Source: University of Canterbury
08 October 2021
When nature is in trouble, so are we. Nature can only thrive when biodiversity thrives, and we are facing a biodiversity crisis in in Aotearoa New Zealand. Nearly 4,000 species – many which are found nowhere else in the world – are classified as Threatened or At Risk in this country.
To achieve the bold vision outlined in Te Mana o te Taiao – The Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy 2020, we need to unite across diverse disciplines and perspectives, and use all the tools in the conservation toolbox to ensure that Aotearoa New Zealand’s imperilled species not only survive but thrive.
In this upcoming Tauhere | UC Connect public talk, University of Canterbury conservation geneticist Associate Professor Tammy Steeves will discuss how her research team combines genomic and non-genomic data in partnership with tangata whenua, and in collaboration with conservation scientists and practitioners, to co-develop conservation genetic management strategies for some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s rarest species. She will focus on the survival of a critically threatened bird, the Tūturuatu/Tchūriwat’/Shore plover.
About the speaker:
Dr Tammy Steeves earned her PhD at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, in 2004 and has been an academic at the University of Canterbury since 2009. She is a co-founder of the Kindness in Science Collective, which is a diverse collective based in Aotearoa New Zealand leading a culture shift in the science community that embeds kindness to achieve better science outcomes.
A conservation geneticist, she routinely partners with the Department of Conservation to co-develop conservation genetic management recommendations. She is a member of, or advisor to, six recovery, specialist or technical advisory groups for critically endangered birds endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Dr Steeves’ research focuses on the ecological and evolutionary processes that contribute to the formation and maintenance of species boundaries, and the application of this knowledge to enhance species recovery. She co-leads the Conservation, Systematics and Evolution Research Team (ConSERT) at the University of Canterbury.
UC Connect public lecture: Little genes, big conservation, presented by Associate Professor Tammy Steeves, School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, from 7pm – 8pm, Wednesday 13 October 2021, in C1 lecture theatre in C-Block, Ilam campus, University of Canterbury. Register free to attend: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/public-lectures/
