Environment – Views & Research

Why does NZ’s new energy plan sideline renewables and ignore progress made already?

Barry Barton, University of Waikato

Protected areas in the Hauraki Gulf nearly triple under a new law – but it comes with a catch

Conrad Pilditch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau and Simon Francis Thrush, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Aerial view of Browns Island, Motukorea, in the Hauraki Gulf looking towards Auckland's eastern suburbs.

Jane Goodall, the gentle disrupter whose research on chimpanzees redefined what it meant to be human

Mireya Mayor, Florida International University

‘Spooky action at a distance’ – a beginner’s guide to quantum entanglement and why it matters in the real world

Michele Governale, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Ulrich Zuelicke, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

An abstract visualisation of a futuristic quantum circuit with glowing nodes and connections

74 countries have now ratified a landmark treaty to protect the high seas. Why hasn’t NZ?

Elizabeth Macpherson, University of Canterbury; Conrad Pilditch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Karen Fisher, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau, and Simon Francis Thrush, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

A school of blue maomao swim through an archway off New Zealand’s Poor Knights Islands.

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Emperor penguins, marching in single file, on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Close relatives of emperor penguins lived in NZ some 3 million years ago. What caused their extinction?

Daniel Thomas, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Alan Tennyson, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and Felix Georg Marx, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Woman sitting outdoors among grasses and blowing her nose

Parts of NZ could be heading into a wetter summer – a blessing in disguise for allergy sufferers

Rewi Newnham, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Lakeshore shallows can be biodiversity hotspots – but warming is changing their complex ecology

Simon Stewart, Cawthron Institute

As storms become more extreme, it’s time to rethink how we design roofs

Shubham Tiwari, University of Waikato; James Lim, University of Waikato, and Krishanu Roy, University of Waikato

We’ve been sending animals into space for 7 decades – yet there are still no rules to protect them from harm

Anna Marie Brennan, University of Waikato

Ham, the chimpanzee, in his capsule, with his minders.

The Cochrane library is a global source of independent health evidence for everyone – why is NZ restricting access?

Vanessa Jordan, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

A person holding a bottle of medicines and a smartphone, looking up information

Road-user charges can pay for more than just road maintenance – NZ could lead the way

Simon Kingham, University of Canterbury

Traffic in the rush hour on Auckland Harbour Bridge

Dagger beaks and strong wings: new fossils rewrite the penguin story and affirm NZ as a cradle of their evolution

Vanesa De Pietri, University of Canterbury and Paul Scofield, University of Canterbury

A museum diorama depicting a North Canterbury beach 62 million years ago

AI will soon be able to audit all published research – what will that mean for public trust in science?

Alexander Kaurov, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Naomi Oreskes, Harvard University

A brightly coloured office populated with all kinds of people working at connected desks. There are computer screens and networks in the air in clouds. The image shows the connectivity of a digitally transformed workplace. It was drawn and painted using guache and pencil.

The first video of Earth’s surface lurching sideways in an earthquake offers new insights into this force of nature

Jesse Kearse, Kyoto University

This photo shows damaged Buddha statues surrounded by the debris of a collapsed building in Mandalay, following the devastating March 28 Myanmar earthquake.

Rising seas threaten to swallow one of NZ’s oldest settlement sites – new research

Peter N. Meihana, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University; Corey Hebberd, Indigenous Knowledge, and Shaun Paul Williams, Earth Sciences New Zealand

Te Pokohiwi a Kupe as seen from across the lagoon.