh is a specialist in insect rearing especially for the biological control of weeds.  He is currently working on the biological control of gorse, broom, ragwort, old mans beard, thistles, banana passionfruit, boneseed, St John's Wort, tutsan, Japanese honeysuckle, and moth plant. He'll be on hand to talk at our stand to talk about biocontrol, with both weeds and beetles to investigate!


Landcare Research flax collection curator Katarina Tawiri with some of the wahakura produced.
Katarina Tawiri: the NZ Flax Collection

Exhibition space

Katarina is kaitiaki (curator) of the NZ Flax Collection, based at our site in Lincoln. She will be at our stand in the exhibition space, so come along and learn how to make a harakeke putiputi (rose).


Ashish Kundalkar
Ashish Kundalkar: Enviro-Mark Solutions

Exhibition space

Growing from its roots in carbon offsetting, Enviro-Mark Solutions is now the leading provider of environmental certification in New Zealand, and Ashish will be on-hand to discuss the programme's various offerings.