Citizen science
Around New Zealand, hundreds of citizen-science projects are under way, from the international in scope to the hyper-local. People are invited to count wading birds, moreporks, cockles, bats, kererū, Hector’s dolphins, monarch butterflies and freshwater mussels for various government and non-profit groups. You can measure winter snowfall at your home for NIWA, upload photographs of king tides in Auckland, survey duck ponds for Fish & Game, record the coloured bands on a kea’s leg for the Kea Database, or volunteer to GPS-track your cat.
The great bird nerds
Around the country, Birds New Zealand branches are trying to motivate their members to fill in one more observation list, while keen birders are ticking off grid squares, aiming for high scores. They’re working on the Bird Atlas, the biggest-ever citizen-science project on our shores.
Who's behind citizen science in New Zealand?
You don’t need a PhD to find a new species, unearth a rare fungus or name an asteroid. New Zealanders with no specialist training are contributing to scientific research by monitoring streams, spotting rare plants, counting the birds visiting their back gardens, and putting GPS trackers on their cats.
Natural history 2.0
Siobhan Leachman is rewriting the natural history of New Zealand, one encyclopedia entry at a time.
Common knowledge
Mike Dickison wants to fling open the vaults of the country’s museums and research institutions.
The yellowhammer time machine
New Zealand’s yellowhammers may be from the British Isles, but they sing with European accents.
Tracking cats with citizen science
Dr Philip Roetman is a bit of a champion of citizen science projects. He's engaged thousands of people in projects, like tracking cats, counting koalas, spotlighting in rockpools, and recording bat calls.
